Brits Take Note of Texas School-Carry Decision: Things just got even tougher in Texas. The Lone Star state, which prides itself on its macho Western cowboy image, is now to have the first school district in America in which teachers can carry concealed guns. The tiny community of Harrold, in the far north of the state, has recently approved a local decision that allows its teachers to bring firearms to school to protect against possible shootings. So when the school re-opens after the long summer holiday, any of the college's 50 or so staff could bring pistols to their classrooms. The decision is likely to provoke uproar in other parts of America and will shock gun control advocates, who argue that teachers with guns in class actually escalate the chance of a shooting. (Haven't the Israelis been doing this for years?) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/17/usa1 --- Bear Attacks Have Anchorage Residents on Edge: Even in a city whose logo is "Big Wild Life," the summer of 2008 is testing residents' tolerance for large carnivores. The problem is bears, black bears and bigger grizzlies. So far this summer, three people have been mauled in the city. Some people say humans are to blame for the confrontations and insist that no bears should be killed because of the attacks. On the other side is a growing chorus of people like Devon Rees, who want something done about the big bruins. "It is pretty much unsafe to walk around at night," he said... (Alaska is a permit-optional state when it comes to concealed carry. Short of being a prohibited possessor, there is no reason not to carry at least a .44 Magnum in Alaskan bear country.) http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g0RCaMzubhWtkoo3Qtwu7FjevU3AD92JH4480 --- Arson Suspected at Home of BATFE Agent: Criminal investigators in Tucson put up a wall of secrecy last week after a fire that police believe was intentionally set damaged the home of a federal investigator who has faced death threats since he infiltrated the Hells Angels motorcycle club. Dawn Hanke, a Pima County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman, confirmed that deputies are investigating a blaze at the residence of Jay Dobyns, who is among the most celebrated agents in the history of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Hanke said detectives have not established whether the blaze was set by an arsonist. She declined to provide additional information...Several years ago, Dobyns penetrated Hells Angels clubs in Arizona by posing as a criminal affiliated with another biker gang. The case, known as Operation Black Biscuit, resulted in numerous indictments but mostly fell apart in court amid defense allegations of wrongdoing by snitches, investigators and prosecutors... http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2008/08/17/20080817dobyns0817.html --- Rule One, Rule Two, Rule Three Reminder: A Sierra Vista radiologist died after what appears to be an accidental shooting Friday at his home, police said. Dr. Gary Forsberg, 61, was shot in the upper body when he and his wife were handling the gun, according to a news release from Tracy Grady, a Sierra Vista police officer. Beverly Forsberg called 911 to report the shooting, and her husband was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital. Police are continuing to investigate the shooting, and the case will be forwarded to the Cochise County Attorney's Office, Grady wrote. (The rules: http://www.spw-duf.info/safety.html) http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/253164 --- 14 Survival Skills: Long ago I believed that survival meant having a pack full of equipment that would allow me to make fire and build shelter and trap varmints to eat in the wilderness. But then I kept coming across cases in which someone had survived without any equipment or had perished while in possession of all the right tools. Obviously something else was at work here. After more than three decades of analyzing who lives, who dies, and why, I realized that character, emotion, personality, styles of thinking, and ways of viewing the world had more to do with how well people cope with adversity than any type of equipment or training. Although I still believe that equipment and training are good to have, most survival writing leaves out the essential human element in the equation. That's why I've concentrated my efforts on learning about the hearts and minds of survivors. You can start developing these tools of survival now. It takes time and deliberate practice to change. But new research shows that if we adjust our everyday routines even slightly, we do indeed change. The