Massad Ayoob's Blog, page 5

GUNSMITH CONCURS ON PET PEEVE

I’ve told people for years that slamming an auto pistol’s slide closed on an empty chamber is abusive to the gun, and particularly so with the popular 1911 pistol. Over on the Wilson Combat channel, Bill Wilson and Ken Hackathorn have said the same.  Ain’t too many folks know more about 1911s than those two experts. […]

LEARNING FROM EL LOBO SOLO

The Texas Rangers developed a reputation as highly competent gunfighters. One such was Manuel Gonzaullas, who soon earned the nickname Lone Wolf during his service from the early 1920s to the early ‘50s. Gonzaullas was very much a “gun guy,” finishing his career with a collection of some 580 firearms, many of them souvenirs confiscated […]

MEDIUM POWER CAN GET THE JOB DONE

When I was young, “stopping power” was much discussed, whether for the game fields or the streets. Times change, theories change, and ammunition for the smaller caliber guns has become more effective – though of course, those improvements also improve the effectiveness of more powerful firearms. As a young cop in the times when I […]

THE FUTURE OF THE GUN

Frank Miniter, both a contributor to Forbes  and a field editor for American Hunter, wrote the book “The Future of the Gun” eleven years ago.  I came to it late but I’m glad I finally found it. I have seldom read such a thorough compendium of exposing the BS of the “gun control” movement, debunking argument by specious argument with […]

WISDOM FROM MARK SEIDEN

Mark Seiden, now retired, was one of the very best lawyers I ever worked with in 46 years as an expert witness for the courts.  A few years ago, he sat for an interview with Gila Hayes of the Armed Citizens Legal Defense Network (armedcitizensnetwork.org).  In the interview he speaks, from experience, about what are and are […]

SHOOTING SPORTING CLAYS

As a young shooter, I tried trap and skeet shooting.  I went bird hunting since childhood, so I figured it would be useful. It was, though I wasn’t particularly good at it. I didn’t stay with it because at 23 I became a law enforcement firearms instructor, and clay discs hurtling across the sky didn’t […]

VERA KOO ON PUBLIC SPEAKING

In NRA Action Pistol competition, Vera Koo was one of the greats.  Before she retired from I lost count of how many times she won High Woman there, and frankly she beat most of the men, too, including yours truly. But public speaking was not her game. She writes movingly about how she overcame her […]

HOPE FOR AMERICA’S YOUTH

Lest you think all of America’s youth have been corrupted and vitiated by ultra-liberal BS, behold Lydia Gunter, age 17. Taught gun safety along with other important life values by wise parents and grandparents, you see her in this video shooting a slug-loaded 12 gauge semiautomatic shotgun for her first time.  She weighs only a […]

GOAL!

GOAL, the Gun Owners Action League of Massachusetts, has been one of the most tireless and determined grassroots firearms owners civil rights organizations in the country for a very long time. Earlier this month, they celebrated the anniversary of “the shot heard round the world” that was the genesis of the Colonies becoming The Cradle […]

THE ANATOMY OF EVIL

I’m writing this in Texas where I’m finishing up a four-week teaching tour. En route, the Evil Princess and I listened to the audio version of Dr. Michael Stone’s book “The Anatomy of Evil.” It was, by and large, a goodread listen.  Stone does an outstanding job of exploring the neuroscience of violent behavior. Replete with case […]