Articles by Herschel Smith

Popular Mechanics:

Defense contractor Textron just unveiled a new rifle at the Modern Day Marine conference. Designed to use so-called “telescoped” ammunition, the new rifle promises a harder-hitting, lighter bullet for America’s ground troops to fire. Whether the U.S. military is ready to embrace all the change a new rifle and ammunition would bring remains to be seen.

Traditional bullet cartridges have a bullet seated roughly halfway inside a brass shell casing, with gunpowder inside the casing. By contrast, the new rifle uses a 6.5-millimeter polymer-cased telescoped bullet. Telescoped rounds feature a bullet completely encased in a polymer shell, like a shotgun, with gunpowder surrounding the bullet in the shell.

The result is a cartridge that doesn’t use brass, a considerable savings in weight. According the Kit Up! blog, telescoped ammunition is about 40 percent lighter than traditional ammunition. Textron could have channeled this weight savings into making lighter ammunition, but instead it chose to make new ammunition that packs a bigger punch. The rifle—and 20 rounds of ammunition—weighs a total of 9.7 pounds. By contrast, the standard M4A1 (pictured above) and 30 rounds of ammunition weigh 8.74 pounds.

Textron claims the new 6.5-millimeter round has 300 percent more energy than the standard U.S. Army bullet, the M855A1. That translates into greater knockdown power against human targets, more armor penetration, and longer range. A heavier bullet and more energy would solve a persistent complaint about the U.S. Army’s M4A1 carbine—that the smaller 5.56-millimeter bullet often requires multiple hits to incapacitate a target and it lacks the range to make accurate long-range shots. The latter has been a particular complaint in Afghanistan, where long-range engagements are common.

Textron’s rifle is a gas-operated, piston-driven rifle that has many familiar features drawn from the M4A1, including a charging handle and gas block. It features military-standard rails for the attachment of devices such as flashlights and lasers, and what appears to be Advanced Armament Corporation flash hider. The front and rear sights, pistol grip, and buttstock are all from firearm accessory manufacturer Magpul.

Well, whatever.  It isn’t clear why the round has more energy.  That could be due to greater bullet mass or bullet velocity or a combination of both.  The mass of the bullet, grains of powder, muzzle velocity and other information are left unsaid.

If it has a higher muzzle velocity, then that will come with side effects such as shooting the barrel rifling out sooner than with the M4.  I could be wrong and commenters may correct me, but my understanding is that the guys who shoot .243 in competition have to be sponsored due to having to change barrels out so frequently (at 4000 FPS the barrels are good for only several hundred rounds and then they have to be replaced to maintain accuracy).

If the bullet has more mass along with more powder to propel it the same velocity as the 5.56 mm (~ 3150 FPS), then it has more recoil which will cause a change in the ability of the shooter to retain sight picture (a huge advantage of the low recoil 5.56 mm).  You don’t get something for nothing.

The 5.56 mm round has ended the lives of many enemy fighters in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.  It has a long history of being a highly proficient round, and most complaints about its effectiveness are due to the inability to properly utilize it.

I’ll stick with the Stoner design, thank you.  If the new cartridge is worth anything, it’ll have to prove its mettle in battle.

Jeremy Streich:

Nonetheless, the conversation must be had: the conversation to amend the Second Amendment. To collapse private gun ownership in a way that is Just and true. So that our lives can have a little less worry, a little less pain.

[ … ]

So what is the answer?

Evolution. Gun’s may never again be the same domestically entwined concept which they have occupied for the last century, but they need not not be invisible. To those who simply enjoy firing the weapon – for sport, hobby, practice – I propose the proliferation of recreational shooting courses. Now what does this mean? If marketed and executed correctly, there can be highly vetted (and highly disciplined) establishments which provide a social scene for people who enjoy the sport. Think of a gym, but instead of exercising your body, you are entering into an exercise of exhilaration, precision, and above all things, marksmanship. At the same time, these courses must be very structured (both physically and abstractly,) adhering to a stringent set of bylaws stamped into each establishment’s foundation.

[ … ]

To conclude, there is no steadfast answer to the pertinent and delicate second Amendment issue before us. Nonetheless, I think there are several partial resolutions that can dam up the leaking reservoir and ultimately propel our country back into a haven of security and social-progress. We cannot be certain how the balloons will inflate, but we do know what color they will be. Maybe it’s the establishment of indoor shooting recreation. The introduction of controlled-environment outdoor hunting. Or even artificially intelligent auto-locking weaponry. Regardless, we can be certain that the world – our world – will soon become a better place for more reasons than one: No more school shootings. No more unnecessary Chicago murders. And the birth of a new industry. The world is constantly changing around us; it’s time to get back to the forgotten Darwinian train of growth and to change with it. It’s time to evolve.

Jeremy Streich is a young author from Georgetown University.