chemical makeup of the brain even shifts. To make these lessons useful, you have to engage in learning long before you need it - it's too late when you're in the middle of a crisis. Presented here are 14 concepts that have proved helpful to survivors in extreme situations, as well as to people trying to meet the challenges of daily life... http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2008/08/everyday-survival/laurence-gonzales-text --- From John Farnam: 13 Aug 08 Springfield Armory XD/M I've been carrying and using an SA/XD in 40S&W for a number of months now, and I have no complaints. Even with minimal maintenance, I can't get it not to run, and it effortlessly digests DPX and Gold-Dot, as well as all varieties of garbage-ammunition I've fed it during Courses. It is a thirteen-shooter (twelve, plus one), so with a single spare magazine, I routinely carry twenty-five rounds. I now rank it in the same league with Glock, SIG, Beretta, S&W, and H&K, and I have no compunction about carrying it for personal protection. Now, I have a copy of SA's new XD/M! It is a half-inch longer than my XD, but all other dimensions are essentially the same. It is smoother and less cluttered than the XD, and sharp corners and edges have been essentially eliminated. The slide is no longer blocky. It is now nicely rounded. The XD/M's slotted rail easily accommodates my Safariland Rapid-Light and my Surefire Weaponlight. Other new features include variable grip-geometry. This feature, pioneered by S&W with their M&P pistol, is extremely popular with chiefs of police, as the pistol can be instantly "customized" with regard to hand-size. The XD/M comes with three inserts. I have the smallest of the three installed on my copy. Trigger take-up is slightly stiffer than on the XD. Break is the same, but the XD/M's link is less deep, allowing for a quicker reset. The most significant improvement, in my opinion, is capacity. The XD/M is no wider than the XD, and the grip is the same length, but the XD/M is a seventeen-shooter (sixteen, plus one)! With the pistol and one spare magazine, I'm now carrying thirty-three rounds of 40S&W/DPX, rather than twenty-five. That represents a substantial advance! The XD/M's magazines are slightly wider than the XD's, and the two, although they look similar, are not interchangeable. The XD/M comes apart the same way. No dry-fire required. The XD/M is comfortable, smooth, slick, and high-capacity. SA deserves a lot of credit for making all these improvements and introducing this new pistol. I'm now comfortably carrying it concealed in a Comp-Tac Minotaur Holster. I'll be giving it a thorough workout at a Course in WA this weekend. More to follow. /John (List members and others have asked my opinion of the XD for a few years now and I had none to share, never having handled one. Recently, a friend acquired one in .45 ACP, which I had the chance to dry-fire. It felt fine although the reset did not seem very "precise." John's report suggests that this feature has been improved in the XD/M version and I am a big fan of interchangeable back straps or "variable-grip geometry," as John calls it. The usual caveat applies - let other people be the guinea pigs for at least the first year of production of any new firearm.) 14 Aug 08 Second Battle of Adobe Wells, Texas Panhandle, 27 June 1874 (Saturday) By the 1870s, commercial buffalo hunters were invading Oklahoma and Texas as once-massive buffalo herds in Kansas and Colorado thinned out. Buffalo robes continued in high demand in Europe, still in the grip of the "Mini-Ice-Age." Area Indians, mostly Comanche, looked upon the arrival of buffalo hunters in Texas as the beginning of the end of their free-roaming existence. There had heretofore been scant accommodation between Comanches and stubborn Texas settlers, and, after countless violent encounters, there was no chance that any species of "peaceful co-existence" was possible. Armed conflict was inevitable, unavoidable, and relentless until one side or the other was defeated decisively. Sometimes, that is just the way it is! In 1864, Colonel Kit Carson had led a small contingent into the area and had fought an inconclusive battle with Comanches at an abandoned trading post near present-day Borger, TX, called Adobe Wells. That was the "First Battle of Adobe Wells." Adobe Wells had been an on-again/off-again commercial settlement since 1845, and Comanche Indian attacks had been more or less continuous ever since. As a result, the outpost had been abandoned and resettled numerous times. Since then, a charismatic Comanche warrior (actually a half-breed), named Quana Parker ("Parker" was his White mother's maiden name, she having been captured by Comanche as a child) emerged at a powerful chief. Like Little Turtle, Pontiac, and Tecumseh before him, Parker possessed eminent diplomatic acumen, a rare talent among Indians. He had decided to forcefully oppose further incursions of his territory, but in an organized way. His persuasive powers, along with those of his spiritual councilor Isa-tai, insured that Various sub-tribes were all behind him. By the 1870s, Adobe Wells was serving as an intermittent rendezvous point, and supply base, for itinerant buffalo hunters and their entourages. In the summer of 1874, persistent rumors of yet another Indian attack had caused most Adobe Wells' residents to flee. On Saturday, 27 June 1874, there were only twenty-eight occupants, nearly all of them heavily-armed, hard-bitten, individual hunters, including a young Bartholomew ("Bat") Masterson and crack-shot, Billy Dixon. Parker descended upon Adobe Wells at dawn on Saturday with several hundred mounted warriors. Their sincere intent was to wipe out the post and massacre everyone in it. The siege lasted four days, but the heavily-armed buffalo hunters, with plenty of ammunition, held out the entire first day, inflicting hefty casualties on the Indian force with their Sharps Buffalo Rifles (50-70, 50-90, 44-77). Because of their exceptional accuracy, the hunters were able to establish an expansive "stand-off" zone that Indians were unable to successfully penetrate. Thus prevented from getting close enough to inflict damage, the Comanche were slowly defeated in detail. By the end of the second day, due to critical loss of warriors and horses, the assault was substantially crippled. By the forth day, with reinforcements arriving at the post, a dejected and despondent Parker abandoned the siege. The contingent of beleaguered hunters suffered four fatalities, one the result of an AD! Indian fatalities probably totaled fewer than one-hundred, but many more irreplaceable horses were also killed. The Battle is most famous for a single, long-range shot made by a young buffalo hunter, named Billy Dixon. Using his Sharps Rifle, probably fifty-caliber, Dixon fired the shot at a group of Indians on horseback on a distant hill. The Indians, naively confident they were out of range, were stationary. The single bullet literally fell from the sky and struck one of the warriors, knocking him off his horse, probably fatally injuring him. His comrades were dumbfounded and horrified! They dragged his body off and withdrew. The range was in excess of one-thousand meters, and even Dixon himself later admitted it was a "lucky shot." However, added to the rest of the deadly-accurate fire nrelentingly emanating from the post, this event broke the spirit of the attackers. Three years later, Parker surrendered what remained of his Tribe to the US Army. The continuing threat to settlers that he represented, ended forever. However, Parker himself, adopting well to his new circumstances, became a financially successful "reservation Indian" and, like Sitting Bull of the Little Big Horn, a successful politician. He died i of natural causes in 1911. Bat Masterson would go on to gain notoriety in Kansas as a lawman, and later, in New York, as a newspaper sports-writer! Several months after the Second Battle of Adobe Wells, an ever-heroic Billy Dixon, along with five others, held off yet another Indian attack, this one at the famous "Buffalo-Wallow," for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Billy returned to Adobe Wells years later, by then a bustling town, and settled down, becoming Postmaster and eventually Sheriff. He died in Oklahoma in 1913. The foregoing heroic deeds, along with many others from the era, are mostly forgotten today. It was a wild time indeed, and the dauntless heroes of that age remind us all today (at least some of us) of our wondrous warrior heritage, and of the unpredictable course of world history! Lessons: Accurate rifle fire is absolutely indispensable, irreplaceable! There is no substitute for it, and, without it, wars cannot be won. In order to win decisively, enemy soldiers must be gunned-down, one at a time, by courageous and superlatively competent marksmen, who are up front, using real rifles. Accomplished and supremely confident individual riflemen thus represent the cornerstone of all victorious armies, and always will! As a civilization, we de-emphasize their importance, and the importance of the Art of the Rifle, at our peril! /John (There is a saying among shooters that the more you practice, the more lucky shots you will make.) -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .