Massad Ayoob's Blog, page 48

THOUGHTS ON THE CHAUVIN APPEAL

When I wrote here about former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin’s conviction for murder in the death of George Floyd, I mentioned that I thought the defense had established reasonable doubt.  Many here agreed, but some did not. John Kass, my favorite columnist in the Chicago Tribune, feels Chauvin was guilty.  But he also questions […]

WHEN FICTION WRITERS GET GUNS WRONG…

…they seldom apologize.  I offer you an exception. I enjoy the Lucas Davenport novels of John Sandford, and his parallel Virgil Flowers series.  There’s some appropriate humor; Sandford has a way with words that I appreciate; and in his latest “Prey” novel, he apologizes for past mistakes in an after-note. After apologizing for referring to a .40 […]

COLT’S PYTHON

In my last entry here, I reviewed Colt expert Gurney Brown’s beautiful book “The Seven Serpents.” Here, I present his follow-up, an homage to the most widely recognized of those Colt “snake guns,” the Python. It was, in its time, the flagship of the Colt fleet and widely recognized as the “Cadillac of Revolvers.” It earned a […]

SEVEN SERPENTS

After a depressing week of discussing grim topics of death and murder convictions, let’s talk about guns for a while. On my desk as I write this is a book that came out six years ago, which I only got around to reading now: “Seven Serpents” by Gurney Brown, who among his many other credentials […]

MORE ON THE CHAUVIN CASE

Our last blog entry brought up lots of interesting comments and info. Let’s delve into some questions. Why would the cops hold him down for so long? Perhaps because, as even the state’s expert witnesses and cops admitted, sometimes dangerous men in custody feign compliance so they can lull the arresting officers off guard and attack […]

THOUGHTS ON THE CHAUVIN VERDICT

The “guilty on all counts” verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd was probably a fait accompli. The media had become something of a lynch mob. Before the jury returned their verdict, the President of the United States publicly prayed with Floyd’s family for “a just verdict,” and it’s understandable what […]

NAWTHUN V. SOUTHRON

Ah, the memes of the Internet. Some, of course, are stupid. But some have a ring of truth. I’ve seen several lately poking (usually good-natured) fun at those south of the Mason-Dixon line. Back in the day, the gun culture had a bit of division along those lines.  Circa 1950, gun expert Bob Nichols opined that […]

GOODBYE, PRINCE PHILIP

In his 99 years, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, fought for his country with distinction in World War II.  Thanks to sayingimages.com for reminding us that Philip said, “A gun is no more dangerous than a cricket bat in the hands of a madman.” RIP sir.

IN THE “GUN CONTROL” GAME, THE RACE CARD BELONGS IN THE DISCARD PILE

The gun prohibitionists have long played the race card.  For anyone with logic and a sense of history, it’s clear that in this game, the race card is not a winning hand.Some of the Woke are lately comparing contemporary American police to the slave patrols (slave catchers) of the antebellum South.  The police are not amused.  […]

WHAT’S UP AT MASSAD AYOOB GROUP

Hey, gang, it seemed like time to update you on our 2021 schedule. 2020 was our worst year ever, with roughly half of our classes postponed into this year. The reason? COVID-19, of course. Some of our regular venues were closed to outsiders (or temporarily closed to everyone) by the edict of the given state, […]