The Wakefulness Thing: Several days ago I shared a link about a 20-year-old volunteer firefighter in California who is facing a felony charge for firing a shotgun to detain a man who was assaulting a woman outside the defendant's home. In explaining his precipitous action, he stated, "Had I been more awake, I probably wouldn't have gone outside." I commented that the first few minutes one is awake one is functioning at a similar level as just being over the legal line of alcohol intoxication. This prompted an angry response from one former Marine and later, similar but, more moderate comments from a former volunteer firefighter. The former demanded that I share his reply with the list, which I did. Since then: * One list member contacted Bill Lewinski, director of Force Science Research Center. Lewinski replied that people who have just awakened do suffer from varying degrees of cognitive impairment, for varying periods of time. Such impairment may extend to difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality. The rate of recovery from such impairment may improve with practice, such as for mothers who wake at the cry of their babies, soldiers in combat, and career firefighters. * Another list member replied that while he no longer has the articles, he recalls a set of studies, about 15 years ago, in which EEG's were performed to measure alertness in subjects under a wide range of consciousness, including under the influence of alcohol and other drugs and in various states relating to sleep or sleep deprivation. His recollection is that post-sleep recovery time ranged from 15 seconds to 15 minutes. * One astute list member pointed out the value of dogs in giving the earliest alert of a possible intruder, potentially increasing the time frame for recovery from sleep. * It appears that I may have confused some other article warning of the waking state with an FSRC article that included a specific comparison of 20 hours without sleep to a BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) of 0.1%, the old legal limit for non-commercial drivers. * Having said all that, I will summarize my thoughts. There are many factors, individual and otherwise, including recent sleep history, that may affect how quickly one returns to normal function after waking and how impaired one may be during the recovery period. Odious as the comparison with alcohol appears to be for a couple of list members I will persist with two comparisons. One of the problems with DUI is that drivers who are in the early stages of impairment often fail to realize that they are impaired. Also, experienced, heavy drinkers learn to drive without obvious signs of impairment at BAC's that would produce obviously impaired driving in "lightweight" drinkers. For those of you who are convinced that you are functioning at 100% capacity as soon as your feet hit the floor, I use the words of my former teaching partner - "It's your gunfight." For the rest of us I counsel not engaging if not immediately necessary until you are sure that you're fully awake. Obviously, if someone has broken into your bedroom, you have little or no choice. However, if you must leave the safe room or the house itself, make sure you really know what you're doing. Lastly, in at least one forum discussion among serious people, several mentioned that they choose not to keep a firearm accessible until they have arisen from bed to retrieve it. This is an issue that each person needs to decide individually; mine are kept where I can access them in bed but not without making a conscious effort to do so. --- One More in the Wrong Column: A 70-year-old woman shot and killed her former daughter-in-law in the parking lot of the preschool where the young teacher worked, Utah police said Saturday. Mary Nance Hanson is accused of firing multiple shots into the car of Tetyana Nikitina, 34, as she prepared to leave Friday from the Salt Lake Community Action Program Head Start school. Police said the suspect called 911 and was waiting at the scene when officers arrived. When asked why she had fired the shots, she told a 911 dispatcher, "I don't know, and that's all I'm going to say." ... Hanson, a concealed weapons permit holder, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of murder. She lives in Taylorsville, as did Nikitina... ( fear that the fact that Utah allows permittees to carry on school grounds will become a red herring in this case.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/30/AR2010013001593.html?hpid=sec-education --- Arizona May Protect Hunting and Fishing: A group of state legislators and gun-rights advocates wants to make hunting and fishing a constitutional right in Arizona. Rep. Jerry Weiers, R-Glendale, has proposed House Concurrent Resolution 2008. It states that citizens would have a right to "hunt, fish and harvest wildlife" and make public hunting and fishing the "preferred means of managing and controlling wildlife." If supported by the Legislature, the resolution would put a proposed constitutional amendment on an upcoming ballot for the voters to consider. If approved by voters, it would become Arizona's 36th right. The state's 35 constitutional rights include the right to petition and assemble, right to bear arms and the right to a trial by jury. Ten states include hunting and fishing rights in their constitutions. In Arizona, a similar bill failed two years ago. It was opposed by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission and environmental groups... (While the Arizona State Constitution, Article 2, § 23, guarantees a trial by jury, historically, this right has not been extended to those charged with most misdemeanors unless the misdemeanor is one of a growing list created by the appellate courts.) http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/01/31/20100131politics-hunting0131.html --- The Backup Gun Reviewed: ...A generation ago, just about all law enforcement agencies fielded revolvers and my outfit was no different. I was fortunate to work for an agency that took officer safety seriously and provided officers with a 4 inch service revolver and a more compact snub for backup and off duty use. Since our duties took us far off the beaten path, a large percentage of the troops routinely carried their snubs as a backup. We all pretty much felt that if we got ourselves in a jam, the "New York reload" of producing the backup gun would be far more efficient than trying to top off our primary with speedloaders or loose rounds. When pistols replaced revolvers as the sidearm of choice, attitudes relative to BUGs began to shift. Many officers suddenly felt that lugging a second gun around was no longer worth the effort. After all, they reasoned "If I run my piece low or dry, I can reload my pistol in the blink of an eye." Maybe so, but my belief is that such thinking misses the point... (This article is shared for two reasons. I recommend carrying at least two handguns for several reasons, the foremost being that doing so allows keeping a gun available to be drawn and fired with either hand. Secondly, the issues involving the carry of a backup gun [BUG] by a police officer generally are the same as for carrying any concealed handgun.) http://www.policeone.com/officer-shootings/articles/1997266-Backup-gun-strategies-for-the-police-professional/ --- The Tribulations of Compact Handguns: ...You cannot simply treat your defensive handgun as if it were some anti-virus software. You know, install and update (you do update your virus software, don't you?) and forget about it while it runs in the background. This is a handgun, not a magic talisman. You have to feed it the ammo it likes. So test your selected carry ammo in your carry gun, and make sure it does not give you these kinds of problems. But how to test? Simple, test one round to endurance. If you're shooting a revolver, load the cylinder and fire one less than capacity. Reload, and fire one less again, leaving the same cartridge unfired both times. It has now been subjected to ten or twelve recoil impulses. Pull it out of the cylinder and compare it to an unfired cartridge. Any difference in length, and you can't use that ammo in your revolver. Do the same with a pistol; load and fire all but one, extract it from the chamber, load it first in the mag again and repeat another magazine's worth. Any shorter? Then you can't use that ammo... (As to revolvers, I favor full-weight guns and, where weight reduction is truly needed, nothing lighter than an aluminum frame with steel cylinder, as in S&W's Airweights and the discontinued Colt Cobras and Agents. At that, personally, I stick with the standard-pressure 125 gr. Nyclad hollowpoint in these guns, which I socked away when it was discontinued by Federal, several years ago. It has been reintroduced but I've yet to see it for sale and I just checked AmmoEngine.com. Like the Colt models mentioned, S&W K-frame Airweight revolvers are out of production but if you can locate a Model 12, you will find that it's much more pleasant to shoot than it's J-frame lightweight brethren.) http://gunsandammomag.com/cs/Satellite/IMO_GA/Story_C/The%2BEternal%2BTradeoff --- More Thoughts on Revolvers for Concealment: ...I recently came across a revolver that met most of Ed's criteria. Gathering dust on a shelf in one of my favorite gun shops was a Smith & Wesson Model 65. It was a police trade-in from the time when revolvers were almost every cop's sidearm. Over the past twenty years, law enforcement agencies have steadily traded in their revolvers for semi-autos. This has been a boon for wheel-gunners, as many of these trade-ins have been carried much and shot little, and most won't bust your budget. The Model 65 is a stainless steel, fixed sight, bull-barreled six shooter chambered in .357 Magnum. The one I found had a 3" barrel and a round butt grip frame, and it was a perfect candidate for conversion to a snubby... (The longer I do this, the more I favor three-inch barrels for concealed carry. The added weight over a two-inch barrel not only dampens recoil, it helps stabilize the gun against a hurried trigger stroke. The added length will give .38 Special loads a welcome boost in velocity. In an IWB holster, the added barrel length is no harder to conceal. I have seen short women who have trouble clearing leather with a three-inch barrel and the shorter barrel does fit better in a pocket although a Model 65 is not what most people would attempt to conceal in a pocket. In the last year or two of revolver issue, NYPD was encouraging new recruits to choose a three-inch duty revolver so they could carry the same gun on and off duty and the three-inch Model 65 mentioned above was the last revolver issued by the FBI.) http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=35340 --- A Solution in Search of a Problem: ...This year, the highest-tech gun belonged to Armatix. The German firm has an electronic safety that automatically disables the pistol when it's not within a few inches of a custom wristwatch. The watch sends a wireless arming signal to the gun. If the gun is picking up a signal from the watch, a green LED on the back lights up. Try squeezing the handle without wearing the watch, and you will see a red warning light. Anyone can pick up a limited edition version of the pistol for about 7,000 euro, which is pretty steep for a .22cal plinker. They start shipping next month. (At today's rate, 7,000 euro is approximately $9,700. In the long-run, this is probably immaterial because this pistol is basically a proving platform for technology to be applied to more serious handguns. "Smart" guns are not a smart idea, for most users, most of the time. Prior electronic efforts have focused on biometrics, a concept that may not allow the gun to fire if grasped in the opposite hand or in an unconventional grip, perhaps due to injury. How close must the Dick Tracy watch be for the Armatix pistol to fire? the opposite wrist? If so, it will likely fire if an officer is in a struggle over the pistol, whether it is in the hand of the officer or the assailant. If not, it won't fire if the officer needs to shoot from the non-dominant hand. There is a very limited role for these "safety" devices but, once they become commercially available, they may be imposed on all of us. As I recall, New Jersey has already mandated "smart" guns, as soon as the technology becomes available.) http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/01/high-tech-guns-digital-revolvers-koosh-bullets-and-triple-tasers --- JB Bore Paste - for the Precision Riflemen: Ever since it's introduction there have been heated debates into the wee hours of the night about JB Bore Paste, pitting man and beast against each other about it's miraculous cures for severely fouled bores and how others were ready for the scrap yard by merely opening the jar near any barrel in the house. Well Ladies and Gent's it is time to dispel all the myths surrounding this diminutive ivory jar, that has carried many of us benchrest shooters over the threshold into the "Benchrest Hall of Fame". Before we get into the "PROPER" use of JB Bore Paste lets dissect the process that takes place within the bores of our firearms that cause the degradation to their inherent accuracy... (Brownells is a vendor of the products discussed and obviously has a vested interest in their sale. However, for anyone seeking to maximize accuracy from a precision rifle or regain it from a hunting rifle, this article may offer some new and useful information. I have made it a point to bookmark it for future use.) http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=12950/guntechdetail/Benchrest_Shooting?mc_ID=2033 --- From John Farnam: 24 Jan 10 One More Thing: I've been asked about S&W's "Bodyguard/38" It was indeed on display at this week's SHOT Show, along with the "Bodyguard/380" (upon which I did comment). Both are small, personal pistols, with integral lasers. The 380 version is interesting, and I can see its merit for some consumers. At the time, I didn't think the revolver was interesting enough to comment on, but I was apparently wrong, so here they are: I struck me that the Bodyguard/38, with its simplified mechanics and liberal use of plastic, is similar to Ruger's LCR. Price is similar too. The cylinder-release latch is on the top of this little pistol, rather than on the left side, where S&W has put it since 1895. As I handled the gun, it took me the better part of a minute to figure out how to load it! I'm sure it is perfectly functional, but, who want a snubby revolver for concealed carry, will probably be better served by S&W's existing 340PD. Between Crimson Trace and Lasermax, one can now easily retrofit nearly any pistol with a laser. /John (I fear we see the birth of a new fad - polymer-frame revolvers. From my perspective, the introduction of the Pro series 640, with dovetails fore and aft to mount more visible sights, is of greater import. As I commented earlier, this may give those who want the HexSite, as well as many other sight systems, the means to install them on a small-frame revolver.) 25 Jan 10 Opportunity! From an Instructor: "... just bought a new SIG/556 Rifle... best part about the deal is that is was on sale for $1,200.00, with an additional $300.00 rebate from SIG! So, I got a 556 for less than most ARs! ... for those who want a superlative military rifle, like the SIG/556, now is the time!" Comment: "Opportunity knocks, but seldom nags!" /John (I'm sure that this is a good rifle. One reason to consider sticking with an AR-15 variant, if you're contemplating your first purchase of an "Evil Black Rifle," is the greater availability of spare parts and at lower price for that system.) 27 Jan 10 Small, 380Auto Pistols: Kahr, SIG, Kel-Tec, Taurus, Ruger, and now S&W have all recently united in producing small, thin, single-column 380Auto pistols, the smallest ever made in that caliber, designed specifically for concealed carry for those for whom going armed is a delicate, often embarrassing, issue and who must therefore carry with a high degree of discretion and secrecy. Retailers tell me that five-shot, snubby 38Spl revolvers, from S&W, Ruger, and Taurus, have, for at least the past three decades, been top sellers. Seldom actually shot, but often carried, these little revolvers are everywhere and continue to sell well. However, it strikes me that small 380Auto pistols are now taking over that market! The pervasive, continuing scarcity of 380Auto ammunition alone is prima-facie evidence of that! Other driving factors include increased ammunition capacity (seven shots instead of five), thinness, reduced recoil, and rapidity/adroitness of reloading. As a serious caliber, the 380Auto is limited, as we all know. For that matter, the 38Spl suffers from many of the same limitations. Happily, modern, high-performance ammunition, like Cor-Bon's DPX, have upgraded practical effectiveness significantly. And, while so limited, the 380Auto is still indisputably superior to remaining alternatives: the 32ACP, 25ACP, and 22LR. For doctors, attorneys, nurses, ambulance crews, 7-11 clerks, taxi-drivers, pizza delivery-guys, and a host of others for whom discrete concealed-carry is a pseudo-profane, but desperate, necessity, legitimate choices, until now, have been profoundly limited. Not any more! /John (Some people may opt for a .380 for reduced recoil. Historically, pistols in this caliber have operated by direct blowback; models with locking breeches generally have less felt recoil. Even with reduced recoil, handguns get very difficult to shoot accurately when they get too small; make sure that the pistol is manageable for its intended user before plunking down your money. I remain concerned about the ammunition supply. Apparently the greater scarcity of .380 ammo was a combination of two factors - increased demand for the caliber as thousands rushed to get carry permits this past year and the need to shut down production of 9x19mm ammo I order to produce this 9x17mm round. If it happened once, it can happen again.) 27 Jan 10 Battery Issue, from a friend in FL: "I was at the movies yesterday and found it necessary to use my small flashlight to find something I had dropped. It is a tube-light and powered by two, 123 lithium batteries. They were many months old and on their last legs. The light kept going dim. At home later in the evening, I heard what sounded like a small explosion in the kitchen. My flashlight, which I had left on the counter with the intention of replacing batteries, was still in its belt-holder. When I picked it up, it was so hot I was forced to drop it! The light had exploded with enough force to blow out the lens in front, and push-button in the back. Batteries themselves were corroded and leaking. I cleaned up the mess, replaced the batteries with new ones, reassembled the light, and it now, once again, works normally." Comment: While unusual, this happens now and then. We all have, and carry, flashlights. Check your batteries now and then! Corroded/leaking batteries need to be replaced immediately. After several months, all batteries need to be replaced, just to insure your light is up to par when you need it. Don't neglect your critical equipment! /John (Most of the newer "tactical" flashlights use lithium batteries, which have a substantially longer shelf life than other types; SureFire says ten years for theirs. The shift to LED's has done wonders to increase the life of these batteries once they go into use. More comments follow.) 28 Jan 10 More on exploding flashlights, from a friend in the System: "The culprit here is nearly always cheap, foreign-made batteries, usually from China! This issue was identified on our military-side over a year ago. As is the case with serious ammunition, high-quality, domestically-produced batteries are always best. In addition, it is poor practice to mix new batteries with mostly-expended ones, within the same flashlight. When replacing batteries, replace all of them at once, with new ones. Old batteries, regardless of suspected remaining life, need to be discarded. Do not retain them, as they are more trouble than they are worth, and they should never again find their way into serious equipment, except under exigent circumstances. Make it personal policy, when it is time to replace batteries, to replace all, at once, with fresh ones! Our relentless insistence upon top quality doesn't end with firearms, holsters, sights, nor flashlights, but well and truly extends to the ammunition and batteries we put in them!" Comment: Looks as if China is a poor source for baby-toys, ammunition, ... and batteries! /John (I have been told by a reliable source that SureFire sells lithium batteries for their products at cost. Current prices are $21.00 per dozen for the 123A battery used by most models; I assume that this does not include shipping. While not cheap, it certainly beats the price of $6.12 per battery, plus tax, which was the best I could do back in the late 90's. As I hope is clear from the preceding reports, this is not a good area to go for bargain-basement alternatives.) From AzCDL: Four pro-rights bills are scheduled for committee hearings next week. SB 1098, the "Firearms Freedom Act," will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, February 1, 2009. SB 1102, the AzCDL-requested "Constitutional Carry" bill, will also be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday. HB 2347, the House version of SB 1102 (Constitutional Carry), will be heard in the House Military Affairs and Public Safety Committee on Wednesday, February 3, 2010. SB 1011, authorizing college and university faculty members, with CCW permits, to possess a concealed firearm on campus, will be heard in the Senate Public Safety and Human Services Committee on Wednesday, February 3, 2010. We urge you to contact the committee members on these bills and WE'VE MADE IT EASIER FOR YOU! AzCDL has added a Legislative Action Center to improve YOUR ability to contact Arizona legislators and share your opinion at http://capwiz.com/azcdl/home/ . This is the same interface used by Gun Owners of America and many other successful organizations. To take action on the above bills from AzCDL's Legislative Action Center home page, click on "Issues," then click on "Legislative Alerts and Updates" (http://capwiz.com/azcdl/issues/?style=D&). There you will find a list of the bills mentioned in this Alert that require action. Clicking on any one of them will take you to an editable letter. You can add your own text or send it as is, after filing in the required fields. WE WILL NOT SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION WITH ANYONE! We also recommend keeping the "remember me" box checked so that next time you send a letter there will be less work to do. Our Legislative Action Center is new to us also. If you spot any errors or have any suggestions, please let us know by sending an email to treasurer@azcdl.org. In other news, the following bills recently passed out of committee. HB 2307, the House version of SB 1098 (Firearms Freedom Act), passed out of the House Judiciary Committee by a 5-2 vote, with one member absent, on January 28, 2010. SB 1172, which improves the language in Arizona's school gun safety program statutes, passed out of the Senate Education and Accountability Reform Committee, by a unanimous 7-0 vote, on January 27, 2010. The normal process for any bill passing out of a committee is to go to their respective chambers Rules Committee. The following bills are due to be heard Monday, February 1, 2010 in the Senate Rules Committee: SB 1021, which incorporates defensive display into the statutes regarding the justification for deadly force. SB 1153, knife preemption. SB 1172, school gun safety improvements. Stay tuned! When critical legislation moves, we will notify you via these Alerts. You can also follow AzCDL on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AzCDL_Alerts and Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/FacebookAzCDL . AzCDL's Political Action Committee (PAC) is also on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/FacebookAzCDLPAC . These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Renew your membership today! http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/accomplishments.html Copyright © 2010 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. The tactics and skills to use a firearm in self-defense don't come naturally with the right to keep and bear arms. http://www.spw-duf.info .