Articles by Herschel Smith

News & Observer:

A trio of Democrats want North Carolina to follow California’s footsteps in governing gun safety.

Uh huh.  “Misfires.”  Say, that can’t have anything to do with keeping your booger hook of the bang switch, can it?  Yea, I thought so.

The problem is that such lies and misdirects and misrepresentations are useful for rubes, idiots, soccer moms, and progs.  North Carolina is full of them.

The point is that there is a low level civil war going on against liberty, and if we want to see this escalate into a moderate to high level civil war, this is how you do it.

Here’s a warning to North Carolina legislators.  Don’t do it.  I have no doubt that within the current framework this will die.  But if the legislature is handed to the statists, I have no doubt that they will make hay.

Roy Cooper is a statist extraordinaire, and he’s never seen an infringement, destruction of liberty, tax or new law he doesn’t love.  Elections have consequences.

Ammoland:

The Virginia State Police are way, way behind on entering CHP holder information into the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN).

What that means is that if you are stopped by law enforcement, who for some reason doesn’t trust the validity of your CHP, and the officer queries VCIN, he might be told incorrectly that your permit doesn’t exist (if new) or has expired!

Supposedly the VCIN system puts up a message warning officer’s that it’s data is not to be blindly trusted, but I’m hearing some officers are doing so anyway and there have been arrests. If the VCIN information isn’t 100% accurate, why are the State Police even providing it? That’s a recipe for disaster.

What an awesome way to lose the mandate of heaven (to recapitulate a phrase MV used so often)!  Impose an unconstitutional system of people to have to get state permission to exercise a God-given right, fail to catalog that permission, and then arrest them anyway.

I don’t want to hear one word about sympathy or support for LEOs.  LEOs in Virginia have either [a] done this themselves, or [b] allow their colleagues to do this with impunity.  Thus either way they are responsible for this evil act, each and every one of them, individually.

Capital Press:

A grizzly bear researcher for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is recovering from serious injuries following a bear attack in Montana, and a rancher says one or more grizzlies killed two llamas 12 days earlier elsewhere in the state.

Amber Kornak, 28, of Libby, Mont., was working alone near a stream in the Cabinet Mountains south of Libby. She was collecting grizzly hair samples from bushes for DNA testing, said Jennifer Strickland, a USFWS spokeswoman.

Kornak, a seasonal employee, was just a couple of weeks into her “dream job” when she was attacked from behind, suffering two skull fractures and severe cuts to her head, neck and back, her friend, Jenna Hemer, wrote in a GoFundMe post soliciting money for her recovery.

Kornak sprayed the bear with repellent and walked two miles to her vehicle and drove for help, Hemer wrote.

She underwent four hours of surgery at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, including removal of bone fragments from her brain and is home facing a long recovery, Hemer wrote.

“She aims to make a full recovery and get back to doing what she’s passionate about, working with grizzly bears and other wildlife,” Hemer wrote.

Strickland said Kornak was following USFWS work protocols, and that those protocols are being reviewed.

Officials speculated noise from the stream may have prevented Kornak from hearing the bear approach, the Associated Press reported.

Dillon Tabish, a Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman, said the incident is under investigation and the department will confirm the type of bear. Generally, black bears are less prone to attack humans than grizzlies.

The incident follows another attack 12 days earlier more than 100 miles southeast of Libby, when a grizzly or grizzlies broke through a fence at mid-day and killed two trained pack llamas worth about $4,500, the rancher who owned them told Capital Press. Ten other llamas were not injured, he said.

He asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals from environmental extremists.

Since the attack, he’s been locking his llamas in his barn at night and is installing electric fence to protect them and his family, he said. Their nearest neighbor is a quarter-mile away.

“We’ve had grizzlies in our yard occasionally but this was the first kill and it’s spooky to have them come in broad daylight,” he said. “We don’t go too far away from the house without bear spray. I used to carry a Ruger 454, but it gets heavy and I think spray is more effective.”

Thanks, but I’ll keep a gun with me in the bush.  I grok that a big bore gun gets heavy.  But what’s your life worth, sir?

As for the poor researcher, get a gun, dear.  And don’t go out in the bush alone.

And no, TCJ correspondent Fred didn’t send this one to me.

