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The easy way to kill American soldiers

Trevor — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:51:45 +0000

If you want to kill as many American soldiers as possible just attack them outside a “combat zone.” As a soldier and former marine, I’ve thought about this issue for many years because I am effectively deprived of my right to self-defense about 98% percent of the time I am in uniform. All it takes to slaughter American troops currently is a little willpower, access to weapons and enough intelligence to find troops on maneuvers around their home base anywhere inside the United States or anywhere outside a so-called combat zone. Just ask Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. He managed to kill 13 and wound 42 with two pistols inside the biggest Army base in the United States. And here you were thinking soldiers have guns. You were wrong. Soldiers mostly have paperwork these days.

Imagine what would happen if a professional cadre of determined aggressors armed with sniper rifles and the right training and experience actively started attacking the hundreds of unarmed military convoys that travel on U.S. highways daily. Just this weekend, I was traveling in such a convoy and I thought about exactly this scenario. We had rifles, to be sure. But they were locked up and we had no ammunition. My personal concealed carry pistol, an H&K .45 USP, is prohibited on base or when in the field even though I am a staff sergeant with combat experience. I carry this pistol every single day as a civilian and take my responsibility to defend my own life and the lives of those around me very seriously. The Army doesn’t believe in my right to defend the lives of myself and my fellow citizens. Except when a bureaucrat says it is OK, of course. The circumstances of my ability to engage an enemy with years of training are dictated by the faceless and the nameless. Men and women unknown to me decide whether I might live or die based in irrational criteria and flawed thinking.

A gun free zone is only gun free until someone ignores the rules and brings a gun into the so-called zone. There is no such thing as a safe zone. We live on a tiny little ball of matter spinning wildly through a universe filled with danger. That doesn’t mean we should live paranoid existences filled with wailing and gnashing of teeth. It does mean that we should encourage human beings to think. It means that we should understand our own infinitesimal fragility. It means that those of us who can should carry fire extinguishers, first aid kits, emergency food rations and guns and ammo at all times. These are basic survival tools and may be needed at the drop of a hat. No one locks up firefighters’ axes while they are off duty. That would be silly. Yet soldiers who are not actively engaged in security operations are deprived of weapons and ammunition. That makes our domestic military installations the biggest targets in United States. Sure, there are quick reaction forces. They are small and if there really were sleeper cells in the U.S. as we’ve been told it would be easy to attack and overwhelm these forces.

In the name of political correctness, we have murdered our own protectors by depriving them of their second amendment rights. This should shame us. The very people we train to protect us are disarmed by our own political class because of cowardice and mistrust. Do not give a man a gun if you do not trust him. Maybe you shouldn’t give him a uniform either. God didn’t design snakes with removable fangs for a reason. An Army that uses the motto “train as we fight” but disarms it soldiers the majority of the time might be broken. Is anyone going to step up and ask that we fix this? I am.

If you are a member of the “armed services” you should be armed. At all damn times. That way, when a psychopath is loose in your midst and is also armed, you don’t have to die running away from the danger.

How do we avoid another massacre such as the one perpetrated by Nidal Malik Hasan? We do the following:

Encourage all officers and NCOs to carry loaded weapons at all times
Train all uniformed servicemembers to respond to enemy shooters in domestic environments
Begin training enlisted troops regarding the serious responsibilities they are being entrusted with (carrying a firearm at all times) beginning with basic training/boot camp – by the time they are NCOs 99.9% of them will be completely adjusted to the idea and comfortable with it
Encourage retired military to be armed at all times wherever they are
Create widespread awareness of these programs in the media

Ideas are always more powerful than weapons. Ideas kill people every single day on this planet. Bad ideas like gun free zones kill more people than they save. Stupid ideas like disarmed military population clusters are so asinine that I would quit the military if I didn’t need health insurance and supplemental retirement income to offset my huge tax burden, without which I could be paying for all the health care I need while saving for rainy days and my “golden years.” Thanks Congress. Thank you entrenched career busybodies in Washington, D.C. Thanks for nothing.

Sincerely,

An idealistic staff sergeant

P.S. If you think I’m just a nutjob read what other veterans and servicemembers are saying:

http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulletin/concealed-carry-issues-discussions/90455-dont-know-source-but-might-good-news.html

http://www.defensivecarry.com/vbulletin/concealed-carry-issues-discussions/90344-no-cc-military-base-example-fort-hood.htmlSimilar Posts:

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Quick and dirty guide to buying an assault rifle

Trevor — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:27:16 +0000

With a new “assault rifle” ban just around the corner, it is a good time to think about purchasing your first, next and/or possibly last defensive rifle designed for all around lethality. Let’s be clear what we are talking about. This is your “shit just hit the fan” rifle. This is your things have collapsed but somehow I’m still here and we need to pick up the pieces and rebuild rifle. This is the rifle you will use to keep the barbarian hordes from raping and pillaging your land, castle and family (should they ever appear over the horizon). This is the rifle you’ll use when you join the neighborhood militia (if you neighborhood ever needs to start one). This is the rifle you are buying because the founding fathers thought every American should be involved in guarding against tyranny and that self-defense was a God given right. You know that’s still true now.

Let’s get down to brass tacks. Which assault rifle is best? The short answer is: depends what you want to use it for. Personally I own a .223/5.56 and a .308 weapon. The .223 is what I bought first because that’s the round the U.S. military uses for day to day stuff. As I learned more, I realized that the .223 might not be the best round. So I bought a .308. Now I have choices. You’ll find endless arguments over calibers, penetration and various other factors. Every rifle and caliber has pros and cons. Here are some basics I consider important.

Calibers

The two most available rounds are 5.56 and 7.62. These go with the M16 and the AK47 respectively. Both of these types of ammunition are widely available around the world and there are millions of rounds floating around the U.S. If you buy a weapon that fires 5.56/.223 you’ll probably be able to get ammo for it in the U.S. no matter what the political situation is. I would guess the same is true of 7.62 ammo. Here is a discussion of the relative merits of 5.56 versus 7.62 ammunition that merits reading. The end result is that statistically a larger round is more likely to kill you. Either one will kill an enemy in a pinch but 7.62 packs a bigger punch. Because of the Geneva conventions, these rounds are mostly full metal jacket. That means they do not break up inside the target. That makes them less effective at killing opponents than many non-military rounds, many of which are designed to shred whatever they hit by expanding on entry.

The topic has been talked to death a time or two. As I’ve noted before, all rounds are trade offs. The 7.62mm side of the debate tends to pretend that .308 is some kind of death ray and skip over the possibility you’ll have to double tap with .308 as well. And they tend to act like 5.56mm is guaranteed to fail without double tap. Both premises don’t hold up reliably — just statistical tendencies. For an AR/carbine role, I’ll take the 5.56mm round all day — especially if I’m a notional operator who has the range time and training to use my M4 or other weapon to the fullest. As for an M4 in 7.62x51mm . . . too much recoil. Autofire is obviously bad, but even in semi it’s going to kick like a beast, which means that I’d better not need to double tap (or better not miss) because it’s going to take me longer to put the weapon back on target while the other guy is trying to kill me. The proposed 6.8mm round seems like a good idea to me — it takes bullet weight towards .308 without fully sacrificing the idea of a handy and compact assault rifle to the full size bullet, but stays light enough to carry lots of ammo and recoil soft enough to make the a minimal issue in rapid fire.

If you want to be practical I suggest purchasing something that shoots one of the two mentioned types of ammo – 7.62 or 5.56. A gun without ammo is just a big club. If the sky really does fall and you find yourself living in a Fallout 3 type environment it’s likely you’ll be able to trade for bullets of these two types. Maybe some others as well but this is a quick and dirty guide to assault rifles not a novel length diatribe. You want a quick and dirty weapon that will help you defend civilization if and when it collapses.

Costs

Costs are variable. They are rising due to unfavorable political conditions and the fact that a lot of these things are going to be black market soon. You’ll still be able to buy am “assault rifle” if you really want one but it will cost three times as much and more important, will be illegal. Military style rifles are good for hunting humans. That’s what they were designed for. If you buy right now, you’ll pay anywhere between $500-2500 for a rifle. Depends which features you want, how many magazines you buy, etc. Remember again, a rifle without ammo is useless. Budget for at least 500 rounds of ammo and keep it stored in a cool dry place. If you’re not already a good shot budget for 2,900 rounds and get some range time under your belt. In case you are wondering where I’m pulling my numbers, Marines are trained to hit a target with iron sights at 500 yards in two weeks with 200 rounds a day, not including Sundays. That means that with a competent friend instructing you (or a paid instructor) you should be a rifle expert in about 2,400 rounds. You’ll probably pay about 50 cents a round for ammo in either variety if you buy today. Ammo availability and pricing is subject to political whims just like access to guns.

Rifles

There are literally dozens of types, configurations manufacturers and variants. If you want an AK47 from a U.S. manufacturer here is a handy list. If you are partial to the M16 variants (the civilian version is called an AR15 instead) then here is that list. DPMS and Bushmaster have my loyalty. Any of their AR15 products will hold up well if you give them a little basic maintenance. I have no practical experience with AK variants and would welcome feedback on them. You don’t really need a scope or any other assorted garbage that can be hung from one of these rifles. A good sling, ammo and a cleaning kit are plenty to haul around.

The Process

The actual mechanics of legally purchasing a firearm vary from state to state. Most states will treat you better if you hold a concealed carry permit issued by the state. For instance, I live in Georgia. Because I am a CCW holder I can walk into a gun store and pick a weapon, fill out the official federal form in about 10 minutes, and walk out with the weapon and as much ammo as I can afford. Some places make you wait a while while they check up on you. Some places let the local constable decide if you are worthy of your second amendment right to bear arms. Some states (Massachusetts comes to mind) won’t let you have a military style rifle at all. You can check out your state laws here. Bear in mind that real assault rifles fire on full automatic or burst mode. These modes are currently federally restriced and require a Class III license. A Class III license requires the holder to give up Constitutionally guarenteed rights. Read Unintended Consequences for more information about federal gun laws and the slow death of American’s gun culture.

Mindset

Why would a civilian ever need an assault rifle? The short answer is because government has them. Are you going to shoot down an AC130 gunship or an Apache attack helicopter with a 5.56 or 7.62 semi-automatic rifle? No. Are you going to send a political message about your mindset by buying and refusing to surrender one of these weapons? Absolutely. This country was founded by people who were tired of being ordered around. A citizen with an assault rifle is hard to order around and even the most dedicated authoritarian is not going to abuse his or her authority when confronted by a group of citizens with these weapons. It may be scary to think about such a scenario but it’s also important to think about such a scenario. There are petty tyrants everywhere and checks and balances must always be present to keep them from rising to power. Assault rifles represent freedom of choice. They indicate independence. They radiate assurance. They are guaranteed by our founding document and in my opinion every citizen should own one and take the time to learn how to use it responsibly. Rights not exercised are always taken away by busybodies, do-gooders and powermongers.

Go learn more.

Get your questions answered at armedpolitesociety.com. Watch video reviews and AR versus AK comparisons at nutnfancy’s YouTube channel.Similar Posts:

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Five dangerous ideas about cryonics

Trevor — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:17:22 +0000

I suspect that the average person I see on the street is not even aware that there are active cryonics companies in the United States which will preserve your corpse upon expiration in the hopes that future technology will allow you to be revived so that you can continue existing. Assuming you know about cryonics and have an interest in the idea, you may want to spend some time thinking about the particulars and processes involved. Cyronics is a scientific discipline – an unproven and often maligned and belittled field. Let’s be honest though – if you aren’t putting your hope in a perfect afterlife why not take a shot that you might be able to live again here in this world?

Aschwin de Wolf explores “5 dangerous ideas about cryonics.”

