One Step Closer

Last night, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed  the Permitless Carry bill. The bill will now be transmitted to the Governor to sign. Governor Bill Lee is expected to sign it.  It would become law on July 1, the public welfare requiring it. 

If the Governor does not sign it, the bill will go back to the legislature for a veto override. An override would require a simple majority vote. Both the House and the Senate passed the bill overwhelmingly, so a veto, although unlikely, would likely be overridden. If this happens, the bill becomes law on July 1, all the same. 

If vetoed and not overridden, the bill will fail to become law.

During the passage of the bill, which took several months, there was some debate. Not much opposition, in all fairness. Primarily, those opposed to the bill were Democrats, the Sherrif's association, and the Tennessee Firearms Association.

Video of testimony for and against the bill. At about 2:06, the representative from the Sheriff's Association testifies. At about 2:40, a representative from the TFA testifies.

Democrats falsely claimed there "will be blood in the streets." This is their usual red herring and just simply hasn't happened anywhere that similar legislation has passed.

The Sheriff's Association is understandably annoyed by this bill. It limits application of Jack-Booted Thuggery. 

The TFA has thrown in with the Rabid Left and the JBTs, all because they know it will render them irrelevant.

Thoughts?

Practice Your Turns

During a recent training, several new persons were present. One of them was assigned the middle spot on the right side of the wedge formation seen below:

Also present was another participant who was also new, but also had experience as a US Army veteran. The veteran rightly took it upon himself to offer advice to the first participant. The vet suggested that the participant patrol with the rifle in the left hand, so as to present more quickly, should the team receive contact from the right. 

After awaiting for the advice to end, the author added to the thought, and this is the essence of that conversation.

Direct questioning revealed that the participant in question did not train often using the left hand. Truth be told, most right handed soldiers do not, either - including infantry and most other combat roles. Therefore, the question was asked: "in an effort to present more quickly, is the purpose to suppress, or to make a hit?" It is assumed that in either instance, the end goal is to do so more quickly. 

Suppress

If the purpose is to suppress, then what kind of time is saved by operating left handed? A few trials demonstrated that the time difference was less than a half second. This was demonstrated using correct left handed grip, and also right handed grip using the "head-body-weapon" turn. 

Make a hit

If the purpose is to make a hit on target, then what kind of time is saved by operating left handed? This became more tricky to measure - because most people cannot easily perform an up-drill with the nondominant hand and make a hit. Targets beyond 50 yards made 5 second par very difficult. 

So, with the goal of making a hit, the following demonstration provided evidence for a best-case scenario. A standard ready-up was performed with the strong hand, while already facing the target. Then a ready-up was performed with a turn. This was performed by someone who could consistently make a hit in under 5 seconds on a target 100 yards away. The time difference was again under a second. 

Conclusion

Patrol with the rifle in your dominant hand, and practice your turns. 

Use logic to dictate your actions, instead of dogma. 

Some Data

Masks and lockdowns have not worked in controlling the spread of COVID-19. The jury is still out on the efficacy of the vaccine. Treatments such as HCQ have oscillated between being labeled as "effective" or "dangerous" depending on whom you ask and when and their political and financial motivations. 

So here are some data driven articles on the facts of mask usage. 

Cluster of randomized cloth masks vs medical masks.

Charts of mask mandates compared to infection rates in given populations. 

This author would point out that all "data" on mask usage prior to 2020 indicated that what little effectiveness masks can offer, has only been studied in a clinical environment, and is always directly linked to washing of hands and keeping distanced. 

Studies produced in 2020 and beyond are tainted with bias, lack of scientific method, and political and/or financial motivation. 

This author had COVID-19. It was a #SpicyCold . Here are some more facts:

80% of COVID hospitalizations are of people who are obese. 

90% of COVID deaths in Tennessee were persons over 60, with two or more comorbidities. 

COVID 19 death rate in Tennessee in 2020 was less than the Flu death rate in 2018 in Tennessee. 

COVID-19 death rates nationally are over reported about 16 times the actual number. 

When you account for over-reporting, COVID-19 is no more deadly than the average flu. 

Mask Mandate Ended Here

Wilson county mayor, Randall Hutto, has lifted the mask mandate, effective March 19, 2021, at 11:59 pm Central time. Of course, the #LibNuts are screaming that we are "all gonna die!" A number of level-headed people counter with "if you wish to continue to wear a mask, then you have that right."

This author had several exchanges with Hutto about the mask mandate. He attempted to cite the "SciEncE," but that has all been debunked. This author may or may not have inferred that Hutto was and is a coward... including a question of how it feels to go through life afraid of "every damned thing." 

The interesting thing in all of this was that the Wilson County Sheriff's Department, the Mount Juliet City Police Department, and the Lebanon Police Department all indicated they would not cite people who did not wear masks. To date, this author has seen no evidence supporting even a single citation having been written by these three law enforcement entities. 

How I Know You Are Lying

Over the years, the author has heard some real whoppers when it comes to guns. It is amazing that these persist, even in the information age. Here are some notable ones. 

"The M16 was weak, so I would just kill the VietCong with my bare hands"

- A man who couldn't handle 10 minutes of slow paced jiu-jitsu training. 

"I shot a quarter-sized group at 500 yards with an iron-sights A2 and M855."

- A shooter who didn't know the mechanical limitations of the A2 barrel, or M855. But hey, if he did this, then he needs to get into benchrest-shooting immediately. 

"I shot a 1-inch group with my M16 and iron sights with M855."

- Police officer who clearly just didn't know better. 

"I wore out this hammer after 90,000 rounds. Used a Stainless Steel barrel, which held up the entire time."

- Same guy who shot a 1-inch group at 500 yards. Clearly didn't know ss barrel life is 5-15k rounds.

"I don't have the money to take a $500 gun class."

- Same guy who claims to have shot 90,000 rounds out of a stainless steel barrel, and all in a year. Even at best pricing in the past decade, that would have been $32K. 

There are others, and they will be updated in time. 

Artificial Support

A reader and friend pointed this author to a social media post made by Appleseed regarding a change in USMC marksmanship training. Specifically requested was an analysis of the phrase,
Appleseed does not allow artificial support, unlike what the Marines will now start allowing.

The picture used for the post showed a person shooting from a barricade which represents cover, using the barricade to support the rifle.  Naturally, if support exists in a combat environment, one should use the support to steady the shot. It is not the opinion of this author that the statement in the post was directed at the use of the support in the picture. 

It is the estimation of this author that the statement was directed at the change in USMC doctrine away from sling use and toward the resting of the rifle on the magazine on the ground. 

If these estimations are correct, then the statement is highly problematic.  To assume the sling on the rifle is not "artificial support" and the magazine is "artificial support," is disingenuous or uneducated, at best. A rifle may be deployed in combat quite successfully without any sort of sling. However, combat without a magazine would prove exceedingly difficult. 

Make no mistake, the sling is nearly essential for the overall use of a rifle - as most of what the troops do with rifles is not combat (carrying, etc.). Use of a sling as a shooting aid is not a common practice.  As of this writing, the most recent documented use of a sling to steady position on a combat kill was during WWII.

On the other hand, documented use of magazine support is quite common from combat.  Both the Army (basic training, as well as infantry school) and USMC (infantry school) teach magazine support, and have for  years.  If the Appleseed statement is indeed referencing magazine support, then it would be quite unfortunate.

Thoughts?

What Is With The Hype???

 In the middle of this ammo shortage, it is a good time to discuss the public fascination with M855 and clone rounds for civilian use. This author does not understand the hype, and that mostly because this author looks at ammo from a logical point of view. M855 and SS109 rounds have a steel penetrator core inside, and are in widespread use in the US, as well as other NATO countries. 

Accuracy

M855, along with SS109, and civilian analogs, rarely shoot groups smaller than 4 MOA. IMI ammo can sometimes produce 2.5 MOA groups, but that is an exception, and not the rule. Even lowly M193 clone ammo usually gets 2.5 MOA groups, even from some of the cheap variants. 

Effectiveness

It is a well-documented fact that M855 and SS109 rounds fail to fragment far more often than M193 ammo. Additionally, because of the steel core, M855 and SS109 rounds rarely expand. Not exactly what you want for self defense effectiveness. 

Cost

With M855 and SS109 being less effective, and less accurate, then the only remaining logical reason for there to be a lot of demand is if it is inexpensive. Yet again, M193 variants tend to be less expensive. 

Advantages

To be fair, the 62-grain projectiles tend to buck the wind better at distance than the 55-grain variants. Also, the M855 and SS109 rounds penetrate WWII steel helmets out to 800 meters. Those are the only advantages this author can find. 

Summary

Buy M193 ammo for practice and self defense.