Switch-Hand Shooting

     I know a lot of shooters.  I know a lot of left-handed shooters.  Handedness being what it is I know a whole lot more right-handed shooters.  Interestingly, I know several left-handed people (particularly older cops) who shoot right-handed.  Ask them why they carry their primary weapon (their pistol), this largely one-handed weapon for which they will need maximum dexterity on their off-hand side for use with their clearly non-dominate hand.  Likely they’ll shrug and say something to the effect that left handed holsters weren’t available back when they started (or at least not affordable ones).  I’ve even ran across holsters I’d love to use only to find the dreaded three words “Right Hand Only” at the bottom of the ad. 

     Now, this is not a piece about the exclusion of 10-20% of the population by right-handed elitists.  No, I’ll save that rant for another day.  But, taking the words of the preceding paragraph in mind, think for a moment.  Many left-handed people can and do shoot right-handed when they have to.  Most right-handed people I know balk at the idea of shooting left-handed.  This is not meant as a slight towards folks of the more common handedness.  Theirs is simply the more common world.  I, for instance, love old military guns.  Left-hand friendly military bolt-guns are a wee bit thin on the ground if you know what I mean.  Oh, I make do.  I do the whole reach-across-the-top-of-the-receiver-and-work-the-bolt thing.  I’m actually pretty fast with it on my M48A Mauser, my sportarized Lee-Enfield No.1 MkIII, and even my Mosin-Nagant M44.  The latter, despite the straight-out-at-nearly-ninety-degree bolt handle that seems to lend its self to such manipulations, is not actually the easiest of the bunch to work thusly.  Oh, it works; it’s just not really smooth.  So, when going for speed or even just comfort (they just fit better on the right shoulder) I shoot ‘em right-handed.  How many right-handed shooters, though, when handed a left-handed rifle won’t immediately balk at the notion of shooting it left-handed?

    I think my experiences and those of my fellow south-paws shows that most anyone can shoot with their non-dominate hand.  It’s just that left-handed folks, living in a right-handed world, are more often called upon to operate things “backwards” so shooting “wrong-handed” really isn’t as big a deal to them.

     I think all able-bodied shooters, possessing both hands and all fingers, should endeavor to be able to operate their primary firearms (you do have more than one, right?) with either hand.  Why?  Well, if you’re as accident prone as I am, sooner or later your non-dominant hand may be the only one not in a cast.  Perhaps on an epic hunt of a lifetime that one shot you get at a monster trophy will need to be taken from the opposite side of a tree.  Maybe you’ll be clearing your house after a bump-in-the-night (yes, you should secure and call the police, but maybe the police are far away; heck, maybe you are the police and you’re clearing the house in question).  Maybe you need to cover around a left-hand corner (or, you know, whatever your version of “opposite side” is).  Whatever the scenario, it doesn’t take much imagination to realize that in the real world not everything will be right or left hand friendly. 

     So, when a right-handed person is faced with a left-handed corner or when your dominant hand/arm is out of action/otherwise occupied (like with a crutch), what are they gonna do?  How competent are you with your non-dominant hand?

     Personally, I think you should be able to keep all your shots on a pie-plate at ten yards shooting fairly rapidly (say one round per second or faster).  I suspect most folks can once they get over their initial uncomfortable feeling of shooting “wrong-handed.”  Back when I first got into law enforcement, we had to fire 18 rounds from 25 yards, six of those with our non-dominate hand.  I always got highly annoyed when guys would declare those six shots as “throwaways.”  Holy crap!  They had a total of 75 seconds to fire their 18 rounds, swapping positions between each string of six (lots of revolvers still around even back in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s).  You could easily save up 30 seconds or better for the “weak-handed” stuff.  Still, folks cheered when that part of the qualification was done away with.  We still have to shoot with the other hand (one-handed, point-style) from the five yard line.  In an emergency, that’s a bit more realistic of a distance, I suppose.  But still, failing to hit from 25 yards slow-fire, from kneeling, just because you use that other booger-hooker box is a call for more practice, not a declaration of the rounds just being “throwaways.” 

     Admittedly, I may have it a bit easier than some.  I’m actually completely ambidextrous.  I shoot primarily left-handed because I think left-handed (watching me with a wrench or screwdriver is reportedly the height of hilarity).  Well, that and it’s a big poke in the eye of social convention.  I was first trained to shoot as a child right-handed.  I was a teen when I fiddled around a bit and found I preferred to shoot left-handed. So, yes, I may have an advantage when switch-hitting.  Still, I’ve known my share of people who, due to an injury had to use their non-dominant hand.  They became every bit as proficient as they were before in fairly short order.  So, it is possible, it just may take more effort for some than for others.

