No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.361 / Virus Database: 267.12.4/146 - Release Date: 10/21/2005 Brazil Votes Today: The Christian Science Monitor provides a recap of the contending sides in the Brazilian referendum to ban legal sales of arms and ammunition to its citizens. http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1021/p01s03-woam.html Polls Predict Defeat For Referendum: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17008211%255E1702,00.html --- Food For Thought In Wisconsin: A reporter, who claims to have no position on licensed CCW for the state, describes the training course that he believes would be a model if the current bill passes. http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=58862&ntpid=2 --- Arizona Reminder: Effective Tuesday, Arizona residents will no longer be able to carry concealed legally in Arizona with Utah Concealed Firearm Permits. Out of state holders of Utah CFP's will not be affected, so long as they are in Arizona "temporarily." At this time, DPS is using the definition from the Transportation Code, which means that an individual would have to spend an aggregate of less than seven months a year in Arizona to be considered "temporary." http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/index.php?page=local&story_id=102205a4_brf_ccw --- From John Farnam: 16 Oct 05 State Patrol Qualification, from a friend and SP Trooper: 'Yesterday, I went to our range in order to meet with others on our instructor staff. We were preparing for our upcoming, bi-annual pistol training and qualification. I had been told that our range masters had just been to a big meeting and that lots of new, beneficial changes would be forthcoming. Silly me for allowing myself to believe anything 'good' might come from this incognizant group! Off to the range we went, with everyone (except me) carrying an empty gun. That was the first clue! We started with 'speed drills.' Draw and fire as fast as you can at a ten-inch circle at five meters. I looked at targets to my right and left. Most hits were not within two feet of the circle. Many missed the cardboard entirely! The phrase I kept hearing was, 'Speed to Accuracy.' I was told, 'Just shoot as fast as you can. Accuracy will come. The most important thing is to get your rounds off fast!' Well, accuracy didn't come! Accuracy never arrived for any of them. When I asked about it, I was told that several of our folks recently attended a course where this motto is taught. When I asked who put on this 'course,' everyone suddenly suffered from amnesia. What consumed most of the day was instructors competing against one another. On my first bout, I put two hits, dead-center in the circle. My challenger got off his second round an instant faster than mine, but he completely missed the circle, by over a foot, with both rounds. The winner? He was, for being 'faster!' I commented that I was under the impression that 'winning' had something to do with hitting the target. 'That's old-fashioned,' was the reply. Of course, during the entire day of 'training,' there was not even mention of such subjects as movement, use of cover, tactical communication, reloading, stoppage reduction, patrol rifle, rifle/pistol transition, et al. It was the ubiquitous 'match mentality' that, as always, dominated what is supposed to be a day of teaching and learning life-saving skills. John, I, for one, and weary one of spending valuable time in the company of people who have 'display-orientated' personalities (to phrase it politely). Their shallow superficiality invariably leaks into the broader context of the event, degrading courses of fire and curriculum. I ask myself, is any benefit I may glean from this fiasco worth the revolting moral cost of keeping company with such clueless lightweights?" Comment: Rubbish like, "speed to accuracy" rears its ugly head every few years. It lasts only as long as it takes for its promoters to amply demonstrate that even they themselves can't hit anything, nor can they train anybody to hit anything! They cling to the political notion, popular among the current generation of neo-Marxists, that "results" are unimportant. Only "intent" counts! As long as your intent was "good," your miserable failures are forgiven. Clueless lightweights? The terms hardly does them justice! /John (These comments emphasize the danger of excessive emphasis on speed, at the cost of accuracy. Conversely, I have seen students who were too slow because they wanted their targets to have the smallest groups on the range - excessive accuracy, for the circumstances, at the expense of speed.) 22 Oct 05 Feedback from the Front: We've been working at a large military base all last week, and I had several discussions with people who are processing and collating feedback on equipment and training doctrine from the current war zone. What I find most interesting is: Current M9 pistol (Beretta 92/F): Dissatisfaction with the M9 is unanimous. The M9 may end up with the dubious distinction of having the shortest tenure of any issued pistol in the history of American military service. We'll see a successor shortly. Issues are: Caliber: All pistol rounds are poor fight stoppers, but 9mm hardball is near the bottom of the list, the worst of the worst. If high-performance bullets are off the table, larger calibers are the only solution. When pistols are used for close-in protection, 9mm hardball fails consistently. Magazines: M9 magazines, supplied by a number of aftermarket vendors, are, and continue to be, incompetent. Feeding problems abound. Beretta OEM magazines work well, but they are in the minority. Admonitions from those up the food chain to "solve" the problem by, for example: charging magazines with only ten rounds, are seen as trite and thoughtless by those who are forced to actually use the pistol. Durability: Keeping M9s running is a problem. Constant breakage of critical parts keeps a large number sidelined. Size and shape: The M9 is wide, long, and clunky. Concealment is difficult. Draw is slow. Grip is too fat for those with small hands. Operating system: The last thing Marines need on a pistol is a two-stage decocking lever! Valuable training time that is currently consumed with teaching students how and when to manually decock could be better spent teaching them how to draw quickly and hit precisely. M4: The M4 is popular because it is light, short, and handy, a good rifle for the confined nature of fighting in built-up places. With anal maintenance, it works reliably. It may not be the best system in the world, but it is far from the worst. A conventional, gas-piston rifle would probably work better and will probably supercede the AR-15 system some day. The more immediate issue is caliber. The 223 round has been pushed as far as it can go, and it is still inadequate, any way one looks at it. With any bullet, from 55gr to 77gr, range and penetration are still unsatisfactory. Bullets may go 500m, but there is nothing there when they arrive. Even at close range, 223 bullets will not penetrate most layered barriers the enemy uses for cover. The 223 lacks penetration for combat, and every attempt to remedy that has fallen short. We're wasting our valuable time trying to make believe this round can be magically converted into anything but what it is. We need to stop kidding ourselves. A heavier rifle and caliber are desperately needed. Infantry rifles need the power to shoot THROUGH things! When did we forget that essential axiom? /John (I thought that the .38 Long Colt revolvers had the shortest tenure in US military issue - I am open to correction by anyone who cares to check the dates. As to the .223/5.56mm cartridge, the very characteristics that make it unsuitable for long-range warfare enhance its utility for home-defense and urban law enforcement, particularly with the lighter bullets and slower-twist barrels.) -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .