Articles by Herschel Smith

Falko Ernst writing for International Crisis Group:

Grillo is here to kill.

Why? He can’t express a reason beyond that he’s been given a name and a face. Maybe he doesn’t need to explain any further than that. Maybe he just needs to be able to take orders from the cerro, the hills overlooking Tierra Caliente, the Hot Land, as this Michoacán region is known. Up on the cerro, the crime lords decide life and death for the people below.

Philosophy aside, Grillo kills because he’s paid for it, micha antes, micha después, half before, half after. It’s a performance bonus to complement the base salary of a sicario, or hitman, which is close to nothing.

[ … ]

On the Saturday before he goes to the park, Grillo is given a name and handed a photo showing a face, as usual. Then he spends the night in a safe house, a non-descript shanty on the outskirts of town, one in a warren of grey brick dwellings, unpainted and unfinished. Here, in the domain of the economically crushed, he’s right at home.

Inside, there’s just a bare, stained mattress with no sheets. The next day, he putters around until early evening, staring at the no-paint, no-plaster walls, wasting time on Facebook, uploading a post honouring his santita, his little saint, a death dispenser’s spiritual partner of choice. La Santa Muerte. The Holy Death.

[ … ]

Grillo’s got the face’s photo, but he needs confirmation. So he says the face’s name, when he’s just a few arm’s lengths away. The man turns around, and that seals his fate. Grillo delivers the death sentence with two shots to the face – always two shots. He’s got to be sure.

The face goes down, and Grillo leans over it. It’s part of what he does, his custom. He reenacts it for me later in the dimly lit, dusty track on the way up to his barrio, his neighbourhood in his birthplace of Apatzingán – a town known as La A in local narco-parlance – where we sit by the iron cross erected for another of his victims, struck down in exactly the same way.

There’s no life coming back to this one.

[ … ]

Grillo has a reputation in this part of town. And even if he didn’t, most folks wouldn’t want his type around. The crystal meth has gotten the better of him, his eyes beginning to retreat into his skull, his naturally dark skin fading to an ashen grey, paper-thin, precariously suspended over protruding cheekbones, threatening to rupture at any moment.

[ … ]

“Anywhere else in the world, psychopaths are a problem. But here, they’re an asset”, an adviser to the group tells me. Grillo is valuable to them – a psychopath perhaps, but a useful one.

Not to worry, I’m certain that there are no warlords or killers in any of the good folk coming across the border on a daily basis.  As Jeb Bush said, “they come for love.”  And I’m certain that there are no war refugees in the crowds either.

As I foretold, the troops at the border aren’t armed because they aren’t under arming orders and do not have border security as their mission.  But even if they did, they should never use weapons and the borders should be flung wide open.  If you don’t think so, you’re a hater and a racist.  As I’m sure you’ve been told many times.

Buckeye Firearms:

Earlier this month, the City of Toledo announced a new policy that says it will only purchase firearms from “responsible” gun companies. In order to determine which companies are “responsible,” city officials say they will ask six questions of manufacturers:

Those questions are:

• Do you manufacture assault weapons for civilian use?
• Do you sell assault weapons for civilian use?
• Which firearms does your company agree to not sell to civilians?
• Do you require your dealers to conduct background checks?
• Does your company have a plan in place to invest in gun and ammunition-tracing technologies?
• Do you use, at a minimum, industry best practices for inventory control and transactions?

Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz says he hopes other cities will follow his lead, given that the city’s $150,000 annual budget for firearms, ammunition and parts is not likely to put a major dent in manufacturers’ bottom lines all by itself.

To my knowledge there has been no public response from a manufacturer to the policy, but I have a few suggestions.

First, it is interesting to note that the city did not say what answers would be considered to be “successful,” or how many answers a company has to get “correct.” But one can hazard a guess as to what they want to hear. And thanks to the poor wording of their questions, it is likely most manufacturers can tell them exactly what they want to hear, even if they sell the wildly-popular modern sporting rifles.

“Do you manufacture assault weapons for civilian use?” If you’re a manufacturer of AR-15s, for example, you can honestly answer “no.” Semi-automatic firearms are NOT “assault weapons.”

“Do you sell assault weapons for civilian use?” Again, if you sell AR-15s to law-abiding citizens, for example, you can honestly answer “no.” Semi-automatic firearms are NOT “assault weapons.”

“Which firearms does your company agree to not sell to civilians?” A fitting and truthful answer to this question could simply be, “Those prohibited by state and or Federal law.”

“Do you require your dealers to conduct background checks?” Once again, a truthful answer is simply, “We follow all Federal and state laws.”