     The primary problem when shooting with the non-dominant side is a matter of eye dominance.  Most folks are right or left eye dominant.  Some folks are cross eye-hand dominate (e.g. right-handed but left-eyed).  Such folks often, upon finding this out, continue shooting pistols with their dominate hand, but shoot rifles and shotguns of the shoulder under their dominant eye.  Shooting with the non-dominant eye means probably having to close the dominant one or else you'll just see down the side of the weapon/scope/sights.  Again, I'm kind of weird in this regard, but I've found most folks can make-do.  For instance, a right-handed, right-eyed person shooting a rifle left-handed will likely close or at least partially close his right eye.  When the same person shoots a pistol left-handed, he'll likely just bring the weapon a bit right-of-center and turn his head a little more, aiming with his dominant eye.  It's really a matter of whatever works.

     I’ve covered some of the reasons, and I’m sure everyone can think of many more as to why we should all practice with our opposite hands.  Let me add another:  Backup Guns.  Right now my backup is in my right front pocket in a Kydex holster I made for it.  My primary pistol is high on my left hip, right about nine o’clock.  I like my backup to be available to either hand (like an ankle rig) or the opposite hand.  That way, if my primary arm is injured, I can at least still return fire.  Paranoia?  Perhaps.  Good practice?  Definitely!

     I have one additional reason:  It’s actually great practice.  Think about it.  If you don’t regularly handle your weapons off-handed it will feel unfamiliar.  Yep, much like back when you first started shooting.  Suddenly your mind knows what to do, but you may have trouble at first getting your body on the same page.  This will give you ample opportunity to re-train from nearly the beginning.  Sight-alignment, trigger squeeze, body indexing, smooth draw, foot placement, squaring to the target, these are all things you’ll have to do at least a little bit of re-training on.  It’ll be like training someone to shoot, only it’ll be you.  This training should translate back to shooting with your dominate hand.  Also, once you get really good, it’s kind of … satisfying … when, while shooting with some friends, to take the gun in your non-dominate hand and say, “(Yawn) I’m feeling left-handed today.  Let’s see how I do.”  Be warned, though, if money is on the line, you might be treated much the same way as a pool hustler.  [wink, wink]

     So, whether for better self-defense (always the primary purpose to keep in mind), better bragging rights, or just to prove a challenge to yourself, get some trigger time with that non-dominate hand.  Yes, you can.  Seriously, no excuses, just go do it.

Two .25s (Beretta Jetfire & Colt 1908)

Testing Two .25s

     Yeah, I know, I know, a .25 ACP is no better than harsh language.  A .25 will bounce off a man’s skull.  If I shoot anyone with a .25, he might get angry … blah, blah, blah.  Unlike a lot of pundits and key-pounding, armchair commandoes, I’ve actually seen what a .25 ACP can do.  Just where I work we’ve had four shootings with a .25 and all (ALL) were one-shot stops.  Admittedly, one was a contact or near contact shot (kinda like real life, maybe?), and one was a suicide (but the subject did not move, just fell over). In one the victim didn’t die and was not seriously wounded, but what that tiny bullet did accomplish was amazing.  The other was across a room and it did not, despite all the urban legends, bounce of the victim’s skull.  He did not move or twitch; just dropped.  So my respect for the cartridge is based on real-world observations, not urban legend.

     It’s been said that a lot of the problems with .25s comes from the use of the cartridge in either old worn out (or manufactured out-of-spec in the first place) pieces, or in some of the modern sub $100 junk one finds for sale in less reputable areas.  If the barrel is too large by a couple thousandths of an inch … well I think you can see where I’m going.

     Assuming a good barrel, a good pistol, and good ammo, however, a .25 ACP through the vitals should be about as effective as anything else.  Think about it.  A .50AE is considered “HUGE” but in reality it’s only twice the diameter of the little .25 (slightly less than half actually, but you’ll need a micrometer). If the .25 is so tiny then how can twice tiny be huge?  Power.  Sure, the .50AE, or heck, even the 9x19mm is exponentially more powerful than John M. Browning’s smallest cartridge design.  But wait.  If one is stabbed through the aorta, the heart, or another blood-filled organ of choice by a quarter inch metal rod, isn’t that a bad thing?  I hope my point is made. If not, look around, there are some posts here about 9x18, .40 S&W, and some other bigger bullets that might hold your interest.

     Now, why on Earth am I not only writing about a .25 but even by my own admission carrying one?  Well, see, my preferred little piece of perpetual presence (Kel-Tec’s P3AT .380) wound up in need of service after several years of hard carry and a few thousand rounds.  Minor stuff, really, but I found myself temporarily in need of a tiny pocket gun:  A gun to have when I absolutely did not need anyone to know I was armed:  A gun to be a backup or even tertiary gun.  Well, in my wife’s armory was a Beretta 950B “Jetfire” that I’d given her a couple years prior.  She’d never shot it and showed little interest in it over her other pistols.  There’s a lesson here, boys.  Let Mama-san pick her own pistols.  Anyway, I borrowed it (and in truth had always coveted it anyway).  I qualified with it on my agencies backup course (15 yards and in, even clearing a malfunction from bad ammo and STILL shot 100% with most of the hits in the heart and/or spine).  Now, I carry FMJ ammo since penetration is not the .25’s long suit and at the anemic power level I don’t think expansion can really be relied on either.  Plus, in its role, I need 100% reliability.  So, FMJs it is.  This isn’t a 9mm Luger or .40 S&W so I’m not endangering innocents a block away by risking perforating the bad guy.

     I decided to shoot it some more today and fire it side-by-side with my 1908 Colt Vestpocket .25 ACP.  My Colt was made in 1912 and my Beretta was made in 1966.  The Beretta was made a year before I was and the Colt is 100 years old this year.  First, a basic comparison:

     The Colt 1908 is a single-action, striker-fired pistol.  It features a thumb-safety on the left rear of the frame and a grip safety on the rear back-strap.  The grip safety is firm and takes a conscious grip to engage so the weapon will fire.  Personally I think this is a nice touch on a tiny pistol with a tiny safety lever that might become accidentally disengaged.  It’s a right handed pistol, to be sure, but I can manage it with a bit of innovative manipulation (we left-handed shooters are nothing if not dexterous).  It feeds out of a six round box magazine held in place with a heel-based clip (not a bad idea on a pocket gun really).  The sites consist of a dimple on the rear of the slide leading to a trench down the length of said slide.  A tiny front site sits right at the front in the middle of the trench.  This is not a pistol for aimed fire or for winning bulls-eye matches.

     The Beretta 950B “Jetfire” is a single-action pistol with an external hammer.  It does not feature a manual safety unlike the 950 BS (S=safety) which appeared two years after mine was made to be allowed for US import under the 1968 Gun Control Act (enter various profanities here).  It features a very innovative tip-up barrel which allows the pistol to be loaded and unloaded without manipulating the tiny slide.  It features an eight round magazine giving it a total capacity of an impressive nine rounds.  It is normally carried hammer down and the hammer is cocked upon preparing to fire.  I prefer to keep the hammer on half-cock.  The inertial firing pin does not protrude from the breech face with the hammer at full rest, but it’s so very close I just feel better with it on half-cock.  The hammer sticks up at such an angle so that one’s thumb almost naturally passes over it when drawing the pistol so the cocking motion is very easy to carry out.  The magazine is ejected by a button set into the lower portion of the left rear grip.  It’s well protected by the grip, almost as secure as a heel-clip and I have yet to accidentally hit it.  The Beretta has sights marginally better than the Colt, but c’mon, we’re talking itty-bitty teeny-tiny sites and on a pistol meant to be shot quickly at very close range and under conditions when proper site alignment and trigger squeeze are not really options.

     So, let’s wring ‘em out.  First off, the Colt was handicapped.  The magazine I had for it just didn’t like to work with more than three rounds in the pistol.  It appears to be the right one for the pistol, but there’s no guarantee and it certainly isn’t stamped “Colt.”  The ammo I started off using was some Federal 50 grain FMJ I’d procured.  I like Federal ammo but this particular batch has been nothing but trouble.  The cases split, often as not, and they seem a wee bit out of spec as they tend to take a LOT of force to seat in the chamber of ANY .25 auto I’ve tried them in.  Silly me trying things again.  Still, shooting from seven then five yards I did pretty well.  At seven yards for some unknown reason I fired six rounds (with alibies for problems related to the questionable mag and dodgy ammo) right handed.  I don’t know why.  I’m actually ambidextrous but I normally shoot left handed.  Maybe being a typical Browning design, it just felt better that way.  Who knows.  The next six round I fired “properly” (i.e. left handed) from five yards.  The group was not much different and only a couple of flyers were questionable.  I also shot pretty fast, as one might do in a self-defense scenario.

     The pistol looks rough in the photos but it looks a lot better than when I got it.  Still, it worked well, magazine and ammo issues aside, and was relatively easy to shoot.  It’s so tiny, though, you can only really get one finger on the grip.  One’s trigger finger seems to find its way into the trigger guard just in an effort to stabilize the pistol when picking it up.  This is where that heavy deliberate pressure needed to overcome the grip safety is a good thing.

     The Beretta Jetfire also did not like the Federal ammo. It shot it okay, but I had to really work at getting the rounds to chamber fully.  I gave up in pretty short order and shot some American Eagle 50 grain FMJ (also Federal but from a more reliable source) and some Aguila 50 grain FMJ.  I should have shot the Colt with the same ammo, but once I put it down, I honestly just didn’t want to stop shooing the Beretta.  It shot overall very well and more accurately than one has a right to ask of such a tiny pistol.

     All the Jetfire’s groups were smaller than the pistol.  That’s smaller than heart sized.  The one big problem I have with the Jetfire (and Beretta’s similar pistols) is that the hammer tends to bite the web of my shooting hand about as often as the slide likes to abrade it, which is more often than not.  My best shooting featured three rounds going one right after the other into one ragged hole from five yards (or was it seven?  Not much difference in accuracy from either post).  Unfortunately by then my hand was hurting to the point I scattered the other rounds a bit farther apart.  Still, all in all, it wasn’t a bad group.  All groups were shot one-handed.

     There are many different micro-blasters out there in .32 and .380 that aren’t much bigger.  However, some people (like my wife) simply cannot shoot anything with that degree of recoil.  For her it’s due to a plate and screws in her arm.  For others it’s a matter of arthritis, strength, or any number of medical issues.  Some folks just WANT a tiny gun.  I think I paid less than two hundred for this lightly used and well cared for Jetfire.  Ammo ain’t cheap but it’s about on par with .32 and .380 so shop around.

     Ultimately, while bigger may be better, if you need for whatever reason, or find yourself limited to a diminutive caliber, get a good quality pistol, make sure everything works, feed it ammo it likes, stick with FMJs, and then just do YOUR part.  Your part, by the way, is to practice drawing from concealment, shooting one-handed, and doing what you can to avoid trouble in the first place.

Polish P-64

Polish Radom P-64

     Who doesn’t love the Walther PPK?  C’mon, who?  What if I said you could get a pistol that was “practically” a PPK, with a mystique and history all its own, for about ¼ the price?  Interested?  Okay, well even if you’re not a fan of Walther’s 1930s design, how about a perfectly serviceable, reliable, accurate, reasonably powerful (and so-far, cheap to feed) pistol, sized right for concealed carry that can be had for a nominal price under 200 bucks?  Are you interested now?

     Well, meet the P-64, the Polish service pistol from 1965 through the late 1970s.  It’s chambered for the 9x18mm cartridge, often called “9mm Makarov” since it was initially designed for that pistol.  When one first sees the P-64 it’s Walther roots are clearly apparent.  Now, is it a copy?  Some say yes, some (like the designers) say no.  External and some other basic design similarities aside, there are some internal differences, so let’s move past the similarities between the P64 and the PPK and look at the P64’s own merits.

     It’s a highly concealable, all steel pistol, double-action first shot, single action thereafter.  It features a decocker/safety lever on the left side of the slide that, when engaged, locks the firing pin in place.  The hammer has a rebound type mechanism so that once the pistol is fired and the slide comes back, tripping the disconnector, and the trigger is released, the hammer is sprung back to its resting position.  There it does not make contact with the firing pin until the trigger is again pulled.  I have heard of some models where the hammer may come to rest on the firing pin.  If so, then to the best of my ability to determine, it’s a defective model and should be repaired or replaced immediately.  Parts seem a bit scarce on the market, unfortunately.  Of course, with a price under $200 many folks could easily afford to buy another pistol that either works better or could be used as a source of parts to fix their primary model.  Mind you, I’ve never seen one that was defective as described, only read about one on an internet forum (and everything on the ‘net is real, right?).  In any event, most savvy folks (most savvy right-handed folks, anyway) carry with the safety lever engaged.  I seem to remember similar arguments concerning Walther's PP series several years ago.

     The pistol is fed by a six-round, single stack magazine featuring a small, plastic finger extension on the bottom.  I'm not aware of anyone making flat-bottomed magazines but the 'net abounds with folks discussing how they modified theirs to make them fit better in smaller pockets.  I've found magazines at various on-line retailers for under $20.  The pistols were initially issued with two magazines.  Some still offer it for sale thusly.  The magazine release is of the European heel-clip variety.  Yes, this means you have to reach over with your non-firing hand and push the catch on the butt back in order to free the magazine.  Oh and how you should hear people gripe about that online!  Some folks swear you’ll never do a fast reload with a heel-based magazine catch, those crazy Europeans!  Well, let’s look at a couple of points with regards to that argument.

First off, this is not a duty pistol (at least to the American market and even the Polish military and police establishment complained it was too small for that role).  It’s a small concealed carry piece.  Even if it had a Walther-style or similar push-button magazine catch of the variety so popular here, would anyone really be doing speed reloads?  True speed reloads of the sort a Bianchi cup competitor uses in competition spells a pinched pinky finger when done with a pocket pistol.  I have no trouble reloading mine quickly and (more importantly) smoothly, but I certainly can reload my full-size SIG P226 faster.  And, if I could stick my P226 in a pocket or on my ankle, or make it disappear IWB under a T-shirt like I can my P64, I probably would not be writing this. 

Secondly, I’m not in the habit of just pressing a magazine release button and trusting my empty or malfunctioning magazine to cooperatively jump forth from my pistol.  I’ve logged enough miles (and thousands of rounds) carrying a Browning Hi-Power in the early days of my LEO career and with a GLOCK 26 much of the time thereafter to be in the habit of “helping” a magazine eject.  This is not a bad habit to develop, no matter how “reliable” your pistol’s magazine ejection.  Things happen.  Lint happens.  Debris happens.  Double feeds happen.  Mr. Murphy comes to visit.  If you are in the habit of helping your magazines out of the pistol’s grip, these won’t be nearly as much of a problem.  So, do I prefer a European heel-style release or our more popular push-button release?  It’s a toss-up for me, really.  The way I do it, one is not significantly faster, nor the other significantly slower.

Thirdly, have you ever had the push-button magazine release on your small CCW pistol get bumped?  You know, the pistol is in your pocket, or on your ankle and suddenly you hear a “click” (if you’re lucky) and now best-case, you have a one-shot repeater and worst case, your magazine is now on the floor somewhere.  This is much less likely to happen with a heel-clip release.  Too, if you’re wearing gloves (for those of you in places where you don’t sweat and sunburn in December), that tiny button can be hard to hit … or entirely too easy to hit.   That, as I understand it, is one of the main reasons behind the Euro style release; the mag stays in place until you want to remove it, and when you do want to remove it with gloves on, you can.

Yeah, yeah, okay, so it’s sort-of a PPK clone, it has a heel-style magazine catch that you’ll either accept or not, and it comes ready-made as a pistol tough and reliable enough to serve as the police and military pistol for behind-the-Iron-Curtain work (back when there was an Iron Curtain).  It’s a tough, reliable, easy to conceal pistol for the price of a zinc-alloy ghetto special.  But, you want to know, how does it shoot, don’t you?

Ultimately it shoots quite well, with a couple of reservations.  First off, and this was a major complaint of the Poles, out-of-the-box, the P64 has something like a 25 pound double action trigger pull!  Yes, it is brutal, and no, you won’t get used to it.  When these pistols first came to our shores there was a quick-fix involving, if memory serves, a modified Walther PP main spring.  I’m not crazy about modifying springs.  There is a science unto its self concerning the making and modifying of springs.  Thanks to the good folks at Wolff’s Gunsprings, however, one has but to drop about ten bucks or less in the mail and you can receive a spring (or even a few) made specifically for your Polish P-64 (on their website the pistol is listed under “Polish” not “Radom” as of the time of this writing).  It took me a few minutes to install the new spring (very simple, really) and pulling that double action trigger was no longer a two-finger affair.  The trigger pull is not exactly smooth, but I’ve certainly felt worse.  There is some definite stacking towards the end of the DA pull, but with the new spring it’s not bad.  It’s definitely there, but not really a problem.  Single action is … responsive.  Cocking the hammer (or it becoming cocked after the first shot) does not move the trigger back (like on, say, a PPK).  To fire single action, there is a bit of take-up on the trigger with no real spring pressure.  About the time you begin to feel any resistance you’ve fired your shot.  It’s not quite a hair-trigger, but it is about as light as I’d ever care for a standard carry gun’s trigger to be.

This is a straight blow-back design which means the barrel is fixed to the frame and the slide is held shut only by the pressure of the mainspring.  While this makes for a rather accurate set up (fixed barrel), it means you get more felt recoil.  The 9x18mm cartridge is a wee bit peppy in this regard.  This is not a pistol you’re going to want to spend the afternoon shooting a couple of boxes of ammo through.  I put its recoil in the same class as my Kahr PM40.  Not painful, exactly, but it will definitely get your attention.  The rearmost corners of the slide have been beveled so as to reduce the chance of it biting the web of your hand (again, a ’la the PPK).  It’s still possible to get bitten, and the recoil it’s self tends to make a red “V” on my hand for a few minutes, but it’s vastly better than a lot of other small autos in that while it’s possible to get bitten, it’s not a foregone conclusion.

The 9x18 is an interesting cartridge in and of its self.  It was engineered to be between the 9x19 (a.k.a. 9mm Parabellum, 9mm Luger) and the .380 ACP (a.k.a. 9x17mm, 9mm short).  One could say it succeeds.  The actual bullet diameter is 9.2mm or about .363” as opposed to the other two cartridges which feature .355” bullets.  I haven’t put a chronograph to mine but others who have claim a bit under 900fps for Hornady’s 95 grain XTP JHP load.  There are some domestic loads available which may enhance its capabilities.  But for plain shooting or practice (or real cheap carry on a shoestring budget) Russian surplus ammo is still available for cheap.  I normally find it cheaper than most other center-fire ammo (except maybe 7.62x25mm).  Ballistically  it seems a lot closer to .380 than 9mm Luger, but it seems to have worked well enough for cops and soldiers the former Soviet Union for a long time.

Accuracy wise I found nothing to complain about.  I came across some nomenclature that says the tiny, old-world military-style sites are zeroed at 50 yards.  Maybe, I didn’t shoot a bulls-eye target at that range.  However, from a few steps to 15 yards I shot a group I’d have been proud of from my afore-mentioned SIG P226.  As for longer range (yes, yes, unrealistic) shooting, suffice to say I now know I can knock down pepper poppers at over 75 yards.  Pretty flat shooting little pocket pistol.

So, it’s snappy in the hand.  You really need to spend the few bucks to get the better spring.  Even then, the DA trigger pull is nothing to get excited about.  It shoots an “odd-ball” former Soviet cartridge (that’s C-H-E-A-P and readily available from numerous online sources and your better stocked gun shops).  It’s accurate, reliable, small enough to disappear with IWB carry, and available for a very low price.  As stocks dry up, I expect the prices to climb (remember the super-cheap Makarovs from the early 1990s?), but by how much I cannot guess. 

It has its quirks (the trigger, the Euro mag release) but from a price vs. features & performance standpoint, I don’t think you can beat it.  Mine is definitely not for sale!

Crazy Gunman, Crazy Repercussions

     Well, enough has been written this week about the crazy gunman in AZ who shot the Congresswoman, killed the federal judge, the nine year old girl, etc.  Probably not enough has been written about the heroic bystanders who took him down, but every day I seem more about them.  Hopefully more will come.

     This shooting though, not unsurprisingly, has brought about a storm of slam-the-right speeches, proposed anti-gun legislation (you know, like crazed gunmen care or like a new felony will be needed on top of a MURDER charge).  Sarah Palin even came under fire for her 2008 ad which featured gunsites over certain liberal states.  Wow, can the left get any goofier?

     But wait.  Today, Obama, our president gave a speech.  It was full of the predicted emotional crap, but ... wait for it ... it was actually quite good, nearly non-partisan, and even called for a bit of common sense or at least appropriateness before blame starts getting slung about.  WOW!  I never thought the left's favorite son could ever impress me.  I am actually impressed.  I'll still be happy to see him leave the White House, but tonight, at least, I am happy with what he said.

      Now, then, if only we can get the political opportunists under control ...

Way Back When ...

     Does anyone remember when police administrators were primarily concerned with catching bad guys, keeping the public safe, and deterring crime?  Maybe not in that exact order and with some expected political BS thrown in, but am I the only one that remembers that?   What do we have now?  Everything is about looking good and catching cops misbehaving.  Now, I'll be the first one to stand and applaud when a corrupt law enforcement official is hauled away in chains.  We have the public trust and that is sacred.  Violate it and it should be your donkey.  But, hey, we're human.  On quiet nights, maybe we'll decide that rather than drive about all sleepy, we'll have an impromptu "shift meeting" at the PD or Waffle House and the whole shift may attend (albeit briefly and everyone is subject to call should anything need attention).  Oh, but look, we'll put up cameras all over the PD so we can see who is there, when, for how long, and demand why.  Never mind the 12 hours shifts, never mind the drudgery or the aggravation (both of which we need to get away from for a bit every so often).  
  
     Hey, I know, let's put GPS systems in the car (or hang 'em on the officer) so we'll know exactly where he is, how long he was there, and can demand to know why (or write him up for sitting too long somewhere).  Let's take these guys, from whom we've cut large chunks of their pay in order to make our city budget the last year, and instead of giving them back the several  THOUSAND dollars each we took, let's hang body cams on 'em for $900 a pop.  Body cams that will fail, that will break, that are easily knocked "off" as well as "on" in a struggle (creating all sorts of questions for attorneys).  Oh, and that GPS system?  Yeah, never mind that it bogs down the network and makes the laptops unusable.  That's okay, we don't really want ya'll to be efficient.  We just want to know where you are all the time.


