Category: Safety

I’m not a sanguine as the author, but I do agree that the Afghan disaster will drain most of SloJoe’s ‘political capital’ to get anything controversial passed.

Silver Lining: The Afghanistan Collapse Kills Biden’s Gun Control Agenda and the Chipman Nomination

t took Joe Biden just seven months to cripple this country’s economy, security and credibility.

On Sunday, Biden lost the moral authority he needs to govern, as well as the respect of voters, foreign leaders and the mainstream media, who have finally stopped asking about his daily dose of ice-cream and turned their attention to issues of real consequence.

The Atlantic published a story Sunday titled “Biden’s betrayal of Afghans will live in infamy.” MSNBC called the rout “Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan charade,” and even a news actor at CNN admitted that the Taliban’s blitzkrieg caught the Biden-Harris administration “flat-footed.”

Biden’s ineptness has turned this great nation into a laughingstock overseas, which the Chinese communists are already exploiting as a propaganda tool to stamp out dissent in Hong Kong. More of our enemies will likely follow, since a president’s foibles are always an enemy propagandist’s dream.

While Biden wants to ban American citizens from owning pistol braces and semi-autos, he has armed at least a division of bloodthirsty terrorists with real assault rifles, handguns, heavy and light machineguns, grenade launchers, precision rifles, artillery, tanks, armored vehicles of all types, both fixed and rotary-wing aircraft and sophisticated night vision, missiles and drones.

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Detroit Firearm Instructors Launch FREE Firearm Training For Women – FREE Registration Required – August 21 – 22

Detroit Firearm Instructors Launch FREE Firearm Training For Women – FREE Registration Required – August 21 – 22

 

Metro Detroit Women Desiring FREE pistol training, can now sign up for a free range safety briefing and a free shooting lesson.
The free event takes place at local Detroit-area gun ranges in Taylor.
Everything is provided for the students: Free gun rental, Free ammo, Free safety equipment, Free range briefing, and free shooting lesson.
Rick Ector is a National Rifle Association (NRA) credentialed Firearms Trainer, who provides Michigan CPL/CCW Class training in metro-Detroit for students at his firearms school – Rick’s Firearm Academy of Detroit.

The mass shooter in England used a shotgun.

We have been assured that if semiautomaticassaultweapons™ are banned/ registered/licensed that will end mass shootings

Clearly someone is lying.

The members of “El Machete” are violating Mexico’s extremely strict gun control laws just like the cartels are. And why are they doing it? Because they have a human right of self defense, even if their government wants to make it nearly impossible for them to legally own a gun.

A Mexican Cartel Was Driven Out of Town By Indigenous Vigilantes Called ‘El Machete’

PANTELHO, Mexico – As smoke curled from neighboring buildings that had been ransacked and torched the day before, a couple of thousand Indigenous people armed with makeshift weapons gathered around city hall to hear their leaders speak.

Led by a new self-defense militia called “El Machete,” the people had descended from their mountain villages on the town center the previous day to expel the collaborators of a criminal gang who they say has terrorized their community for years.

As outnumbered state security forces stood by, the attackers raided homes and businesses and tied up 21 suspected gang members.

At least a dozen buildings—their walls spray painted with the rallying cries of “Long live El Machete” and “Narcos out”—were completely razed, scattering debris across town.

“We left the homes of the narcos and assassins the same way they left our family members when they killed them or stole their land,” said a young man masked in a camouflage balaclava speaking from the balcony of city hall.

Destruction in Pantelho

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ARMED WITH MAKESHIFT WEAPONS GATHERED AROUND CITY HALL TO HEAR THEIR LEADERS SPEAK AFTER THE CONFLICT. (PHOTO: JEFF ERNST/VICE WORLD NEWS)

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They schools have been educating indoctrinating snowflake students for many years.

College Op-Ed Claims “Right To Safety” Trumps Second Amendment

I’ve heard a lot of bad arguments regarding a lot of things in my life. One is this idea that there’s a right to safety. In other words, the government exists in part to provide safety for each individual and anything that someone thinks makes them unsafe is something the government should outlaw.

Yeah, it sounds ridiculous.

However, it gets worse when people use that to try and justify anti-Second Amendment positions, like an op-ed in The Daily Cougar, the student newspaper at the University of Houston, does.

Gov. Greg Abbott’s new permitless carry  law should not happen due to the recent increase in mass shootings.…

This law will put so many of us in danger, considering it is already extremely easy to get a gun in this state.