Oh how cute!  A legitimate, full-orbed social Darwinist!  Say it ain’t so?  Are they still teaching that crap in college these days?  I would have thought it would have met its demise along with belief in Santa Claus and the Easter bunny.  Jeremy doesn’t really have much to worry about in his life except learning from his Marxist professors, no matter what he tells you.  Not when he has time to write drivel like this.

But there are problems.  He proposes to “collapse” private gun ownership, but you know he is lying because he doesn’t propose disarming the police.  This evolution he sees on the horizon apparently doesn’t include enough good will that law enforcement isn’t needed.  He just believes in a monopoly of force, what all social Hegelians believe (which is why cultural Marxists are always statists).  Once the evolved elitists have taken power, they must manage the world for the rest of the un-evolved peasants.

He doesn’t consider that I don’t get my right to self defense from the second amendment, so that nullification of said article doesn’t in the least affect my right to bear arms.  He also doesn’t understand that the second amendment has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with personal self defense.  Good Lord.  Do these kids take history courses from anyone other than communists these days?

He also waxes highly emotional over the horrible state of affairs these days, while violent crime is at its lowest in decades.  He sees the world through youthful, uneducated eyes, aware of nothing much but what is going on immediately around him and over the last couple of years, thinking nothing much but what he’s been taught by the Marxists in college.

It would be amusing except for the danger inherent in his views.  He may one day be in a position of power and authority.  After all, such men always seem to rule others.  There is no need to wonder why America is so divided, with wicked men acting upon such a voracious appetite for controlling others.  It begins right here.

Jeremy wants to “collapse” private gun ownership.  Jeremy doesn’t think for a moment about the bloodshed that would cause.  The Jewish Holocaust and Armenian genocide were both predicated on gun confiscations, leading to millions of deaths.  This is one road.  The other is a people who won’t suffer such nonsense, leading to bloody civil war.  Jeremy is okay with at least one of these options, or otherwise hasn’t thought that deeply yet.  Perhaps his history courses haven’t covered any of this.

So here’s a quick note to Jeremy to assist your studies.  You want to collapse private gun ownership?  Any time you’re feeling froggy, Jeremy.  Roll the dice and take your chances.  You don’t make me the least bit nervous.  Get busy, boy.  Any time you’re feeling froggy.

Postscript to Jeremy.  You ought to demand a refund for the courses they’ve taught you at Georgetown.  Postscript to The Hill.  Can’t you do better than this?  What editor made the decision to go with something so random and disconnected, and so philosophically and historically bankrupt as this?

Bearing Arms:

Around 3 a.m. Wednesday, 73-year-old Abraham Venson woke up to an alarm company alerting him to someone breaking into his shed, the same shed that had been broken into months ago.

Venson went outside his home with a gun in hand. As the two robbers ran from his home, Venson saw the second man reach for his waistband. That’s when Venson fired his weapon, striking the man.

Although someone was breaking into his shed, Venson was arrested for the shooting. Under Louisiana law, it is unlawful for you to fire a weapon at someone if  your life is not at risk. It doesn’t matter if they’re stealing personal property or not.

[ … ]

“Jail ain’t no place for anybody,” said neighbor Alvin Campbell, who feels the arrest against Venson was unjust.

If this report is accurate, [a] I don’t see the problem, and [b] Bob’s analysis is incomplete and perhaps flat wrong.  Sure, it may have been wiser for him not to have followed the robber.  That’s water over the dam at this point.

The way I read the report, he didn’t shoot at the robber for his crime of larceny.  He shot because he feared for his life.  This is his defense, and any good lawyer would set it up that way.

But I suspect the problem here runs deeper.  I suspect that he talked to the police and said something inaccurate or damning, and thus the prosecutor has charged him with a crime, whether his report to the police was accurate or not.

Folks, do not ever talk to the police.  Ever.  His first action should have been to call 911 and tell the dispatcher that a shooting had occurred.  The second should have been to tell the police that they can talk to his lawyer and he has nothing to say.

Please … please … learn this.  Please.  And watch this video one more time for good measure.

Via Daily Caller, KHOU:

HOUSTON- A good Samaritan with a gun stopped three suspects whom held Auto Zone employees at gunpoint during an attempted robbery on Friday night.

According to authorities, three males entered the Auto Zone on Jones Road around 9:00 p.m. demanding cash from the register. A customer who happened to be pulling up saw the men holding the employees at gunpoint.

The customer, a “LTC” permit carrier, pulled his gun and went inside the store. He made the suspects get down on the ground and drop their weapons.

Deputies said he held the suspects until they arrived. All three suspects were arrested.

Wait!  Ridiculous and impossible.  When anyone other than a trained law enforcement officer (all of whom are experts in super secret ninja warrior stress management techniques and operating tactically during tactical operations) tries to stop crime or engage in self defense or defense of others, guns take on a life of their own and rotate as if a windmill, firing uncontrollably and randomly, killing innocent women and children everywhere.  How could this happen?

But there is more.

Although deputies commended the customer for his actions, they don’t recommend this because they say it could have ended in a shootout and someone getting hurt.