     And for a final insult, let's get all a-tizzy about image.  I mean let's put form over function to the nth degree.  Yep.  Let's issue a Polyester/WOOL blend uniform for a semi-TROPICAL area!  I suppose once they're ironed property (egad, MORE un-paid prep-time), they'll LOOK nice enough.  Some of us might pass out from heat stroke after wearing these recycled leisure suit/trash bags, but hey, we have folks standing in line to take our place right?  (hello .... [echo])  Hmm ... I guess not.  Bummer.   So let's dress our boys up in posh, super fine Class A uniforms all covered with shiny brass and make 'em polish their boots and belts 'til they look like shaving mirrors (real important on night shift to let the bad guys see you, I guess?).  Now let's all be shocked and surprised when our once all aggressive and enthusiastic officers won't get in a foot pursuit, won't walk around a wreck scene, won't get out in the weather (gotta love that we wool), and won't process messy crime scenes because they're thinking about all the unpaid time they have to spend on uniform maintenance.  All that time that takes away from the five or ten minutes they might otherwise get with their spouse or family.  Oh, and never mind the PERSONNEL we need.  Let's just go on and spend a bloody fortune on image.  The support staff have to screw each other over to take a bloody off day but that's okay.  At least they'll LOOK good, right?


     Look at your local PD.  Make sure your tax dollars aren't going to functionless form.  Nothing wrong with a good Class A dress uniform for parades, funerals, etc.   Nothing wrong with telling they boys (and girls) in blue/black/brown to present a neat appearance.  But making them wear what amounts to formal wear that they must maintain on their own (and out of their own pocket and time) is beyond silly.  I mean, c'mon ... we're supposed to be smart.  I don't want MY city cops looking good but unable or unwilling to get down and dirty with the bad guys.  I say give 'em BDUs or some such, scrap the shiny brass, strap on light weight and durable nylon gear and GO CATCH BAD GUYS!!!  Most rank-and-file agree (most because there's always that one young officer who wants to wear Class As to everything and has a joygasm when he shines his shoes ... the rest are, thankfully, cops).    Oh, and let's get back to catching bad guys.  The boys (and girls) wanna work, admins (mayors, commissioners, etc.).  They signed on to catch bad guys not to be treated as prisoners.  If you trust 'em to wear your "colors," tote guns, and deprive free citizens of that all important freedom, then give 'em some room to operate!  Sure, they might drive a little fast sometimes (much their supervisors should address it), they might get a bit tempermental sometime (they're HUMAN and get tired of getting spit on sometimes).  That's what supervisors and other officers are for, though.  


     Okay, enough griping.  I haven't posted in 40 forevers and here I am griping.  I've seen too many local PDs adopt crazy dress standards and treat their own like they are convicted felons on a Big Brother episode. Seems to be more than a local phenomenon too.  Most folks I meet now support the police.  Too bad a lot of admins and the like don't.  We need FUNCTIONAL uniforms, COMFORTABLE gear, cars that don't fall apart, and remember before you by the next doo-dad hot item (esp. in lieu of giving out raises or returning cut salaries), in the middle of "Technology" is the word "no."  This is because no matter how cool and whiz-bang that new 1,000 lap top is ... it WILL fail.  Better work that into the budget before you crunch the numbers.


      --- Later (hopefully not as much later as this is from my previous post!). ;)

Lies, Damn Lies, and Climatology

     Yesterday I heard something about this on the news then got this link in an e-mail:  http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/jamesdelingpole/100017393/climategate-the-final-nail-in-the-coffin-of-anthropogenic-global-warming/  Put simply, a leading (the leading?) climate research center was hacked and the data taken therefrom shows lies, conspiracies, and all sorts of Nazi-era propaganda spewing in order to further their agenda.  In short, man-caused climate change is a big, fat LIE but those who want to promote the "green" agenda are willing to lie, cheat, and steal (or at least delete) in order to make their point.  They even discuss means to shut out peers who would disagree when the liars want their propaganda peer-reviewed.

     Where, I ask you, is the hue and cry over this?  Where is (P)MSNBC, CNN, NBC, etc., etc.?!  If this were a Republican or Conservative faux pas you can bet they'd be all over it with commentaries, special productions, etc.  Ah, but it's from their side so lying is okay if you're a liberal, I guess.

