- Comms
- Law
- Medic
- News
- Opinion
- Threat Watch
- Training
- Warrior Tools
- Accessories
- Ammo
- Body Armor
- Books
- Clothing
- Commo
- Gear
- Handguns
- Holsters
- Knives
- Long Guns
- ACC
- Accuracy International
- Barrett
- Benelli
- Beretta
- Blaser
- Bushmaster
- Custom
- CZ
- Desert Tactical Arms
- DPMS
- FN
- Forums
- HK
- IWI
- Kel-Tec Long Guns
- LaRue
- LWRC
- McMillan
- Mosin Nagant
- Mossberg
- Para
- Remington
- Rock River Arms
- Ruger Long Guns
- Sabre Defense
- Sako
- SIG Sauer
- SKS
- Smith & Wesson Long Guns
- Springfield
- Styer
- Weatherby
- Wilson Combat
- Winchester
- Magazines
- Maintenance
- Navigation
- Optics
- Sights
- Tech
- Warriors
Archive for category Opinion
How to Travel Safely – Tips from a Former Agent
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 16/Jul/2011 14:22
From Stratfor: Vice President of Intelligence & former agent Fred Burton discusses simple things you can do to stay safe while traveling.
The Bin Laden Operation: Tapping Human Intelligence
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 26/May/2011 17:29
The Bin Laden Operation: Tapping Human Intelligence is republished with permission of STRATFOR.
By Fred Burton
Since May 2, when U.S. special operations forces crossed the Afghan-Pakistani border and killed Osama bin Laden, international media have covered the raid from virtually every angle. The United States and Pakistan have also squared off over the U.S. violation of Pakistan’s sovereign territory and 
Pakistan’s possible complicity in hiding the al Qaeda leader. All this surface-level discussion, however, largely ignores almost 10 years of intelligence development in the hunt for bin Laden.
While the cross-border nighttime raid deep into Pakistan was a daring and daunting operation, the work to find the target — one person out of 180 million in a country full of insurgent groups and a population hostile to American activities on its soil — was a far greater challenge. For the other side, the challenge of hiding the world’s most wanted man from the world’s most funded intelligence apparatus created a clandestine shell game that probably involved current or former Pakistani intelligence officers as well as competing intelligence services. The details of this struggle will likely remain classified for decades.
Examining the hunt for bin Laden is also difficult, mainly because of the sensitivity of the mission and the possibility that some of the public information now available could be disinformation intended to disguise intelligence sources and methods. Successful operations can often compromise human sources and new intelligence technologies that have taken years to develop. Because of this, it is not uncommon for intelligence services to try to create a wilderness of mirrors to protect sources and methods. But using open-source reporting and human intelligence from STRATFOR’s own sources, we can assemble enough information to draw some conclusions about this complex intelligence effort and raise some key questions. Read the rest of this entry »
Is it Time for the 6x45mm Cartridge?
Is it Time for the 6x45mm Cartridge?
Patrick Sweeney takes a new look at this 1960’s wildcat for the AR platform in his 2010 book The Gun Digest Book of The AR-15 Volume 3
Below is an excerpt.
By Patrick Sweeney
The original caliber for the AR-15 wasn’t the .223/5.56, it was a slightly smaller cartridge. The .222 Special delivered the kind of performance that the designers wanted, which was basically a 50-grain bullet at under 3,000 feet per second.
The Army, trying to keep the AR away and keep the M14 in the running, kept moving the goalposts. Finally, they insisted that the bullet used had to penetrate a steel helmet at a distance farther than their own research had indicated soldiers fired on opponents. The special got stretched and boosted, until the 55-grain FMJ was at 3,100 fps.
And there it stood, until the mid-1980s, when the SS109 came about. That was intended for use against swarms of Soviet infantry in Western Europe. What, there never were swarms of Soviet infantry in Western Europe? Musta worked.
