Archive for category News

Newest SureFire Scout Light® Provides Power-Source Versatility 

Fountain Valley, CA — SureFire, LLC, manufacturer of high-end illumination tools and tactical products, has commenced sales of the latest, highly versatile member of its best-selling, ever-expanding family of LED Scout Light® WeaponLights. The new M600 AA Scout Light—for long guns equipped with MIL-STD-1913 (Picatinny) rails—can be powered by AA lithium or AA alkaline batteries, the latter of which are typically more readily available globally.

“The M600 AA’s ability to be powered by two separate types of batteries is a key element to its anticipated success,” said SureFire Product Manager Chris Skahill. “For optimal performance, AA lithiums can be used. But it can also be powered by AA alkalines, which are more readily available and usually easier to find, particularly in remote or rural areas.”

Powered by two lithium AAs, the M600 AA’s solid-state light emitting diode (LED) generates a maximum output of 200 lumens and produces tactical-level output for up to 3.75 hours on a set of batteries. The output and runtime from two AA alkaline batteries is approximately one-third that from lithium AAs, but this reduced output/runtime is theoretically outweighed by the convenience of using these easier-to-find and often less-expensive power cells. But to maximize output and runtime, SureFire recommends powering the M600 AA with  lithium batteries whenever possible.

The M600 AA uses a proprietary Total Internal Reflection (TIR) lens to shape the LED’s output into a smooth, flawless beam with ample reach and enough surround light to maintain good situational awareness in close- to medium-range applications. Like all SureFire Scout Lights, it securely attaches to any MIL-STD-1913 rail, the M600 AA utilizing an integral thumbscrew clamp that attaches/detaches the light to said rail in a matter of seconds. Constructed of lightweight aerospace aluminum that’s hard anodized with a Mil-Spec finish for added durability, this new Scout Light can be easily activated via its momentary-/constant-on click-type tailcap switch, or via several remote plug-in switch models available for purchase from SureFire as optional accessories.

The M600 AA Scout Light has an MSRP of $299.00 and is currently available for purchase through authorized SureFire dealers. It will also soon be available for purchase directly from SureFire by calling 800-828-8809 or visiting surefire.com online.

About SureFire

Located in Fountain Valley, California, SureFire, LLC is the leading manufacturer of high performance flashlights, weapon-mounted lights, and other tactical equipment for those who go in harm’s way, or anyone who demands the ultimate in quality, innovation, and performance. SureFire illumination tools are used by more SWAT teams and elite special operations groups than any other brand. SureFire is an ISO 9001:2000-certified company.

www.surefire.com

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Obama Admin Tells Border Patrol Not To Arrest Drunk Drivers

From Judicial Watch:

Obtained by Judicial Watch this week, the notice is titled “Enforcement Options With Alcohol-Impaired Drivers” and directs the 4,000-plus U.S. Border Patrol agents in the Tucson, Arizona sector to “release” individuals under the influence and “allow them to go on their way.” The document acknowledges that this feels counter-intuitive for Border Patrol agents, but eases concerns by answering a hypothetical question for the officers who have sworn to uphold the law: “If you allow this driver to continue down the road and they kill someone, aren’t you liable?” The answer is no, according to the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo. “There is no legal requirement for a Border Patrol agent to intervene in a state crime, including DUI,” the order says, adding that “therefore there is generally no liability that will attach to the agent or agency for failing to act in this situation.”

This is another example that police and/or the federal government are not responsible for your safety even though they will tell you otherwise in different venues.

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New Secretary of Defense’s Statement

From Department of Defense:

To all Department of Defense personnel:

I am honored to become your Secretary of Defense.  I am proud to lead men and women who devote their lives to the highest calling – the defense of our nation.  And I am grateful to follow in the footsteps of Secretary Hagel, one of our nation’s most honorable and conscientious public servants.

We live in challenging times – times that demand leadership and focus.  And starting today, I will be calling on each and every one of you to help carry out three top priorities.

Our first priority is helping the President make the best possible national security decisions for protecting our country – and then implementing those decisions with our department’s long-admired excellence.

We confront a turbulent and dangerous world: continuing turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, and the malignant and savage terrorism emanating from it; an ongoing conflict in Afghanistan; a reversion to archaic security thinking in parts of Europe; tensions in the Asia-Pacific; the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; and intensifying threats in cyberspace.

In addressing these challenges, I have pledged to provide the President my most candid strategic advice.  I will count on your experience and expertise as I formulate that advice.  I will also ensure the President receives candid professional military advice.

But as we tackle the many threats to our national security, we must never lose sight of our nation’s enduring strengths – or of the opportunities to make a brighter future and better world for our children.  The United States remains the strongest and most resilient nation on earth.  Because of you, we have the finest fighting force the world has ever known.  We have friends and allies in every corner of the world, while our adversaries have few.  We have long possessed the world’s most dynamic and innovative economy.  And our values, principles, and leadership continue to inspire hope and progress around the world.

Safeguarding America’s security and global leadership will depend on another of my main priorities: ensuring the strength and health of you who make up the greatest fighting force the world has ever known – our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, civilians, and contractors all around the world.

I will do that by focusing on the well-being, safety, and dignity of each of you and your families.  I will ensure your training and equipment are as superb as you are.  And I pledge to make decisions about sending you into harm’s way with the greatest reflection and utmost care – because this is my highest responsibility as Secretary of Defense.

Honoring all these commitments also requires us to focus on building the force of the future, which is my third priority.

We must steer through the turmoil of sequestration, which imposes wasteful uncertainty and risk to our nation’s defense.  We must balance all parts of our defense budget so that we continue to attract the best people – people like you; so that there are enough of you to defend our interests around the world; and so that you are always well-equipped and well-trained to execute your critical mission.

To win support from our fellow citizens for the resources we need, we must show that we can make better use of every taxpayer dollar.  That means a leaner organization, less overhead, and reforming our business and acquisition practices.

It also means embracing the future – and embracing change.

We must be open to change in order to operate effectively in an increasingly dynamic world; to keep pace with advances in technology; and to attract new generations of talented and dedicated Americans to our calling.

I first arrived at the Pentagon more than three decades ago, and have had the privilege of serving 11 Secretaries of Defense in Democratic and Republican administrations.  I took the oath of office this morning because I love our country and am devoted to you who defend it.  And I am committed to our fundamental mission: the defense of our nation.

I look forward to leading and serving alongside you at this extraordinary moment in our nation’s history.

May God bless you and your families, and may God bless America.

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Who Are ISIS and What Are Their Goals?

A long read from The Atlantic but well worth it:

Our ignorance of the Islamic State is in some ways understandable: It is a hermit kingdom; few have gone there and returned. Baghdadi has spoken on camera only once. But his address, and the Islamic State’s countless other propaganda videos and encyclicals, are online, and the caliphate’s supporters have toiled mightily to make their project knowable. We can gather that their state rejects peace as a matter of principle; that it hungers for genocide; that its religious views make it constitutionally incapable of certain types of change, even if that change might ensure its survival; and that it considers itself a harbinger of—and headline player in—the imminent end of the world.

We have misunderstood the nature of the Islamic State in at least two ways. First, we tend to see jihadism as monolithic, and to apply the logic of al‑Qaeda to an organization that has decisively eclipsed it. The Islamic State supporters I spoke with still refer to Osama bin Laden as “Sheikh Osama,” a title of honor. But jihadism has evolved since al-Qaeda’s heyday, from about 1998 to 2003, and many jihadists disdain the group’s priorities and current leadership.

 

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Texas Senator Cornyn Introduces Federal Reciprocity Bill

From GunsSaveLives.com:

Think of it like this – if you have a driver’s license in your home state, you can use that anywhere in the country, however, you still have to follow any state driving laws in other states. Just because your state allows right turns on red doesn’t mean another state does too.

Cornyn’s Senate website:

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) today introduced the bipartisan Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2015, which would allow individuals with concealed carry privileges in their home state to exercise those rights in any other state that also has concealed carry laws, while abiding by that state’s concealed carry laws. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), John Thune (R-SD) and David Vitter (R-LA) are the lead cosponsors of the bill.

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Energy Companies on the Frontline of Cyber Defense

From Oil & Gas Monitor:

At the heart of every oil and gas company are industrial control systems (ICS) and other operational technologies (OT) designed to efficiently, reliably, and safely process the extraction, refinement, and distribution of large quantities of fuel needed to keep global economies moving. Initially, OT systems were seen as immune to cyber security threats due to their separation from corporate IT.

However, in today’s hyper connected world, this approach is no longer realistic. In recognition of the cyber threats facing the energy sector, the U.S. Department of Energy issued its cyber security framework implementation guide earlier this year. It is designed to support organizations in the energy sector establish or align existing cyber security risk management programs to meet the objectives of the Cybersecurity Framework released by the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) in February 2014.

 

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Compact Sniper Rifle Requested by Army

From KitUp:

In June 2014, the Army released a request for proposal to invite gun companies to build compact versions of the service’s 7.62mm M110 Semi-Automatic Sniper System. The CSASS program did not receive any funding in the Army’s approved fiscal 2015 budget.

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DARPA Ground X-Vehicle

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Future Helicopter Prototypes to Fly in 2017

From NextBigFuture.com:

The Army wants to reinvent the very idea of rotorcraft, with a new propulsion concept. After the flight tests and technology development, JMR will end and a Request for Proposals (RFP) will be issued open to all companies to begin the projected $100 billion FVL effort. Demonstrators developed under JMR will be “X-planes” to demonstrate some key technologies, but they won’t have production-representative engines or real mission systems architecture; JMR will show off technologies to enable Army rotary-wing aviation to make the next leap in speed, lift, protection, and interoperability under FVL for the 2030s. The program is intentionally slow paced to avoid past program failures.

Although requirements are still being refined, the notional concept for a new aircraft must reach speeds of 230 kn (260 mph; 430 km/h), carry up to 12 troops, operate in “high-hot” conditions at altitudes of 6,000 ft (1,800 m) and temperatures of 95-degrees Fahrenheit, and have a combat radius of 424 km (263 mi) with an overall unrefueled range of 848 km (527 mi).

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M855 5.56 Ammo To Be Banned By ATF?

From Bearing Arms:

SS109/M855 is one of the two most common loadings for 5.56 NATO chambered AR-15 rifles, featuring a 62-grain bullet with a mild steel penetrator core. The cartridge was adopted by NATO in the late 1970s to give soldiers better long range performance, and reduce the possibility of fragmentation seen in the prior 55-grain M193 round cartridge that some viewed as “inhuman” and “devastating.” Civilian shooters like it because it is accurate, plentiful, and relatively economical to shoot.

ATF letter here

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Vermont is Pro Gun

From US News:

One of the most liberal states in the country also is one of the most passionate about defending the right to bear arms, a fact that is coming to the fore following proposed legislation to expand background checks and add other gun regulations.

Hundreds of Vermont residents are expected to pack the state House chamber for a public hearing Tuesday night on Senate Bill 31, which would expand background checks from retail to private gun sales, step up reporting about people deemed psychologically unfit to have a gun and add state jurisdiction to what is now just federal enforcement of the ban on convicted felons possessing guns.

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SureFire 60 Round Mag Disassembly/Reassembly

SureFire 60 round mag

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Ban on Out of State Gun Purchases Unconstitutional

From The Washington Times:

A federal district court in Texas ruled residency requirements for pistol purchases is unconstitutional, directly challenging Attorney General Eric Holder who has argued the federal ban on handguns outside of a person’s state of residence doesn’t violate the second amendment.

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Pocket Med Kits From CLEER Medical

CLEER Medical has two kits that are bare bones med kits:

The EDC Pocket Kit

The Minimalist Pocket Kit

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Kansas and Oklahoma Luring Firearms Manufacturers

From NewsOK.com:

A bill at the Oklahoma Legislature this upcoming session has set its sights on luring new gun manufacturers to the state by making Oklahoma-made weapons exempt from federal laws.

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