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Author: Grumpy
Arguably the single most influential figure in American 20th century shooting, Col. Townsend Whelen’s shooting career began in 1891 and extended, literally, to the day of his death. Whelen was a member of the U.S. Infantry Team that shot in the first National Rifle Team Match at Sea Girt, NJ, in 1903 and in 1906 he was on the Infantry Team that won the National Trophy Rifle Match.
He would remain actively involved in the National Matches throughout his military career and contributed profusely to the literature of shooting. His first book, Suggestions to Military Riflemen (1906), contained what is probably the first description in print of the rifle sling as an aid to aiming (as opposed to being simply a carrying device) and in that sense ranks as one of the most significant marksmanship publications of all time. He would remain a contributor to American Rifleman and similar publications throughout his life and was instrumental in defining the classic American design of sporter rifle stocks.
Col. Whelen was for several years Commanding Officer at Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia, PA, and was later Director of Research and Development at Springfield Armory in Springfield, MA. Additionally, he was an important figure in the development of post-World War I stock design for the M1903 Springfield, including NRA and military-style stocks for the .22-caliber trainers and the full-pistol-grip type C stock adopted in 1927.
He also developed and promoted the cartridge that became known as the .22 Hornet. He was also an avid outdoorsman. Col. Whelen was as much at home in the wilderness as on the rifle range and made annual forays into remote areas in pursuit of the 110 head of big game that he ultimately collected.
Not least of his accomplishments was his active involvement in the early years of the benchrest shooting game—that basic research tool of the competitive shooting sports. Col. Whelen’s credo was, “Only accurate rifles are interesting,” and he spent a lifetime pursuing that interest.
Col. Townsend Whelen, U.S.A. (Retired)
b. 1877 – d. 1961
Anti-gun groups should know better than to hop in bed with each other. They’re too fickle and their relationships almost always end in tears.
The Trace and the Gun Violence Archive may be the latest two anti-gun groups to part ways.
The Trace is the propaganda arm of former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg’s anti-gun empire. It masquerades as a newsroom solely to provide cover for members of the corporate media who republish their stories as if they’re actual news. Trace staffers call themselves journalists, some even have journalism backgrounds, but in reality, they’re nothing more than ardent anti-gun activists paid in Bloomberg bucks.
The Gun Violence Archive has been debunked dozens of times for its fake mass-shooting data. Anytime four or more people are killed or even slightly wounded with a firearm the GVA calls it a mass shooting – even if the incident is gang and/or drug related.
Last year, the GVA claims there were 656 mass shooting, which equates to 1.79 mass shootings per day. Initially, politicians, gun control activists and the mainstream media treated the GVA’s reports as if were gospel, but many now see the ridiculousness of the GVA’s claims.
The Trace and the GVA had a long history of collaboration, which produced dozens of biased stories. The two groups are even working together on the Gun Violence Data Hub, which they claim will go live sometime in the fall. Their two staffs will “collect, clean and publish datasets,” which they will then push out to the corporate media. The Hub has become a major fundraising hook for both organizations. Never mind that their work product will be created by paid anti-gun activists.
A story published Tuesday indicates that The Trace may have found a new data source – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. Titled “Gun Deaths Fell in 2023 — Except Among Kids,” the story claims that “while overall gun deaths continued to decline from their post-pandemic peak, child gun deaths rose, and gun suicides hit a record high.”
The authors admit they used provisional data from the CDC. The actual numbers, they acknowledge, “are likely to change slightly before final figures are released in December. While the data is not yet final, it provides the most comprehensive and accurate accounting of gun deaths in America.”
Despite the temporary nature of the CDC data, the story makes some bold claims: Murders involving firearms are down, gun-related suicides are at an all-time high, and the South had the highest gun-related death rates. But nowhere in the story does The Trace make its calculations available so their work can be reviewed. Every single hyperlink, and there are more than a few, takes readers to the CDC website and its raw numbers.
Suspicious Timing
“Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable,” Mark Twain said that.
Are crime rates going up? Is crime down? Nowadays, you can find statistics to support both theories, especially just 90 days before a major presidential election. However, the best tool to determine whether you’re safe or likely to become a crime victim is not a news story, a spreadsheet or a dataset, it’s an old-fashioned Mark I eyeball. Believe what you see, not what the government or its lapdogs in the corporate media tell you is true.
Quite frankly, many Americans don’t feel safe, and they pushed their lawmakers to act. As a result, a clear majority of states no longer requires law-abiding Americans to bend a knee and beg permission from the government to sell them back their constitutional rights in the form of a permit or license to carry a defensive firearm. Gun sales have skyrocketed. July was the 60th consecutive month that had more than one million NICS background checks, a major indicator of firearm sales, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
If crime rates are decreasing, these are the reasons why. It’s got nothing to do with more restrictive firearm laws, which are patently unconstitutional and raging in non-free states.
As to The Trace’s new reportage and its bold claims, consider who’s paying their bills. The Trace is funded by Michael Bloomberg, who actually believes you will be safer once you give up your guns.
The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.
The Pentagon announced Monday that it had finished withdrawing U.S. forces from a $110 million military base in Niger, Africa, as the nation’s ruling regime takes over.
Niger’s Air Base 201 previously hosted hundreds of U.S. troops who have now evacuated at the request of the country’s military junta. The Pentagon said in a statement on Monday that all remaining forces and assets at the base have been withdrawn as final evacuation efforts come to a close.
“This effort began on May 19 following the mutual establishment of withdrawal conditions and coordination will continue between U.S. and Nigerien armed forces over the coming weeks to ensure the full withdrawal is complete as planned,” a statement from the Pentagon reads. “The effective cooperation and communication between the U.S. and Nigerien armed forces ensured that this turnover was finished ahead of schedule and without complications.”
American soldiers in front of military vehicles that they are preparing to board a cargo plane in Niamey on June 7, 2024 during the ceremony for the first departure of American troops from Niger. (Photo by BOUREIMA HAMA/AFP via Getty Images)
Some U.S. troops will remain at the U.S. Embassy in Niger while final withdrawal operations are completed in the coming weeks, according to The New York Times. Some equipment from Air Base 201 was shipped out, such as weaponry, but other equipment was left behind.
The U.S. relationship with Niger began to unravel after the country’s military regime toppled the democratic system in mid-2023, sending the nation spiraling into chaos. The regime was adamant that it did not want the U.S. to maintain a presence in Niger and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
Attempts to negotiate with the military regime largely failed as the country became increasingly hostile to troops stationed in the country. Officials issued a formal order in May to begin evacuating U.S. forces over the coming months, with the last of troops expected to depart from Niger by mid-September, according to the Times.
Some prominent U.S. defense officials argue that not having forces in Niger limits the U.S.’ ability to conduct counterterrorism operations against extremist and terrorist groups in the Sahel region.
TOPSHOT – Niger’s security officers stand guard as supporters of Niger’s National Council of Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) gather oustide Niger and French airbase in Niamey on September 3, 2023, to demand the departure of the French army from Niger. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
“This does make safeguarding U.S. security interests in the Sahel that much harder,” Maj. Gen. Kenneth P. Ekman of the Air Force, tasked with overseeing the withdrawal, told the Times in July. “The threats from ISIS and Al Qaeda in the region are getting worse every day.”
However, some defense experts and former U.S. officials who previously spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation believed that withdrawing forces from Niger was the right decision, given that they were falling under an increasing amount of danger from the country’s hostile government and population. Boots on the ground are not necessarily needed to conduct counterterrorism operations, as the U.S. has other extensive military and intelligence capabilities, experts told the DCNF.
“What the [Biden administration] was not understanding, is that these guys are cold-blooded. This new government in Niger? They don’t care. They do not want the United States involved in their country,” Michael DiMino, a former CIA official and senior fellow at Defense Priorities, told the DCNF. “There was this denialism for several months that, ‘We can salvage this, we did fix this.’”
The Pentagon and U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.