Seriously, the expectation was that the Soviets would roll West, and the NATO allies would be faced with Russian, East German, Polish and who knows who else mechanized infantry piling out of their BMDs, BMPs, and BTRs, lining up and assaulting the NATO positions. They expected to face lots of targets, and not only armed ones, but armored infantry. So, the push was for armor-piercing performance, leading to the SS109 and the later M-855, with a 10-grain steel penetrator tip inside.
Visegrad: A New European Military Force
Visegrad: A New European Military Force is republished with permission of STRATFOR.
By George Friedman
With the Palestinians demonstrating and the International Monetary Fund in turmoil, it would seem odd to focus this week on something called the Visegrad Group. But this is not a frivolous choice. What the Visegrad Group decided to do last week will, I think, resonate for years, long after the alleged attempted rape by Dominique Strauss-Kahn is forgotten and long before the Israeli-Palestinian issue is resolved. The obscurity of the decision to most people outside the region should not be allowed to obscure its importance.
The region is Europe — more precisely, the states that had been dominated by the Soviet Union. The Visegrad Group, or V4, consists of four countries — Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary — and is named after two 14th century meetings held in Visegrad Castle in present-day Hungary of leaders of the medieval kingdoms of Poland, Hungary and Bohemia. The group was reconstituted in 1991 in post-Cold War Europe as the Visegrad Three (at that time, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were one). The goal was to create a regional framework after the fall of Communism. This week the group took an interesting new turn.
Knoxx Recoil Stock Assessment (Part 2)
Posted by Jack Sinclair in Accessories, News, Opinion, Remington, Warrior Tools on 14/May/2011 21:02
The Knoxx Recoil Stock Assessment has received mixed reviews (Nutnfancy hated it, others say they love it) here is another review of the stock, the review seems objective and helpful.
One option for addressing recoil that has gotten consistently positive reviews is the Remington Supercell recoil pad, which easily installs on the standard 870 stock. Check it out here:
http://www.remington.com/product-families/accessories/gun-parts-families/supercell-recoil-pad.aspx
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Allen West: Define the Enemy
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch, Warriors on 8/May/2011 22:31
I am not sure when this speech was given but it was uploaded in Sept. 2009. Allen West is the only person I have seen who speaks plainly about the enemy we face. I value his opinion over any politician’s since he has been to both Iraq and Afghanistan and fought the enemy.
Review: 10mm EAA Witness Compact
George Hill has an excellent and thorough review of this gun over at Human Events.
The one thing that has always bothered me about concealed carry guns is that they are all about compromise. You give up power for smaller size. You give up accuracy for a shorter barrel. You give up everything you really want in a handgun for the ability to have it on you all the time. Maybe I’ve grown cranky. Maybe I’m just fed up. Whatever the source of my feelings, I’m tired of compromises
How To Think About Security
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch, Training on 5/May/2011 15:43
Bruce Schneier gives an excellent presentation on how security affects us and how we think about it.
Bin Laden’s Death and the Implications for Jihadism
Posted by Brian in Opinion, Threat Watch on 3/May/2011 12:59
Bin Laden’s Death and the Implications for Jihadism is republished with permission of STRATFOR.
By Scott Stewart
U.S. President Barack Obama appeared in a hastily arranged televised address the night of May 1, 2011, to inform the world that U.S. counterterrorism forces had located and killed Osama bin Laden. The operation, which reportedly happened in the early hours of May 2 local time, targeted a compound in Abbottabad, a city located some 31 miles north of Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital. The nighttime raid resulted in a brief firefight that left bin Laden and several others dead. A U.S. helicopter reportedly was damaged in the raid and later destroyed by U.S. forces. Obama reported that no U.S. personnel were lost in the operation. After a brief search of the compound, the U.S. forces left with bin Laden’s body and presumably anything else that appeared to have intelligence value. From Obama’s carefully scripted speech, it would appear that the U.S. conducted the operation unilaterally with no Pakistani assistance — or even knowledge.