We take the mentality that guns bring us freedom and that they are part of our identity to the extreme. With a society that prioritizes guns so much already, making unlicensed carry legal is unnecessary and poses a big safety risk.…

Humanity needs to become a bigger priority in this state. This means that stricter gun control is necessary. Our government should listen to its people and make them feel safe, rather than allowing a law as dangerous as permitless carry.

This is in an op-ed entitled, “Permitless carry infringes on the right to safety.”

The thing is, no such right exists. You can get hurt doing anything. You could walk down the street, step wrong, and sprain your ankle. Is that a violation of your civil rights? I had a nasty ankle sprain while hunting at a state wildlife management area. Did the state of Georgia violate my civil right to safety because they didn’t level out the woods?

Of course not.

The thing is, this “right to safety,” whether it’s espoused as such or not, is really just about one group of people getting to feel safer, as noted in the last quoted paragraph.

The problem, however, is these people are putting their own feelings of safety above those of others. They want to feel safe. They don’t care if you feel safe or not.

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Basic Practical Riflery For The New Shooter.

A few years ago, I decided I wanted to become a rifleman. A practical rifleman. Through disciplined self practice, and help from the online community, I have been able to ever expand my skills from a 100 yard skill-set to a 600 yard comfort zone. If I can do it, anyone can, but a lot of people don’t think they can make that jump.

I have run into many AR owners who think that if they can’t shoot 1 to 2-inch groups like they see online, they aren’t shooting well. They perceive their rifle equipped with a red dot as being too imprecise to carry them past close-range shooting. They doubt their skills, but they haven’t tried to apply the skills they have.

Because they don’t think they can do it, they don’t shoot at longer ranges. But I’m here to tell you that you can.

Let’s knock that mental wall down and develop a simple shooting program for all the new AR-15 shooters out there. Let’s identify an easy-to-master system that can carry their rifle out to distances they once dismissed.

Today we’re going to create a basic program to get you (or someone you know who needs this) a tool set to reliably drop rounds on a target out to 400 yards. Let’s get started.

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Gun Control Isn’t Needed, Criminal Control Is

It seems lately that so many publications with the word “Christian” in the name have been on a gun control push lately. It’s kind of creepy, actually, especially since so many evangelicals identify as pro-Second Amendment.

Frankly, there’s nothing particularly Christian about gun control. Even Christ himself told his followers to arm themselves, for crying out loud. Yet we keep seeing the anti-gun narrative expressed in Christian outlets.

I mention that because, well, it’s nice to see the other side presented.

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Vigilantes?
Well, if goobermint isn’t going to do the job……
Dare I say it again?
I dare.
¡Grupos de Autodefensas Para Tu y Mi!

‘Vigilantism’ a fear in wake of new laws

PORT ANGELES — A state legislator and the Clallam County sheriff painted dire pictures Wednesday in depicting a use-of-force police reform bill that went into effect Sunday.

State Rep. Mike Chapman said HB 1310 may soon be clarified by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson in a manner that will make it less onerous.

The Port Angeles Democrat, who said he has received heat from his constituents for voting against it and six other police reform bills, and Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict, a critic of HB 1310, gave their takes on the measure at a virtual county Economic Development Council “Coffee with Colleen” meeting.

Their message followed a critical view of the measures offered by Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith and Deputy Chief Jason Viada on Tuesday before the Port Angeles Business Association.

House Bill 1310, which sets use-of-force parameters and was cosponsored by Chapman’s 24th District Democratic colleague, Steve Tharinger of Port Townsend, was criticized by Chapman and Benedict as being unclear and procedurally confining for law enforcement to the detriment of public safety.

“Nature abhors a vacuum,” Benedict said.

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Numbers Don’t Lie. Public Safety Concerns Driving Gun Sales.

Americans are sending a message of their own, despite President Joe Biden’s continued push to restrict their Second Amendment rights. They are choosing to protect themselves.

Two key markers demonstrate Americans in 2021 are voting with their wallets and politicians would be wise to take note. Gun sales continue at elevated levels and if elected officials don’t take heed, they could find themselves out of elected office and looking for work.

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Just may be me, but I detect a pattern that’s the cause of the problem.
Can you spot it too?

ABC News Launches Weeklong Special on Crime Waves in Democrat-Run Cities

ABC News is running a weeklong special which examines the crime waves engulfing Democrat-run cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and New York.

Although the information is presented as national problem, the title is “One Nation Under Fire,” ABC News’ coverage began by mentioning shootings that occurred in Milwaukee during the celebration resulting from the Milwaukee Bucks wining the NBA finals.

Milwaukee is a Democrat-run city as are a host of others that are featured as exemplars requiring new, harsh gun control restrictions.

The evidence suggests otherwise:

ABC News noted they “dug” down and discovered “violence occurs disproportionately in poorer, urban areas — from Los Angeles to Chicago to New York City.”

Moreover, in looking at the gun violence that occurred around the nation last week, they noted “Illinois…topped the list for most people wounded from firearms at 124.”

Chicago is located in Illinois, and Breitbart News reported 13 were shot Thursday of last week in Mayor Lightfoot’s Chicago, and nearly 30 people were shot on Wednesday.

ABC News also noted in Philadelphia, “the gun-related death toll has already surpassed 300 this year.”  Philadelphia is another Democrat-run city.

ABC News also covered an accidental shooting “in a dark church parking lot in Utah” on the night of July 17/18. This and similar mentions of isolated incidents allowed them to talk of gun violence without isolating the Democrat-run cities.

Saving Our School Children from Dangerous Judges in Ohio

We do a lot to protect our children. We learn as new threats come along. The news media has bombarded us with messages saying that mass murder is common and increasing. Ordinary people like us feel a growing need to protect our families. That makes sense to me, but I’ve met some wonderful men and women who go further and put their lives on the line to save other people’s children. I listened to school staff who volunteered to protect their students. In their words, these teachers raised their hands and volunteered so they could protect “their kids”. That commitment and compassion is as serious as anything I’ve seen.

I wish you were there with me because my heart leapt when I saw these ordinary people take training so they could rush forward  and stop an attack at their school. They train themselves to put their body between our children and a murderer’s bullet. These amazing school staff and church staff care more about the lives of their students than their own lives. We are wonderfully rich that these ordinary heroes, our neighbors, care so much about our kids. Until recently, we got it right that these teachers may protect our kids the same way we would protect them if we were there. That changed when a few supreme court justices in Ohio disarmed the defenders. Now, we have to fix that. Heaven help them if these children are hurt.

Let’s put school safety into perspective. Mass murderers look for easy targets. They deliberately attack vulnerable people in locations where the intended victims are disarmed and unprotected. Schools and churches are common targets because these are seen as gun-free zones. In Ohio, they took significant steps to eliminate these gun free zones.

There are more than 1-and-a-half-million students in Ohio schools. When you add them up, there are about a hundred thousand schoolteachers in Ohio. After the horrific attacks on the staff and the students in the elementary school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, thousands of teachers in Ohio volunteered, under then current Ohio Law to protect their students. They wanted to stop the murderer until the police arrived and took over. These volunteers wanted to stop the bleeding until emergency medical personnel arrived to take their place. That is inspiring.

Ohio voters also elected thousands of school board members. School boards get input from millions of parents. Those school boards listened to local parents and addressed the issue of protecting students. Hundreds of school boards in Ohio then worked with their sheriffs to put a safety plan in place. Together, they screened and trained volunteer staff to be armed first responders and to provide life saving critical trauma care. I’m inspired that thousands of people volunteer to protect our kids every day, not their kids, our kids.

The attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School happened over 8 years ago. Since then, the program in Ohio has accumulated over 2-million hours of real-world experience with these volunteer first responders. The program spread across 200 school districts in Ohio alone. The program did not stop at the Ohio border, the program was adopted in several other states. In Ohio, these trained first responders performed extremely well. until four justices made it illegal.

Politics is a real consideration, and elections have consequences. Unfortunately, there were considerable forces arrayed against the low information voter. Anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg made large political donations to get anti-gun judges elected. Money talks, and Bloomberg got the judges and the results he wanted in Ohio. These justices said that school staff who were armed needed to first pass through a police academy before they could protect their students at school. That seems so odd since these same school staff members are permitted to protect those same students every other hour of the day as legal concealed carry license holders in Ohio.

The Ohio Senate passed several bills to remove the legal ambiguity the justices introduced. They confirmed that school boards could authorize selected school staff members to be first responders without going through four-months of police training. After being examined by their school board and sheriff, these trained volunteer school staff members could go armed as they worked. They could provide emergency trauma care without first being licensed as an emergency medical technician or a paramedic. Does that make sense?

You don’t have to be a trained firefighter to use a fire extinguisher in your home. You shouldn’t have to pass mandatory firefighting training to use a fire extinguisher where you work, either. You shouldn’t require EMT training to apply a tourniquet. Imposing that training puts us at greater risk rather than making us safer. The reason is simple. School janitors and cafeteria workers have done a fine job protecting children without first passing a course on high-performance driving in pursuit of a fleeing suspect as taught in police academies. We need more volunteers who will help, not fewer.

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D.C.’s Problem Isn’t “Too Many Guns”

WUSA-TV’s Tony Perkins, like many in our nation’s capitol, says that the reason for the increase is simple; there are just too many guns out there.

It’s a complicated problem, but the obvious, overwhelming fact is there are too many guns on our streets. We are a trigger-happy culture.

No other country goes through this, and it’s not justifiable. Some say guns are needed to protect ourselves, but that is clearly not working.

There must be a wholesale change in our mindset when it comes to guns. If there isn’t, weekends like this last one will be the norm, and that’s not good.

When it comes to worldwide rates of violent crime, the United States is basically in the middle of the pack, and there are plenty of countries with much more restrictive gun control laws that have far higher violent crime rates. Beyond that, however, the disparity in violent crime is also seen here in the United States. Washington, D.C.’s violent crime and homicide rates, for instance, are much higher than those in neighboring northern Virginia, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that Washington, D.C. has much more restrictive gun laws.

There are no gun stores in D.C. where folks can legally purchase a firearm. There are no ranges where gun owners can train or take classes. The percentage of residents who are legal gun owners is estimated to be just a small fraction of the city’s population, but making guns taboo hasn’t done a thing to make D.C. any safer, and it’s insane to pretend otherwise.

D.C.’s problem isn’t that it has “too many guns.” It has too many criminals, and too many people who feel emboldened to break the law because they don’t fear any consequences.

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Selfverdedigingsgroepe vir my!

The current situation in South Africa should be a learning tool for anyone interested in preparedness.

South African Armed Citizens Protecting Embattled Cities, Neighborhoods

Amidst the violence and unrest in some South African cities over the past few days, there’s one story that you’re not hearing much about in the so-called “mainstream” media—armed citizens are all that stand between civilization and total carnage in some communities.

After the jailing of ex-president Jaco Zuma for failing to appear at a corruption hearing, crowds of rioters have clashed with police, and ransacked or set ablaze shopping malls and other buildings in cities across the country. In the midst, dozens have been killed—many of them innocent victims.

Gideon Joubert, founder of Paratus, an online platform where you can read about the latest developments of the South African gun ownership debate, said things would be a lot worse if not for armed citizens, who are currently fighting against not only mobs of rioters by several new gun-control amendments proposed by the government.

“The only thing that has been standing in the way of a violent mob of ultra-violent rioters who have been trying to gain access to various suburban communities or residential communities … has been a line of legally armed civilians—ordinary people with guns who have organized themselves into disciplined groups with a plan, who have shared resources and information, and in many cases are working closely with, and cooperating closely with law enforcement,” Joubert said in an online video. “Or where law enforcement is entirely absent, taking charge of the situation in order to ensure that the safety and security of their communities is not compromised by these roving gangs and mobs of violent rioters who seek to do them harm.”

Although gun ownership is very restricted in the country, which includes limits on the amount of ammunition one can possess, South Africans can currently own handguns, hunting rifles, shotguns, and even military-styled semi-auto rifles with “high cap” magazines under tight regulations. Armed self-defense is also permitted. However, the latest proposals—including limiting the kind and number of guns owned, outlawing reloading and owning a firearm for self-defense—would be devastating during the current rioting if they had already been passed.

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Yes. Next question.

Are Hunting Shotguns Good For Home Defense?

If you’re like me—which I suspect you are or else you wouldn’t be reading Shooting Illustrated—you own a dedicated home-defense shotgun (or two) tailor-made for the job. But, we are the minority. Many more Americans don’t have an IWI US Tavor TS12 or a Mossberg 590A1 Tactical in a biometric rack above the headboard.

Rather, they keep a wood-stocked Winchester Model 12, an old Ithaca double, a Browning A5, a Mossberg 500 All Purpose, a Remington 1100 or the like stashed behind the clothes in the closet or in a safe. While these fowling pieces may not have been specifically made for defending castles, they can do it. Here are a half-dozen of the most popular hunting shotguns that can serve double-duty as home defenders, along with some tips for employing them as such. 

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Ayoob Provides Unflinching Look At Reality Of Self-Defense

Recently, Massad Ayoob was named as President of the Second Amendment Foundation. It is the latest step in a long career of service, both to community (as a part-time police officer), to those who choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights (he is also well-known for self-defense training – including developing the Stressfire system for pistols and shotguns), and to the cause of protecting the Second Amendment (Ayoob has been a long-time supporter of the Second Amendment Foundation).

But perhaps one of the most important services Ayoob has provided for anyone exercising their Second Amendment rights or thinking about exercising those rights appears in print – and has since 1986. The bi-monthly American Handgunner runs the Ayoob Files as a regular feature. If you have ever thought about carrying a firearm for personal protection, this column ranks up there with his books In The Gravest Extreme and The Truth About Self-Protection as must-reads.

Why is the Ayoob Files feature so important? Because in this case, Second Amendment supporters can learn lessons from others – and these lessons have come at a very high price, ranging from post-shooting trauma and picking up the pieces of one’s life (the very lucky ones), to those who have lost their liberty (including their Second Amendment rights) and even their lives.

Many Second Amendment supporters want people to learn about Second Amendment issues, and that is often done through education. Well, when it comes to exercising our Second Amendment rights, education, and training matter a great deal. As constitutional carry spreads across the country, being well-educated and well-trained in self-defense will be a crucial step in protecting those laws from being overturned.

This is one aspect of responsibly exercising our Second Amendment rights that doesn’t get discussed often, and perhaps it should be. When we exercise our Second Amendment rights, we have the power of life and death in our hands. Knowing the basic rules of firearms safety, knowing how to safely operate your firearm, knowing how to clean them and secure them, knowing the laws – federal, state, and local – that govern them, and knowing when to use them are just as important as knowing what legislation is percolating in Congress and your state legislature.

Hopefully, no loyal AmmoLand News reader will ever wind up having an experience that becomes the subject of the Ayoob Files. Ayoob has a number of other books available on Amazon.com – and their Smile program allows for donations to the Second Amendment Foundation. Perhaps Ayoob’s earlier works can find their way to Kindle – with suitable updating, of course. Ayoob’s works are a great benefit in helping Second Amendment supporters responsibly exercise the rights that we are trying to defend by defeating anti-Second Amendment extremists at the federal, state, and local levels via the ballot box.

FDA adds warning to J&J COVID-19 vaccine over links to rare autoimmune disorder.

July 13 (UPI) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a new warning for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine over its association with an increased risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder where the immune system damages the nerve cells.

The FDA announced the update to the one-shot jab on Monday in a letter to the company as well as in amendments to its fact sheets on the vaccine in response to new data showing cases of people displaying symptoms of the syndrome within 42 days of receiving the shot.

The warning states: “Reports of adverse events following use of Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine under emergency use authorization suggest an increased risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome during the 42 days following vaccination.”

Janssen is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

The FDA said in its fact sheet for recipients and caregivers that “[t]he chance of having this occur is very low.”

Between 3,000 and 6,000 people develop Guillain-Barre syndrome each year in the United States with only about 100 people of the 12.8 million Johnson & Johnson dose recipients having shown symptoms, the FDA said. Of those who exhibited symptoms, 95 were hospitalized and there was one death.

The agency said that while there is enough evidence to suggest an association between the vaccine and the syndrome “it is insufficient to establish a casual relationship.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on its website Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare disorder of the immune system attacking nerve cells, causing muscle weakness and sometimes paralysis and often follows infection of a virus or bacteria.

The CDC said men older than 50 were at greater risk of contracting the syndrome after receiving the shot.

Johnson & Johnson released a statement Monday stating it has updated its COVID-19 vaccine factsheet to include the new warning while reiterating that evidence continues to prove its vaccine protects against the coronavirus.

“Evidence has demonstrated that Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine offers protection against COVID-19 disease and prevents hospitalization and death, including in countries where viral variants are highly prevalent,” it said.

The FDA gave the Johnson & Johnson jab emergency use approval in late February.

In April, CDC issued a warning for the vaccine concerning its association with a rare blood clotting disease, ending a federal government temporary halt to the drug’s distribution.

¡Grupos de Autodefensas Para Mi!