“Does your company have a plan in place to invest in gun and ammunition-tracing technologies?” This is, presumably, a question referring to unproven micro-stamping, or so-called “ballistic fingerprinting” – a technique that has repeatedly failed in test, and that could be easily defeated by a criminal. Once again, a truthful answer is simply, “We follow all Federal and state laws.”

“Do you use, at a minimum, industry best practices for inventory control and transactions?” The answer? You guessed it. “We follow all Federal and state laws.”

So many manufacturers could probably answer the questions and still win contracts. But I’d like to suggest another idea …

I like his suggestion for “another idea” better.  Just say no.

Do not sell firearms of any kind to the City of Toledo, at any time, for any reason whatsoever.

I don’t like the classification of something as an “assault weapon,” any more than I like the gun rights crowd (us) trying to argue the contrary, i.e., that there is no such thing as an “assault weapon” or that AR-15s aren’t “weapons of war.”  Virtually every weapon, from bolt action rifles, to shotguns, to revolvers, to rocks and spears, have been weapons of war, and all weapons can be used to assault someone or some position.

Don’t argue semantics.  When we do that we just adopt the language framework of the enemy.  Just refuse to sell the firearms to the Toledo police department.  It’s for their own good.  After all, if the cops have guns, they’ll just execute a no-knock raid and cause some unsuspecting homeowner to think there’s a break-in, ending with the imprisonment of the homeowner.

Or something else nefarious like that.

WSOCTV.com:

“Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us that we should not protect individuals,” Rev. Don Stewart said.

[ … ]

It’s a decision the church said it wrestled with

[ … ]

Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker said the chaos of an active shooter situation would be tough for an officer, let alone for a civilian, to deal with.

“I’m not a big fan of having private people inside churches or schools that are armed simply because first responders will not know who is the bad guy and who is the good guy,” Swecker said.

This is a remarkable and sad tale on the state of affairs within the Christian community, but also a recapitulation of what we already know about law enforcement.

First of all, if the church “wrestled” with this decision, the church has a poor teacher.  Framing this as being allowed to do something not expressly forbidden in the Scriptures is wrongheaded way to look at it, and theologically ignorant.

We’ve discussed this many times before, but it bears repeating.

The Holy writ is a unity, with Christ as the scarlet thread running throughout.  The words of the O.T. are no more in contradiction with Christ than the balance of the N.T.  There is progressive revelation and development of the covenant, but there isn’t any embarrassing contradiction.  We needn’t turn to obscure passages or tangential concerns to justify Biblical self defense.  As we’ve noted before, the basis for it is found in the Decalogue.

I am afraid there have been too many centuries of bad teaching endured by the church, but it makes sense to keep trying.  As I’ve explained before, the simplest and most compelling case for self defense lies in the decalogue.  Thou shall not murder means thou shall protect life.

God’s law requires [us] to be able to defend the children and helpless.  “Relying on Matthew Henry, John Calvin and the Westminster standards, we’ve observed that all Biblical law forbids the contrary of what it enjoins, and enjoins the contrary of what it forbids.”  I’ve tried to put this in the most visceral terms I can find.

God has laid the expectations at the feet of heads of families that they protect, provide for and defend their families and protect and defend their countries.  Little ones cannot do so, and rely solely on those who bore them.  God no more loves the willing neglect of their safety than He loves child abuse.  He no more appreciates the willingness to ignore the sanctity of our own lives than He approves of the abuse of our own bodies and souls.  God hasn’t called us to save the society by sacrificing our children or ourselves to robbers, home invaders, rapists or murderers. Self defense – and defense of the little ones – goes well beyond a right.  It is a duty based on the idea that man is made in God’s image.  It is His expectation that we do the utmost to preserve and defend ourselves when in danger, for it is He who is sovereign and who gives life, and He doesn’t expect us to be dismissive or cavalier about its loss.

And concerning John Calvin’s comments on this subject:

We do not need to prove that when a good thing is commanded, the evil thing that conflicts with it is forbidden.  There is no one who doesn’t concede this.  That the opposite duties are enjoined when evil things are forbidden will also be willingly admitted in common judgment.  Indeed, it is commonplace that when virtues are commended, their opposing vices are condemned.  But we demand something more than what these phrases commonly signify.  For by the virtue of contrary to the vice, men usually mean abstinence from that vice.  We say that the virtue goes beyond this to contrary duties and deeds.  Therefore in this commandment, “You shall not kill,” men’s common sense will see only that we must abstain from wronging anyone or desiring to do so.  Besides this, it contains, I say, the requirement that we give our neighbor’s life all the help we can … the purpose of the commandment always discloses to us whatever it there enjoins or forbids us to do” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. 1, Book 2, Chapter viii, Part 9).