As evidenced by the spontaneous celebrations that erupted in Washington, New York and across the United States, the killing of bin Laden has struck a chord with many Americans. This was true not only of those who lost family members as a result of the attack, but of those who were vicariously terrorized and still vividly recall the deep sense of fear they felt the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, as they watched aircraft strike the World Trade Center Towers and saw those towers collapse on live television, and then heard reports of the Pentagon being struck by a third aircraft and of a fourth aircraft prevented from being used in another attack when it crashed in rural Pennsylvania. As that fear turned to anger, a deep-seated thirst for vengeance led the United States to invade Afghanistan in October 2001 and to declare a “global war on terrorism.â€
Because of this sense of fulfilled vengeance, the death of bin Laden will certainly be one of those events that people will remember, like the 9/11 attacks themselves. In spite of the sense of justice and closure the killing of bin Laden brings, however, his death will likely have very little practical impact on the jihadist movement. More important will be the reaction of the Pakistani government to the operation and the impact it has on U.S.-Pakistani relations. Read the rest of this entry »
NRA’s LaPierre: Obama will wait second term to gut Second Amendment rights, Eric Holder should resign
Posted by Jack Sinclair in Law, News, Opinion on 30/Apr/2011 15:28
“President Barack Obama will wait until a second term frees him from political concerns to gut Second Amendment rights, NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre tells Newsmax.TV in an exclusive interview.
Speaking Saturday at the NRA’s 140th annual meeting in Pittsburgh, LaPierre also called for the resignation of Attorney General Eric Holder over a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms sting that sold weapons to figures associated with the Mexico drug trade.
“Operation Fast and Furious may have gotten one or perhaps two federal agents killed, and countless other innocent victims have been murdered with the illegal guns that our own government allowed into Mexico all to advance a political agenda,†he said, adding that Holder has claimed he didn’t OK the sting..
“He’s the attorney general of the United States of America – the highest law enforcement officer in our land,†LaPierre said. “Who’s in charge? If he didn’t know, then who’s minding the store? If Holder didn’t know, Holder has got to go.
Raw Intelligence Report: A View from Syria
This report is published with the permission of Stratfor.
Editor’s Note: What follows is raw insight from a STRATFOR source in Syria. The following does not reflect STRATFOR’s view, but provides a perspective on the situation in Syria.
People are scared. An understatement, no doubt, but my friends — both foreign and Syrian — are worried about the developments. Almost all of my foreign friends are leaving and many have moved departing flights up in light of the recent events. Most Syrians don’t have this option and are weighing their options should sustained protests move to inner Damascus. Everyone is thinking along their sect even if they aren’t open about it. Much of the violence is attributed by Syrians to these mysterious “armed gangs.†Many are still placing hope in “Habibna†(literally “Our Love,†a nickname for the president) to bring about enough reforms to placate the demonstrators. A point that I was forced to make over and over is that a lot of the people protesting are doing so because someone they knew was killed and not because they were anti-government, although they are now. Privately, my Syrian friends admitted that Bashar [al Assad, the Syrian president] needs to make some major, major concessions quickly or risk continued protests and bloodshed of which would be attributed to him and not merely “the regime.â€
By now we are all familiar with the cycle of protests reaching their high point on Fridays, after prayers. This Friday, however, was different for Syrians. Having seen the infamous emergency law lifted, albeit with serious caveats, Syrians were hoping for a relaxing of the security responses to the demonstrations. What they got was half as many demonstrators killed in one day as in all the days of demonstrations preceding it combined. It was almost as if things had been safer when the emergency law had been in effect. (On a side note, my friend guessed that maybe two out of every 100 Syrians could actually tell you what the emergency law was.) What was most striking about the demonstrations was that there were two in Damascus itself (Midan on Friday, April 22, and Berze on Saturday, April 23). While not in the city center these are by no means the far suburbs and countryside of Daraa or Douma. There were also protests in Muadamiyeh, which is right outside town next to the main bus station. I’ve heard that tanks along this road were seen April 24 pointing their guns not in the direction of the road but toward the city. The regime and everyone is terrified about protests in the city itself. Read the rest of this entry »
What happens when governments disarm their citizens?
