Massad Ayoob's Blog, page 33

ANOTHER GOOD THING ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE

I grew up in New Hampshire and spent most of my life and all of my police time there.  I fled the long winters to the warm South a while ago, but still consider myself a New Hampshireman. Read this. You will see why our friend and ally Professor John Lott is not the only […]

FOR GOODNESS SAKE, VOTE!

President Joe Biden, I‘m told, recently said that the mid-term elections which are upon us are the most important of our lifetimes.  Who am I to dispute a sitting President? They call people like me one-issue voters. No, we are litmus test voters.  We take an issue we know both sides of very well, and […]

AN INSTRUCTIVE BLAST FROM THE PAST

For decades now, I’ve done a series for American Handgunner magazine called “The Ayoob Files” in which we dissect and analyze actual gunfights.  Some are historical, but most are contemporary and include interviews with the survivors. I recently reviewed this one.  That September/October 1991 issue covered a classic and tragic incident in Baton Rouge. A […]

ONE LEARNING PATH

If you don’t follow Greg Ellifretz’s posts, you’re missing out on a treasure trove of good, practical information. He recently reminded me of one of my own pieces from a while back.  Just one guy’s path to learning, a path that guy still treads. 

THAT USEFUL 1911 .45

I’ve shot a lot of things with the 1911 .45, which has pretty much been my favorite handgun since I bonded with my first one at the age of twelve, a Colt produced for the military in 1918. It still works fine.  I’ve shot targets of paper, cardboard, and steel, and critters from woodchucks to […]

SHEDDING LIGHT ON FLASHLIGHTS

I’m never without at least one flashlight, usually two on my person.  We ain’t nocturnal critters.  The person who controls the light need not fear the night. Some good advice on picking a tactically-oriented personal flashlight from my old friend and pistol team-mate Ernest Langdon.

WELL, THAT WAS QUICK

At the Legal Scholars Conference in Dallas at the end of September, one topic of discussion was New York Governor Hochul’s vengeful piece of culture war legislation which, among other things, restricted New Yorkers with formerly unrestricted carry permits to only places of business with signage expressly welcoming people carrying concealed. In effect, it invalidated […]

FICTION BOOK REVIEW, A FEW SPOILERS

I had been seeing “Where the Crawdads Sing” on bookshelves for some time, and recently – desperate for something to read on the plane, and unable to find something to my usual non-fiction taste – bought a copy to read on the plane. I’m not sorry I did. But ever since Samuel Taylor Coleridge defined […]

OF GUNS AND TOYS

It is axiomatic that guns aren’t toys. But guns are FUN. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, more recreational dollars are spent in America on guns and the gun sports than are spent on golf. And we’ve all heard the old saying, “The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.” […]

A USEFUL THING FOR YOU FROM WINCHESTER

I don’t usually reprint manufacturers’ ads and press releases here. I’m going to make an exception for this one. Winchester is now offering something very useful for those of you who teach shooting and firearms safety, whether in a class setting or one-on-one with friends and relatives.  Here it is verbatim, courtesy of Winchester: Winchester® Launches […]