I guess under these circumstances a 7.62X39 will work as well as a 5.56X45.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (localmemphis.com) – – An East Memphis man is not facing charges, after Memphis Police say he opened fire on two burglars in his home.

Local 24 News learned the two men later died from their injuries.  The shooting happened around 7:00 p.m. Friday in the 1700 block of Myrna Lane, close to Overton High School.

The homeowner told Local 24’s Annette Peagler, he believes this break-in started as retaliation towards his friend.  He says one of the suspects came to the home weeks before the shooting claiming that the homeowner’s friend owed him money.

“You know you see your stuff ransacked, your puzzled and you trying to figure out what’s going on,” the homeowner said.

Memphis Police identified the suspects as 28-year-old Azell Witherspoon and 17-year-old Demond Robinson.  The homeowner, who wanted his identity hidden for safety, said he came face to face with the two men inside of his home Friday evening.

“He picks up his weapon, he turned around and pointed it at me,” the homeowner said.

He further explains the gun jammed and that’s when both suspects ran to the kitchen.

“I’m assuming they were trying to go out of my back door so as they go through there I jumped in the closet and get my AK 47,” he said.

When that homeowner came back to the front of the house, he found both suspects on his patio.

“He was shooting aiming at my play cousin, so I just let loose. Not knowing I hit both of them,” the homeowner explained.

I visited Memphis once on a job interview right after college graduation.  I decided never to go back.  Reddit has more.

One idiot comments (because Reddit is a prog-magnet) “So no other gun would have worked?”  Stupid, a handgun would not have been as accurate.

Stupid.

NY Daily News:

“I was trying to figure it out,” Peterson said. “I was scanning for the shooter, looking over the windows, the sidewalk, the rooftop. I thought maybe it was a sniper like in Las Vegas. I just didn’t know.”

Peterson said he took a tactical position because that is what he was trained to do. While he was trying to locate the shooter, multiple people from inside the school were calling 911.

Hey, here’s a hint for you.  People keep saying you did nothing because you did nothing.  And I find it disgraceful that if you had just heard more shots you might have been able to locate the shooter.  What are you saying – that you actually would have chosen for the shooter to have discharged his weapon more than he did?

Pursuant to the FedGov’s rules regarding product reviews, I should mention that Luke at Craft Holsters sent me a very nice holster to review.  I’ll also mention that I had been interested in a nice leather holster for a 1911 and had even contacted another holster company who, after hearing about what I wanted, offered to discuss it with me and build a custom holster for my Dan Wesson 1911 Guardian (which is a Commander size pistol).

I don’t like Kydex holsters as readers know.  I like leather and Cordura, and have enough tactical stuff to last a very long time.  I needed something nice.

Luke worked with me to select the right one for my pistol, and it’s absolutely beautiful.  The leather is exquisite, the stitching precise, it’s a two-cant position holster, and it’s specifically molded to fit the gun.  Oh, by the way, I like having a retention strap.  I wouldn’t have a holster without a retention device.

Based on what I’ve seen I can highly recommend Craft Holsters.  I have a drawer full of mediocre holsters.  This one is a keeper.  Sort of like a neighbor said to me once concerning jeeps and 4WD trucks.  Jeep drivers have 4WD.  As a truck owner, you have a “Gentleman’s 4WD.”

This is a “Gentleman’s holster.”

WFLA:

LAKELAND, FL (WFLA) – A 2-year-old child was burned by a flash-distraction device when Lakeland Police Department SWAT team members executed a search warrant on a home known for continuous drug activity on Thursday.

According to police, members of the SWAT team executed a high-risk search warrant at 1103 West 9th Street.

Once at the home, SWAT officers knocked and verbally announced that they were executing a search warrant, as per protocol.

Officers entered the home and cleared the room, not seeing anyone inside.

The small room was cluttered with clothing and furniture items, including old mattresses leaning against a wall.

With no one in sight, a less lethal distraction device was deployed by an officer.

Officers used a noise-flash diversion product.

As the officer was backing out of the room, a 2-year-old child, who is believed to have been hiding in the mattresses, began walking toward the device as it was activated.

The officer immediately grabbed the child and took him outside to the SWAT team medic.

The child suffered third-degree burns and was taken to Lakeland Regional Health, then Tampa General Hospital.

There is a very small set of circumstances in which I believe that a military raid is warranted.  One such example would be a hostage situation, but even then I prefer to see men employ their wits and negotiate their way to a peaceful resolution.  And any team that ever attempts to do something like this should be a professional team who has trained day and night with the other team members in shoot houses for a couple of years.

My own son told me that he spent so much time with his own unit – living with them, eating with them, shooting with them, room clearing with them – that they didn’t even have to speak to each other and they all knew what the other team members were going to do next.  His NCO told them all if one of the Marines in a fire team gets into some kind of trouble then the whole team had better be in trouble because the fire team had better not be split up.  Ever.  If you’re not trained to that level of proficiency, then you shouldn’t be doing this sort of thing – ever, under any circumstances.

Finally, I am a Christian libertarian.  I don’t believe in a militaristic police state or SWAT raids or the so-called “war on drugs.”  Evidence gathering and taking people into custody isn’t a good enough reason to breach the doors and force your way into property that doesn’t belong to you.  Old fashioned police work with detectives is good enough to gather evidence the classic way and also to ascertain whether children or the person of interest is in the domicile, when they come and go, and when is the best time to effect arrest.

This wasn’t it.  As for the Lakeland police SWAT team, it’s my hope that you see the toddler every day for the rest of your lives in your mind, and in your dark dreams during sleepless nights.  I hope not a day goes by in your miserable lives that you don’t hear the screams of a burning child.

Military Times:

Using a mid-length gas system on an M4A1 carbine extends the life of the weapon system and increases the weapon’s performance over a carbine-length gas system, according to a detailed study by Naval Surface Warfare Center — Crane, obtained by Military Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The Navy’s Crane center is responsible for testing, evaluating, procuring and managing the life-cycle of U.S. special operations forces’ weapon systems. So, naturally, they tested the mid-length gas system on M4A1 carbines at the behest of Army Special Operations Command.

This study may not come as a complete shock to civilian shooting aficionados and U.S. special operations forces who customize their M4 variants, but it does offer data to back up what those communities have believed for some time.

The money quote is this: ” … but the M4 designs were crunched down to fit a 14.5-inch barrel.”  And yet it didn’t have to be that way.  My guns are all mid-length gas systems, and yours probably are as well.

As I’ve said, when you modify Stoner’s design you’d better be careful.  He was a good engineer.  Before modifying his design you need to be just as good an engineer as he was.

And it’s stated in the article and almost goes without saying that none of this is a shock to most of the gun community today.  Once again the civilian gun community leads the way and shows the military what to do.

Via reader Ned, Fox31:

DENVER — An FBI agent allegedly dropped his gun at a bar and another patron was shot in the leg early Saturday. Investigators said it appeared to be an accidental shooting.

Denver police said they were called to a report of a shooting at 2201 Lawrence Street at 12:45 a.m.

A woman who said she witnessed and recorded the shooting with her cell phone said it happened at Mile High Spirits Distillery and Tasting Bar.

In the video, a man can be seen doing a back flip, during which a gun falls out of the back of his waistband. The gun appears to fire when the man picks up the weapon.

“It appears an off-duty Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agent was dancing at a night club when his firearm became dislodged from its waistband holster and fell onto the floor.  When the agent retrieved his handgun an unintended discharge occurred, another patron was struck by a bullet in the lower leg,” a statement from Denver police said.

The woman who recorded the video, who wanted to only be identified as Julie, said she smelled gun powder and saw a person bleeding.

“Everyone was kind of shocked after it happened because [the agent] kind of put his gun back away and then he walked away,” Julie said.

The video is remarkable.

I hate it when that happens to me.  I remember once I was dancing at a bar, all liquored up with a loose, unholstered gun stuck in my drawers, and I was creating a new dance called “Herschel’s Grabastic Getdown.”  Well, as the story goes, I jumped way up in the air to Van Halen’s “Jump,” grabbing my ass on the way down every time.

When I did it the last time I shot some dude.  I say it was the last time because I didn’t dance anymore after that.  I just walked away.

Sadly, the dance never hit it big.

Following up this lengthy discussion in the article and also in comments, this video is quite instructive and informative.