     Wait, after Dan Rather-not-bother-with-the-truth's scandal was quietly let go (along with his career) I guess we shouldn't be surprised to learn that lies abound, the media has an agenda (beyond pure journalism), and that many "experts" are not to be trusted.  Ah, the billion dollar industries that have sprung up to combat climate change.  Think of all the money Al Gore made for them ever since he started running all over the world (in his private jet) preaching about how evil we humans are when we pollute and waste energy (then he returns home to his lavish estate that is, last I heard, decidedly not run on green power).  Hypocracy, Lies, Deceit, and general Ugliness seem to be the hallmarks of that party. 

     ... Is it still too late to buy an island somewhere so people like me can get the hell away from crooked politics?

Maersk Alabama fights off pirates ... Europeans still wimps

     It seems lightning does strike twice.  The AP reports that Somali pirates attempted to take the Maersk Alabama again today.  This time the crew was prepared and "An on-board security team repelled the attack by using evasive maneuvers, small-arms fire and a Long Range Acoustic Device..."  So, a group of rag-tag thugs come running up in power boats firing "automatic weapons" (from 300 yards) and a security team runs them off.  Very Well Done!  I applaud this and think it's long past time that such vessels were protected by an armed contingent of professionals.
     Consider that two days previous to this another merchant vessel was seized by Somali pirates.  The 28 North Korean crew members were taken hostage and the captain of that ship has now reportedly "died of wounds."  These pirates are obviously dangerous.  Whatever their intent, they run around, loosely diciplined, firing automatic weapons.  Someone is bound to get hurt.  I think it's highly irresponsible of a corporation to send captain and crew out in a big floating treasure chest with ransom prices on their heads and not to provide adequate security.

     Vice Adm. Bill Gortney of the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command apparently approved.  He reportedly said the Maersk Alabama followed the  "best practices" of the maritime industry by employing such a security team on board.  Vice Adm. Gortney was quoted as saying, "This is a great example of how merchant mariners can take proactive action to prevent being attacked and why we recommend that ships follow industry best practices if they're in high-risk areas."
     Hell, I've been saying this for a while now.  For too long now we've shipped our valuable goods (and even more valuable manpower) in huge floating gun-free zones.  Gun-free zones, as we have learned (some of us, anyway) are great big smorgasbords of unarmed, grab-all-you-want, hurt-whomever-you-want play pens for the more criminally sociopathic among us.
 
     Of course some of our European neighbors seem to think otherwise.  Mr. Roger Middleton, a fellow described as a "piracy expert" working at Chatham House, a London-based think tank, favors the sheep approach.  He reportedly says "the international maritime community was still 'solidly against' armed guards aboard ships, but that American ships have taken a different line than the rest of the international community."
 
     Well, hell yeah!  It seems some Americans are still totally on board (no pun intended) with the idea that we are all responsible for our own safety and that just taking the moral high ground of not stooping to a violent aggressor's actions is not really winning.  Not all Americans, it seems, are as wimpy as the upper crust British seem to want everyone to be.
 
     Middleton was quoted saying, "Shipping companies are still pretty much overwhelmingly opposed to the idea of armed guards."  Really?  I wonder, if we could hit some cosmic "pause" button as the pirates are storming over the rail of a ship, if we could as the merchant crew who are in the midsts of being plundered, pillaged, and worse if they are opposed to the presence of armed guards on their vessel, how many do you think would agree with Mr. Middleton?  
 
     The pusillanimous Mr. Middleton was further quoted as postulating, "Lots of private security companies employee people who don't have maritime experience. Also, there's the idea that it's the responsibility of states and navies to provide security. I would think it's a step backward if we start privatizing security of the shipping trade."
 
     Okay, so one of his big beefs with having security aboard these floating targets is that the security personnel aren't experienced mariners?  Um, correct me if I'm wrong, sir, but don't most sailors have a first voyage?  Is anyone born with some innate knowleges of maritime ways?  I thought not.  Further, let me remind everyone, we're talking about security officers, not sailors.  They are there to repel pirates not to run the ship.  I would think that whatever firm hired them for their ships would give them a basic run down on company policy, maritime law, where the life preservers and fire extinguishers are, etc.
 
     Oh, and as to the ships' security being up to the respective navies and states ... just how far up your arse did you shove your head, Mr. Middleton?!  No nation that I'm aware of can spare a frigate to escort every merchant vessel.  How the hell is America, England, or any other nation supposed to protect their own shipping interests on the open seas?  Ah, I see.   More, "take the moral high ground and pass the responsibilty so we can feign outrage while the barbarians storm the gates," attitude I guess. 
 
     I have some news for the Roger Middletons of the world:  If we turn everyone into sheep, the wolves win!
 
     Congratulations to the crew (security and otherwise) of the Maersk Alabama!  Congratulations to every ship that has armed security and to every coporation with the forethought to provide it!