A week or so ago Herschel contacted me and said he was going on a trip and asked if I would “like to guest post for him that week” or something like that. I replied that I was both humbled and honored by his request and said yes.

I then told him I have no idea how to do any of this. That didn’t seem a deterrent. We figured it out.

I still don’t know what I’m doing…

Well, a quiet recitation of A. Shepard’s Prayer and here we go.

Ruby Ridge, then Waco.

All we get is Xin Loi.

Countless no-knock SWAT raids with innocents and dogs injured and killed.

All we get is Xin Loi.

People shot dead in the doorway of their home, because…

All we get is Xin Loi.

LaVoy Finicum.

All we get is Xin Loi.

FBICIANSA shredding the Constitution they took an oath to.

All we get is Xin Loi.

Politicians raping this country, both figuratively and literally.

All we get is Xin Loi.

When is our Xin Loi moment?

There are a plethora of trainers out there ready, willing and able to pass on valuable skills that will greatly increase your chances of survival (or at least make a decent accounting) in the struggles that seem to be on the horizon.

Martial skills.

Medical skills.

Communication skills.

Local communities can even offer an education in growing and preserving food.

There is a wealth of knowledge out there. Knowledge to be gained in any price range. For any skill level.

You just have to look around. Urban, suburban or rural. It’s there.

The only thing I haven’t found is a course that tells you when to get out/bunker in. Or, more importantly, when to shoot.

Even Selco will tell you that he doesn’t have the answer to that. Sure, there are signs. Easily visible in hindsight.

But hindsight only helps the living.

In my “youth” I knew a man, a Korean War vet. A big man. Beyond good with a rifle, knife or tomahawk.

He would always say that he would make the first move. We were just to watch. We wouldn’t know when to shoot. He would. By the time we figured it out it would be over.

The Time to Shoot had passed and the Time of Shooting had started.

He’s long dead now. The ferryman has his payment.

I wish I could ask him about the time to shoot. Maybe, just maybe I could learn something.

Folks and valued readers.

I’ll be “out of pocket” for the week.  I’m making what I believe will be a very interesting and adventurous trip with one of my sons, and I’ve been preparing for a long time for this.

I’m tired of the hiking, biking, gym visits,  swimming and other punishment I’ve dealt out to my body for this trip.  I’m ready to get it on.  I want to do this thing.

I think I’ll have some very nice pictures for you when I get back, as well as some observations for you about being in the bush.  In fact, I already know I’ve got some observations that will interest you just in preparing for this trip.

In my absence, WiscoDave will be guest blogging.  Be kind to him.

Vox has gotten its pink panties all in a wad over big bullets and guns, looking for something else to control.  The amusing thing about this “study” is this.

I think someone needs to go back and review the definition of caliber (Which is a measure of the inside diameter of the barrel, most often specified in fractional inches, not in metric units).

So this “study” has the .357 magnum shown as a large caliber, while the .38 special is shown as a medium caliber, ignoring the fact that it’s the very same round.

The 7.62X39 belongs in with the medium caliber, not large caliber in this picture.  And none of this has anything to do with ballistics.

Layers and layers of fact checkers for this “study.”  And Vox has no more sense than to glom onto something as stupid as this.

But restrict “big bullets and guns” and the world will be a better place, and pink unicorns will fart pixie dust rainbows while we hold hands and sing Kumbaya around a campfire.

Or something.

I like what I see.  The price seems reasonable, and the accuracy good.  Bergara is doing good things, and it hosts the popular 6.5 Creedmoor round.

The Washington Post.

Paul Penzone is the sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz.

I am not fearful of firearms. I believe the Second Amendment was written with purpose and with sensitivity to generational circumstances. But what I am extremely concerned about is who has access to firearms and the devastation firearms are capable of in the wrong hands.

Imagine a world in which anyone — including terrorists, convicted felons and domestic abusers — has immediate access to untraceable guns. Now imagine that many of these guns are made entirely of plastic or other materials not recognized by traditional metal detectors.

Idiot.

As for The Washington Post, just consider: layers upon layers upon layers of “fact checkers” believe we’re soon going to have plastic chambers and barrels.  I wonder if SAAMI knows about this?

Randall sends this.