If you’re willing to sacrifice the safety and health of your wife or children to the evils of abuse, kidnapping, sexual predation or death, God isn’t impressed with your fake morality.  Capable of stopping it and choosing not to, you’re no better than a child molester, and I wouldn’t allow you even to be around my grandchildren.

It’s not that the Scriptures don’t expressly forbid self defense, but rather, they command it on your behalf and on behalf of those who cannot do so themselves.  It is an ordinance from the Almighty.  This is true whether the state approves of your self defense or not.

As for Former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker, he is an evil man.  His position is that for no other reason than potential confusion among respondents to the crisis, he opposes self defense.  He’d rather see dead bodies and have Hazmat on the scene to clean up the blood than see confused LEOs when they get to the scene of a shooting.

It takes a special kind of hardness of heart to say such a thing.  He will suffer for this belief one day, but until then, ignore and even avoid such men.  They are dangerous and deadly wherever they go, whatever they do.

David Codrea:

Things have not gotten better, as WND.com reports. The Motion Picture Association of America has given lead actor Kevin Sorbo’s new film “The Reliant” an “R” rating, ensuring many families that don’t know any better will not let their children see the film.

The reason? Executive producer (and president of the United States Concealed Carry Association) Tim Schmidt offers his view:

“It seems the MPAA gave ‘The Reliant’ an R-rating due to their discomfort with how the movie depicts the responsible use of a firearm by a pre-teen boy. This boy saved the innocent lives of his own family members! It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Well it makes perfect sense to me.  It’s what progressives do.  Light is called darkness, darkness is called light.

Sort of like what Facebook has done to conservative views on their website, while at the same time, Facebook allowed a child to be sold in a post.  Yes.  You read that right.  Facebook allowed a child to be sold in a post, while focusing on and banning conservative alternative media.

Via WRSA, this article is a nice summary of what I take to be the delivered wisdom on the subject.  I’ll let the readers peruse the subject material and make comments, but this one graph is worth the work to develop it.

While Pete focuses on the fact that peaks out at about 20″ (and properly so), I’ve usually taken the popularity of 18″ barrels as evidence that there are tradeoffs, and those additional 2″ means added weight to the cantilever for very little increase in meaningful muzzle velocity.

At any rate, take note that your 16″ barrels (or shorter, 14.5″ with a pinned flash hider) are near a flatline in performance, and that the very short barrels on pistol ARs are meant only for CQB.

Each tool in its own shop.  They all have a purpose.

News from Oklahoma:

Hunter Scales was sitting in a deer stand in Southern Oklahoma last weekend when his semi automatic rifle went off twice, hitting him in the stomach and thigh.

He’d forgotten to make sure the gun was on safety.

Hunter’s family says he fell nearly 25 feet from the stand. Thankfully, his brother was nearby and called 911.

He’s still recovering tonight in a Tulsa hospital.

Captain Wade Farrar with the Oklahoma Department Of Wildlife says many people use these types of firearms to hunt animals like hogs or deer.

“It is becoming more common. We’ve taken the magazine restriction off of the 22 caliber versions of the assault rifles and that’s making it a lot more common for kids and things like that to hunt with,” Capt. Farrar said.

He says although the AR- Rifles are lightweight, they have a lot more parts than other rifles.

“Hunting with an AR-Rifle is more complicated. There’s a lot more moving parts. It does have a safety that is very easy to use. You have to flip a lever. It points towards fire when it’s off of safety and safe when its on safety.”

Farrar doesn’t think semi-automatic rifles are any more dangerous than other weapons, but he admits this type of rifle is still pretty powerful.

“The only way a semi-automatic rifle would be any more dangerous to hunt with than a bolt action rifle or a more conventional type of hunting rifle, it`s that every time you pull the trigger, if there`s ammunition in it, the gun is going to fire.”

Congratulations to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife for the stupidest article of the month.  This is an ignominious and shameful award.

Other rifles have safeties.  My daughter, who is a nurse practitioner, sees hunting accidents on a regular basis, from folks getting shot to guys going to sleep in deer stands and falling out.  Every accident is potentially life threatening, and more so if, say, you’re shooting a .270 Win than if you’re shooting a 5.56mm / .223.

This advice above is bordering on completely irresponsible, with the hint that you’re safe if you use a bolt action rifle rather than an AR.  Message to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife: all rifles can be mishandled, all rifles have safeties, all rifles require proper training, and it only takes one shot to make a kill, whether a deer or yourself.  You don’t need followup shots on your own torso to kill yourself.

Morons.

Via WRSA, MHN has a very interesting and riveting take on what forcible confiscation of guns would look like in America.  Actually, I think it would be much worse, and I’ve said so and described it before.