Of course.  Could this have ended any other way than law enforcement telling others not to do this sort of thing and to leave it to the “experts?”

Todd Orr of Montana was attacked twice by a grizzly bear with cubs.  His tale can be read here.  The best report comes from Facebook, and if you don’t do Facebook (I don’t either), reddit/firearms has a more detailed account here.

Both links give video he took immediately after making his way out of the wilderness.  He did have a gun.  The bear knocked him around enough that it got dislodged and was too far away to be of any help.

He also has some simple but obvious and interesting things to say about gun control (he’s referring to the Hughes amendment).  He doesn’t often broach the subject of politics.

Green Bay Press-Gazette:

“I fell backward from 20 feet onto a log. I spoke to God and knew I was injured terribly. I asked for and received the strength to crawl out. I spent a week in (a Green Bay hospital’s) intensive care unit, and nearly a full month in the hospital. A surgeon fused my lower 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 vertebrae.

“They taught me how to walk again. I have seven more months of rehab ahead, and am happy with how things are going. I’m in sales and have three to five years left of full-time work. I hope people understand that what happened to me could happen to anyone. At some point when climbing trees, no matter how careful you might be, you’re vulnerable.”

Read the whole article.  For my readers, this is serious business folks.  Don’t climb ladders without the proper restraint and safety gear.  Especially don’t do it in trees.  Check your equipment before using.  Replace your equipment periodically.  Take the condition of your ropes as seriously as guys who climb and rappel.  Most of those guys replace their ropes frequently because grains of sand get in between the fibers and cut them.

Wear fall restraints while climbing, and have redundancy in your platforms and fall restraints.  If you don’t want to do all of this, then go on deer drives or stalk deer rather than climb into stands.  Your life and health isn’t worth the next hunt.  My daughter is involved in trauma care and trauma surgery, and she tells me it’s sad and devastating the injuries she sees during deer hunting season.

News from Wisconsin:

A cased rifle belonging to an officer with the Madison Police Department has been returned.

Officials say on Thursday the officer placed the gun on the back of his squad car, which he was about to drive from a MPD parking garage on Fairchild Street to the nearby City County Building.

The officer inadvertently forgot to move the cased weapon back into the squad, and it fell off into the roadway in the 200 block of South Hamilton Street. Realizing what had happened, the officer immediately went back to retrieve the case, only to find someone had picked it up.

According to police, on Friday the person who found the weapon was located.

Gosh, I hate it when that happens to me.  I simply cannot tell you the number of guns I’ve lost by sitting them on the trunk of the car and driving off.

Fortunately for him, they were apparently found by a law abiding citizen.  On the other hand, what’s the loss if not?  The taxpayers foot the bill for everything.  It’s not like it doesn’t happen to LEOs everywhere, right?

News From Oregon:

As the killer stood before him, Judge Kenneth Walker couldn’t stay silent.

“If I could I would take all the guns in America, put them on big barges and go dump them in the ocean,” the judge told the defendant. “Nobody would have a gun. Not police, not security, not anybody. We should eliminate all of them. We could save 33,000 people a year if we didn’t have guns in this country.”

Marcell Lee Daniel Jr. had unleashed 30 bullets during an afternoon drive-by shooting of an innocent man on a North Portland sidewalk. The man, Andrew Coggins Jr., 24, died.

The judge kept going.

“Australia after a major shooting rounded up all the guns, and they haven’t had near the death that we do here in this country,” he said.

“I just saw last night a statistic that 11,000 people in America are murdered each year and another 20,000 commit suicide with guns,” Walker said, referring to figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“They are a scourge of this country and no one should have one as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “There’s no defense to guns. There’s just absolutely no reason to have them. But it is a right of people in this country to own and possess them, and I will not say anything to affect that right.”

Walker, a Multnomah County Circuit Court judge for nearly 10 years and a criminal defense attorney before that for 25 years, sentenced Daniel to 17 1/2 years in prison.

The dead man’s mother, Connie Holmes, said she appreciated the judge’s comments.

Okay.  You first.  Let me know how the police react when you go confiscate their firearms.  What?  You were going to do this, right?  You didn’t expect someone else to do it for you, did you?

But just remember TheAlaskan’s dictum: “Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not.”

I have no reason to doubt the title of the YouTube post.  Holy crap!  Did they leave an M4 or AR-15 leaning up against the garage door while they tried to break into the house?  What was that dude in the truck doing with his time?  Eating doughnuts?

I think it might have been easier and done with greater tactical fidelity if they had gone up to the door and knocked. I hope they didn’t just go in and shoot the dog, leave the door all broken and walk away like most other SWAT raids. Or confiscate an ounce of marijuana and call it a success.

But then again, remember boys and girls, only law enforcement officers are trained and qualified in tactical operations while operating tactically and stress management ninja warrior techniques and are therefore qualified to handle firearms.  So who am I to talk?