Here we go with backstop again.  The shooting should never have happened.  The officers didn’t know what was behind or around their intended target, and obviously missed.

I don’t want to hear another damn word from the controllers about how armed citizens are a danger to society.  Not … one … more … word.

From readers Richard and Michael, Foxnews:

An Oregon woman recently came home to an unusual surprise: a mountain lion, which continued taking a nap for six more hours behind her sofa.

The odd encounter took place on July 8 in the Ashland, Ore., home of Lauren Taylor.

After drinking from a pond in Taylor’s backyard, the cat likely entered her home through an open back door, she explained in Facebook. The post had garnered more than 17,000 reactions and shares as of Tuesday morning.

“This is wild,” she wrote. “The door was open and the room has huge plants and stairs built around real tree branches, so she likely didn’t even realize she was walking indoors until she was inside.”

After entering the home, the cat was startled by Taylor’s roommate, who screamed upon seeing the mountain lion. This prompted the wild animal to hide behind the sofa, where it snoozed for several hours.

Taylor made a noise to wake the feline, but then “gazed lovingly into her eyes, and communicated using feline-speak eye blinking to calm her,” she wrote.

“It was amazing to realize that this worked. I gazed lovingly then blinked hard and then she did it back,” Taylor continued, adding that the cat then went back to sleep. “She clearly felt safe and she showed no inclination to leave.”

When the cat awoke a second time, Taylor said she “again connected in a loving gaze and communicated trust through blinking.”

With just “a couple hours to dawn,” Taylor decided it was time to “prompt her to leave without alarming her so much that she panicked.”

The Oregon woman then used a drum to encourage the lion to exit the home.

“She roused and knew just what to do…. walking out through the open doors, through the yard, across the creek, and through the empty field behind us exactly as we had shown her,” said Taylor, adding she has “extensive experience working with energy and animals.”

“It was a perfect ending to a blessed encounter that could have been dangerous if approached from a lower frequency,” she continued. “May she stay safely in the hills to enjoy a long life as a wild and healthy lion.”

You can go check out the pictures and video yourself.  I just don’t know what to say.  Honestly.

Read again.

Taylor made a noise to wake the feline, but then “gazed lovingly into her eyes, and communicated using feline-speak eye blinking to calm her,” she wrote.

When the cat awoke a second time, Taylor said she “again connected in a loving gaze and communicated trust through blinking.”

“It was a perfect ending to a blessed encounter …

Lovingly.  Calm her.  Trust.  Blessed.

She’s fortunate the lion didn’t scalp her and eat her brains out of her skull.

Remember I said this?

Now.  Go back, re-engineer it for the 5.7X28, knock $400 off the price, and you may have something there.

Well, they’re too late.  CMMG has now come out with one of their AR pistols in 5.7X28, using the radial delayed blowback system.  It’s a little more pricey than I would like, but their products are very good.

Readers know I have an FN5.7 and like it.  I like the 5.7X28 round, for certain applications and under certain conditions.  I also like the idea of minimizing calibers in your gun safe, meaning having pistols and PDW of the same caliber.

This meets that criteria.  CMMG is doing some magnificent R&D work.  In order to hire the best engineers and mechanics you have to pay them well.  But they have to make that money back somehow.

Dean Weingarten at TTAG:

From post-gazzette.com, 18 July:

Her mother came downstairs and was confronted by a tall man wearing something white on his head, according to the complaint. The man pointed a gun at the mother and told her to lay face down on the stairs.

The two men then tried to drag Ms. Hicks out of the house, she said, at which point her brother, who lives in the adjoining half of the duplex, came to the front door.

The unidentified man shot her brother, Anthony Farley, in the neck.

Mr. Farley returned fire, striking the man, according to the complaint.

While Hicks’s was wounded, he will recover. One of his assailants ended up dead, on the porch. The second attacker escaped.

This incident illustrates a growing problem of criminals impersonating law enforcement officers to gain an advantage over their victims. It was less of a problem when most police officers were uniformed, used official vehicles and fewer “no-knock” raids were made.

Gosh, if only someone had pointed out the problem of home invaders posing as cops before the cops would begin to choose other options.  And maybe not.  And maybe anyone who conducts a home invasion – anyone – is a criminal.