Posted by Jack Sinclair in Opinion on 24/Apr/2011 17:31
by Carlo
Here’s a history of what happens after governments have disarmed their citizens:
1911 – Turkey disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1915 – 1917 they murdered 1.5 million Armenians.
1929 – Russia disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1929 – 1953 they murdered 20 million Russians.
1935 – China disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1948 – 1952 they murdered 20 million Chinese.
1938 – Germany disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1939 – 1945 they murdered 16 million Jews.
1956 – Cambodia disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1975 – 1977 they murdered 1 million Educated people.
1964 – Guatamala disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1964 – 1981 they murdered 100,000 Mayan Indians.
1970 – Uganda disarmed it’s citizens, and between 1971 – 1979 they murdered 300,000 Christians.
[Editor: You can argue about the numbers, but the point here is that disarmed citizens are vulnerable, and that there are many historical examples of disarmed citizens being killed and oppressed by their own government. The excuse given by authorities that they need to take guns away from citizens in order to lower crime rates is not supported by facts. Even if a government does not turn on its own citizens after disarming them, people are less safe – because unarmed citizens are easy targets to criminals. Over and over again, it has been clearly shown that taking guns away from citizens does not lead to a decrease in crime but rather a dramatic increase.]
Australia has disarmed it’s citizens, and a year later the homicide rate in the largest province is up 300%. The burglaries of seniors is “dramatically” up.
I guess the criminals did not turn their weapons in. Only the innocent law abiding citizens turned in weapons.
In US cities with the highest crime rates, taking guns away from the citizens has not lowered the homicide rate. All it has done is to make it easier for criminals to operate.
The 2nd amendment is not about duck hunting, or deer hunting. It is about having the ability and the right to defend oneself and your family. It doesn’t matter if that threat is a burglar, or the Federal Government. A disarmed population is fair game for any president who may be aspiring to become a dictator. Having its citizens armed was the plain and simple intent of the founding fathers of our country.
Should the right to carry a gun be like the right to drive?
Posted by Jack Sinclair in Opinion on 24/Apr/2011 17:02
Some would say:
The right to carry a gun should be like the right to drive. You should have to be trained and have a license. At least then law abiding, trained citizens could carry guns and use them wisely. The process might also help weed out psychotics such as Loughner.
Requiring people to be licensed and know what they are doing is not an infringement of 2nd Amendment rights; you are not being stopped from owning a gun. Loughner got the gun from a dealer legally. The problem is that background checks are not taken seriously. The same is true for the wacko in Virginia Tech and so many others.
Someone who was as confused & disorganized as Loughner would have problems in a gun training class just as he had problems on a college campus. One more obstacle for him to purchase a gun. Not an obstacle to normal people.
Training & licensing does not get in the way of people owning firearms – except if you are a felon or mentally ill. Freedom of speech isn’t absolute and neither is the right to bear arms.
Others would say:
The right to self defense is a basic natural human right. No permit should be required. They would also ask, “Who determines the standards for “mentally ill†or “normal�
Would increased government involvement in determining who’s qualified to own a gun make the public more safe or would it be used as an excuse by the government to prevent certain citizens from arming themselves? For example, what if someone in a particular administration decided that Democrats can own guns but Tea Party members are mentally ill – not normal – so they can’t own guns?
And does the fact that people have been killed by guns automatically justify more legislation, testing and permits? People are killed by drunk drivers every day – do we need to require people to pass psychological tests and obtain a license from the government in order to drink alcohol?
No permit should be required to protect your life. The right to protect is in fact a natural right that according to the 2nd Amendment “Shall NOT be infringed”.
Period.
The government should not have the power to say you need a permit to carry a gun.
Yes, people should practice safety when using a gun. Get training and understand the responsibility of using a weapon. But the government does not have the right to tell you if you are qualified to own a gun in order to protect yourself.
Whichever position you take, the reality is:
Citizens being able to own and carry guns to protect themselves does not cause an increase in crime. In fact, areas in the United states with the highest gun crime are the cities and states with the most restrictive gun laws.