Mexico has all the strict gun control laws the steppers would swoon over if enacted in the U.S. and also is the perfect exemplar of what those laws would do to about all that eeeeeee-vil ultra-ultra gun violence;  Nothing.
So, we can make only one conclusion about their desire for gun control laws. It’s not about ‘violence’ except what might be pointed in their direction.

Avocado Farmers Take Up Arms As Mexico Violence Spikes

A convoy of vigilantes snakes along a road in western Mexico, vowing to defend their avocado orchards from gangs sowing terror in a country reeling from a new wave of bloodshed.

Armed with assault rifles and other firearms, the masked men travel between plantations and maintain checkpoints in Ario de Rosales in Michoacan state, the scene of a bloody cartel turf war.

Before they began patrolling the area, residents lived in fear of kidnapping, extortion and theft of avocados, according to a member of the self-defense group Pueblos Unidos, which says it has 700 members.

“We need to be armed to defend ourselves,” he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity, wearing a badge reading “Down with injustice, no more dead.”

Previously, criminals “came to do what they wanted to us, and that doesn’t happen anymore,” he added.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador opposes such self-defense groups — a phenomenon that dates back to 2013 — saying that some of them have become fronts for criminals.

Such comments are not well received in Ario de Rosales, where another Pueblos Unidos member says the president should “get his shoes dirty” to discover the reality of life in the area, where the Jalisco New Generation and Los Viagras cartels operate.

The police and military “feared the criminals or were paid by them to do nothing,” said another vigilante who gave his name as Martin.

It is estimated that there are around 50 such self-defense groups in Mexico, which has seen intensifying violence in recent months, notably in Michoacan and the northern states of Tamaulipas and Zacatecas.

Mexico registered 14,243 murders in the first five months of the year, and the bloodshed has shown no sign of stopping since then.

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Massad Ayoob’s ‘In The Gravest Extreme’ Still Relevant in 2021?

Most everyone in “gun land” knows who Massad Ayoob is. In the Gravest Extreme was first published in 1980. Even though it is over 40 years old, it is still available today, either new or used, for a few dollars less. It runs around $20 a copy, and I have seen it used as low as $13 a copy. Cheap enough that there really isn’t a good reason not to read it. 

Basic Overview

There are 17 chapters in the almost 130-page book. A wide range of topics are covered in those 17 chapters. Ranging from car guns (what commonly gets called a “truck gun” now), carrying guns outside of the home, using guns for home defense, and using guns to defend a business, to name a few. The book’s breadth is rather large, so the chapters tend to be short, easy reads. The common thread throughout that serves to tie it all together is the legal use of force and all of the potential pitfalls of using force.

The last few chapters get into topics like selecting a handgun for concealed carry, a comprehensive overview of defensive shooting, and the like. This is perhaps where the content has not aged as well as other parts of the book. Firearms, specifically handguns and the ammunition we feed them, have moved pretty far down the road from where 1980 was.

How Has it Aged?

It doesn’t take long to realize the age of the book when reading it. Not because the information isn’t relevant. But the word choices are just starting to show their age a bit. Ayoob’s flair for writing is clear, making the book a rather easy read despite the dated language. 

Because the laws have changed over the last 4 decades, some of the specific legal examples will not be useful anymore. Conceptually, for the most part, I think there is enough similarity that the value is not completely lost, though. It would be on the reader to know their local laws and what parts of the book are so outdated to no longer be completely accurate.

Even though dated, there is plenty of application left in the larger message Ayoob is trying to get across with this book. First and foremost, avoidance is preferable. Ayoob does a good job of showing both sides of the scale. The potential costs of a defensive action weighed against being able to avoid the need outright. It serves more to temper the often overly aggressive misunderstandings about the use of force to protect self and others than it does to encourage the use of force at all. If there is another way out, take the other way out. This is an idea that sometimes is lost in the bravado of the modern “gun culture.” 

Wrapping it Up

Overall, I think this sums up the purpose of the book well.

“The man who wears a gun carries with it the power of life and death, and therefore the responsibility to deport himself with greater calm and wisdom than his unarmed counterpart…”

It is about being prudent and good decision-making. Do not do the things that would be expected to put you in a bad position.

For something written so long ago, I was surprised to find a significant amount of alignment with what is considered best practice currently. At least partially proving true that “what is old is new again,” I suppose. While I probably wouldn’t call In the Gravest Extreme timeless, I do think there are still plenty of lessons to be learned from it, and it is certainly thought-provoking. It’s worth the read.