Massad Ayoob's Blog, page 7

RECONSIDERING POWERING DOWN

Remembering my recently deceased friend John Taffin I was reminded how over the years, he shot the hell out of super-powerful handguns like the .500 Linebaugh and hot-loaded .44 Magnum, and wound up with injured hands and wrists. In his writing, he warned the rest of us about it, and set an example by publicly […]

REVOLVERS

I’m preparing to teach my once-a-year Revolver Only class in Slidell, Louisiana very soon. https://massadayoobgroup.com/event/ma... . There may even be a couple of openings if  you can make it on short notice. I love doing this…teaching what is becoming a lost art. The semiautomatic pistol dominates on firing lines and in police holsters (and most […]

REMEMBERING JOHN TAFFIN

My friend John Taffin passed a couple of days ago, after a period of ill health. He was 86. John was one of the longest-standing gun writers in the business. He was particularly fond of older-style revolvers and lever action rifles. His work appeared regularly in GUNS and American Handgunner magazine. A devout Christian, he […]

THOUGHTS ON WOMEN AND GUNS

From an article in Backwoods Home magazine a while back:  https://www.backwoodshome.com/women-a...

WISE ADVICE ON GUNPOINT

From our good friend Greg, read here.

INVISIBLE ARMIES

Those who pooh-pooh the Second Amendment and the Minutemen who were the genesis of our nation tell us that ordinary citizens with AR15s and such would have no hope against a serious military force, whether foreign or rogue domestic.  They would do well to read “Invisible Armies” by Max Boot. Subtitled “An Epic History of […]

GOOD GUNS CHEAP

There are some good firearms deals out there these days. “Good guns cheap.”  America’s 800,000 some-odd cops trade in their old guns every few years and, except for agencies who are afraid of their guns ending up in criminal hands so they destroy them instead of trading them in, they end up on the law-abiding […]

THERE’S A TIME TO TALK TO THE PROSECUTOR

The defense strategy of “never talk to the other side” makes sense for an attorney representing a guilty client.  It’s often diametrically opposed to the best strategy for getting charges dropped on a client who shot someone in legitimate self-defense. Explained here, with examples including some of my own cases. From the online edition of […]

RETURN OF THE FIRING SQUAD?

The death penalty is a controversial issue, obviously.  I’ve seen enough wrongful convictions that I can’t advocate for capital punishment. The same is true of Dr. Jim Williams, a friend and one of my fourth level graduates. However, as an MD he is practical enough to realize that if people are going to be killed […]

ANOTHER GREAT GUN GUY PASSES

Last month I lost one of my best friends. Nolan Santy was 87 when he passed, a genuinely good man and one of the nicest guys in the gun world. Maybe in the world, period. I met him when I was a teenager and he was the master gunsmith at one of the all time […]