However, take this with a grain of salt.  This is what unrestricted warfare against American gun owners would look like.  As I’ve said many times before, this isn’t how it will go down.

It will be a gradual drip, drip, drip of increasing infringements, all codified and substantiated by the court system as legitimate, mind you, but all designed to target gun manufacturers and gun owners with increasing difficulty.  Consider this.

The Detroit City Council approved a “Bullet Bill” gun control resolution Wednesday with a unanimous vote.

The resolution limits ammunition amounts that can be bought while requiring a mental health background check on buyers of ammo in Wayne County. Commissioner Reggie Reg Davis of the 6th district spearheaded the resolution.

I recently covered this, and at least some readers guffawed.  But my prediction has been proven out.  Then consider this.

S9191 “requires a person applying for a license to carry or possess a pistol or revolver or a renewal of such license to consent to having his or her social media accounts and search engine history reviewed and investigated for certain posts and/or searches over a period of 1-3 years prior to the approval of such application or renewal,” the draft bill states.

If the bill passes, investigators would be able to look for posts or searches that contain threats to the health or safety of others; intentions to carry out an act of terrorism; or commonly known profane slurs or biased language describing the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person.

Then consider this.

Neither Dantos nor any other official at the hearing on Baatz’s petition to recover the pistol ever told Baatz, who represented himself, that he had to provide some sort of evidence of ownership, Lazarus observed.

Instead, she wrote, Dantos “abruptly” ended the hearing by telling Baatz, “There is no way I’m giving you that gun back. Not happening. Your petition is denied.”

You’d better have records, boys.  You’d better not ever have to use your firearm in self defense.  You’d better register your weapon with the state, and you’d better watch what you say and how you say at all times, even in private.

Gun manufacturers had better never issue public stock or their stockholders could shut them down.  The banks are another story, and gun manufacturers had better never take out a loan for expansion or building of any kind.

You get the point, I think.  From money, to driver’s licenses, to professional licenses, to statements made in the workplace or over the internet, FedGov is watching you (as is the local government, apparently).

The intent is to boil the frog, not go to war with him.  Do you understand?  Don’t be stolid.  Be thinking men and women.

A truly Christian holiday, it is.

I am thankful for so many things I will forget some of them.  I am thankful for my family, for my work, for my well-being, for my friends, and for the kind providence the Lord has bestowed upon me this last year.  It is undeserved, which of course means that it is grace (unmerited favor).

But most of all I am thankful for the vicarious atonement of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and for His gracious love for me and mine.

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Townhall:

TOMS shoe company plans to donate $5 million to various gun control groups. The company also launched a campaign to mobilize their customers to support the gun control agenda.

One of TOMS’ campaigns includes a postcard campaign. Customers can input their name and address on their website and the company will send a postcard to their representative.

Here’s what the postcards say:

Dear (representative),

More than 90% of Americans support universal background checks.

And I’m one of them.

As your constituent, I urge you to stand with me and pass this life-saving legislation.

Let’s end gun violence together.

Sincerely, (your name)

The company’s founder, Blake Mycoskie, came to the decision shortly after the tragic shooting in Thousand Oaks, California, not far from his family’s home. His wife, Heather Lang, called Mycoskie in fear.

Isn’t that sweet.  A “common” cause.

Never heard of them.  I wear Oboz, even into the office.  But I’m glad I’ve heard of them now, and I note that they have declared themselves my eternal enemy.

Dean Weingarten:

With no round in the chamber and no magazine in the pistol, the Glock was rendered useless, if Mark Uptain ever got to it.

Uptain had bear spray holstered on his hip. Chubon did not recall Uptain using the bear spray to the point where Chubon fled to get help. Uptain emptied the bear spray at some point during the fight. The 250-pound grizzly sow had evidence of bear spray on her. Mark Uptain was killed in spite of the bear spray.

Carrying a semi-automatic pistol with an empty chamber is known as carrying in condition three, terminology used by the renowned gun writer, instructor, and competitor Col. Jeff Cooper.   It is also known as “Israeli Carry”, because it is how Israeli soldiers are trained to carry semi-automatic pistols.

It can work well if the user trains to always load a round from the magazine when the pistol is drawn from the holster.  As a safety feature, if an untrained person accesses the pistol and tries to fire it, they may not know how to load a round into the chamber and can be stymied in their effort to fire the pistol.

First, use guns, don’t rely on bear spray.  Second, a gun is of no use to you if it isn’t on your person and ready to use.  Finally, whatever you may think about having a round chambered, this is one reason I carry 1911s and use the safety.  In one motion I can sweep the safety down as I’m gaining purchase on the gun.