5. I will sign up for cryonics when I need it.

It should be obvious without much reflection why this is a dangerous idea. At the time a person really need cryonics, he may no longer be able to communicate those desires, lack funding to make arrangements, or encounter hostile relatives. A more subtle variant concerns the person who expects that aging will be solved before cryonics will be necessary. This person may or may not be right, but such optimism may not make him more immune to accidents than other people. This mindset is often observed among young “transhumanists” and practicing life extensionists. A related, but rarer, variant is to postpone making cryonics arrangements until the cryonics organization makes a number of changes including, but not limited to, hiring medical professionals, stop wasting money, becoming more transparent, giving members the right to vote, etc. Such issues are important, and need to be addressed, but a safer response would be to join the organization and influence its policies, or, if this will be necessary, combine with others to start a competing cryonics organization without such flaws.

There are not many people who think that it is sensible to make cryonics arrangements, but there are even fewer people who have actually made such arrangements.

As we have seen, some of these dangerous ideas share the same or related assumptions and produce identical effects (a decreased chance of personal survival). An important common theme is that cryonics cannot be treated as one single monolithic technology and that the fate of our survival depends as much on the state of the art in human cryopreservation technologies as on the competence of cryonics providers. Caveat emptor!

Some people are content with the idea that a few decades is enough. I am not. Ad vitam aeternum. Transcend humanity.

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Creditkarma.com offers free credit reporting that’s actually free

Trevor — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:07:16 +0000

Credit Karma pays for its credit reporting through advertiser supported deals, some of which might actually appeal to the consumer who is pulling his or her scores.

Unlike Freecreditreport.com and other similar services, there are no trial periods and hidden fees that you’ll have to pay down the road. Credit Karma is completely free. You can pull your credit score whenever you want and it doesn’t cost you anything (except ad views). Nor does it affect your credit score.

I use MyFico.com because I discovered it prior to being made aware of Credit Karma by founder Kenneth Lin. His site says:

Our services start with a FREE credit score. No credit card is required and no strings are attached. Return as often as you like and use our service to track your credit file and stay informed. Credit Karma believes this is a fundamental consumer right. Credit Karma will continue to provide these FREE credit scores while doing the most to protect your privacy regardless if you use our other services.

When you access the FREE credit score, Credit Karma will show personalized offers to you based on your credit profile . These offers are from advertisers who share our vision of consumer empowerment. If you wish to take advantage of Karma Offers, it is up to you. Credit Karma will never share your information without your consent.

Mr. Lin blogs on Credit Karma, and it was through his blog entries that I found out about another useful service. CheckingFinder lets you search by zip code for the closest high yield checking account.

As the dollar continues to slide in value, smart consumers are going to be looking for every opportunity to save money that they can find. Higher interest rates for your own banking accounts, and better credit resulting in lower interest rates on your credit cards are both significant ways to beat the economic downturn.

Credit Karma is a great way to beat the credit scoring fee scammers who hurt people that may already be struggling with a less than perfect credit score by charging them outrageous amounts to keep track of their credit score.

Credit Karma doesn’t necessarily report your exact credit score per Transunion, Experian or Equifax. Rather, it uses a proprietary technology to average the three scores – with fairly accurate results. I have a number of friends and relatives try the service and all of them said that Credit Karma was very accurate.Similar Posts:

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Bullets and Bibles

Trevor — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:37:16 +0000

This is a departure from my normal blog entry – I don’t usually do video blogging. Ever since I came across a news story about a soldier’s Bible stopping a bullet, I’ve been curious to see for myself if such an event could occur, and how likely it would be.

This weekend, I fired a variety of pistols and a rifle at a dummy that had a Holy Bible and then a Holy Quran as his sole means of protection from the projectiles. The results were, at least in my mind, illustrative. The end result of my experiment is that I am much less confident in using the 32 ACP pistols in my collection as primary defensive weapons – although they are the easiest to conceal I’m afraid they would be useless in many situations.

The resulting video should be taken for what it is worth – some will be entertained, some will be bored and some will be offended. If you fall in that latter category may I suggest you go and quietly pray in a corner? Also, I believe I call my SA XD 40 a revolver at one point in the video. I know that technically that is completely incorrect. It’s just a mental hiccup on my part. I have minor issues with reversing 6 and 9 sometimes and I occasionally say revolver when I mean automatic. Crossed circuits I guess.

If anything else going on is technically incorrect or stated poorly, please feel free to comment. I always want to learn and improve.Similar Posts:

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