Category: A Victory!
Categories
Uh-oh
When American retailers sold more than 1 million new firearms in a single month nearly five years ago many considered it a milestone. Now it has become more of the norm, with April marking the fifty-seventh straight month of guns sales of a million or more.
According to a report from the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the April 2024 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure was just over 1.2 million. That’s a slight decrease from the April 2023 figures of roughly 1.4 million.
Though not a direct correlation to firearms sales, the NSSF-adjusted NICS data provide an additional picture of current market conditions. In addition to other purposes, NICS is used to check transactions for sales or transfers of new or used firearms.
Mark Oliva, NSSF’s managing director for public affairs, said gun purchasers have once again made a statement on their freedom.
“Over 1.2 million Americans showed President Biden exactly where they are when it comes to his promises of increased gun control should he be elected for another term,” Oliva said. “President Biden has used every tool at his disposal to attack the firearm industry, from publishing Constitutionally-dubious and overreaching administrative rules that bypass Congress to create criminal law to weaponizing the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security to throttle firearm and ammunition manufacturers and exporters.”
Oliva said that while the president has continued to attack lawful gun owners, he’s ignored the violent criminals preying on everyday Americans.
“Americans reject these misdirected and politically-motivated maneuvers to infringe on their Second Amendment freedoms and punish the industry that makes it possible to exercise the rights to keep and bear arms,” he said. “By the millions, for 57 months straight, Americans choose to lawfully purchase, keep and use the firearms of their choosing.”
It’s important to note that 24 statues have at least one qualified alternative permit, which under the Brady Act allows the permit-holder, who has undergone a background check to obtain the permit, to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer without a separate additional background check. The number of NICS checks in those states does not include those legal transfers based on qualifying permits, and NSSF does not adjust for these transfers.
So nice we aren’t… We can use hollow points, and we do not have to attend their wounded or keep them alive. Everything is off the books. No Rules! Just remember, we don’t get protection under the Convention, so act accordingly.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has signed into law HB 1018, the Second Amendment Privacy Act. This NSSF-supported law protects the privacy and sensitive financial information of people purchasing firearms and ammunition in the Peach State. With Georgia, there are now 14 states with laws that protect the Second Amendment financial privacy of their citizens.
The law prohibits financial institutions from requiring the use of a firearm code, also known as a Merchant Category Code (MCC), from being assigned to firearm and ammunition purchases at retail when using a credit card. The law also forbids discriminating against a firearm retailer as a result of the assigned or non-assignment of a firearm code and disclosing the protected financial information. Additionally, the law prohibits keeping or causing to be kept any list, record or registry of private firearm ownership.
“Governor Brian Kemp’s signature on the Second Amendment Privacy Act is yet another example of his firm commitment to protecting the Second Amendment rights of all Georgians. Citizens in Georgia won’t worry that ‘woke’ Wall Street banks, credit card companies and payment processors will collude with government entities to spy on their private finances to illegally place them on gun control watchlists,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President & General Counsel. “NSSF is grateful House Speaker Jon Burns, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, Representative Jason Ridley and state Senator Carden Summers for bringing this crucial legislation to become law. No American should fear being placed on a government watchlist simply for exercising their Constitutionally protected rights to keep and bear arms.”
Georgia joins a growing list of states that are standing against the invasion of financial privacy when exercising Second Amendment rights, including Tennessee, Iowa, Kentucky, Wyoming, Indiana, Utah, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Texas and West Virginia.
NSSF worked closely with Georgia legislators to protect private and legal firearm and ammunition purchases from political exploitation. The Second Amendment Privacy Act is designed to protect the privacy of lawful and private firearm and ammunition purchases from being abused for political purposes by corporate financial service providers and unlawful government search and seizure of legal and private financial transactions.
The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) admitted to U.S. Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in a letter that it violated the Fourth Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens that protect against illegal search and seizure when it collected the credit card purchase history from banks and credit card companies of individuals who purchased firearms and ammunition in the days surrounding Jan. 6, 2020. Treasury’s FinCEN had no cause, and sought the information without a warrant, to place these law-abiding citizens on a government watchlist only because they exercised their Second Amendment rights to lawfully purchase firearms and ammunition.
The idea of a firearm-retailer specific MCC was borne from anti-gun New York Times’ columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and Amalgamated Bank, which has been called “The Left’s Private Banker” and bankrolls the Democratic National Committee and several anti-gun politicians. Amalgamated Bank lobbied the Swiss-based International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for the code’s creation. NSSF has called on Congress to investigate Amalgamated Bank’s role in manipulating the ISO standard setting process.
Sorkin admitted creating a firearm-retailer specific MCC would be a first step to creating a national firearm registry, which is forbidden by federal law.
Georgia joins a growing list of states that are standing against the invasion of financial privacy when exercising Second Amendment rights, including Tennessee, Iowa, Kentucky, Wyoming, Indiana, Utah, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Texas and West Virginia. These states passed laws protecting citizens’ Second Amendment privacy. Other states are considering similar legislation. U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) introduced S. 4075, the NSSF-supported Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act in the Senate. U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) introduced H.R. 7450, with the same title in the U.S. House of Representatives. California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law requiring the use of a firearm-retailer specific MCC and Colorado passed similar legislation that is awaiting Gov. Jared Polis’ consideration.
Long, long ago, in a galaxy far away… (Seems like that, anyway.)
I was training a bunch of high-speed, low-drag operators of the Grand Exalted Ninja variety, and wow, were they impressive! Agile as combat monkeys, faster than tactical cheetahs, they poured out full-auto firepower like the USS Iowa. But there were a few piddly little problems.
First, given their gargantuan consumption of munitions, each trigger-puller would require the services of two pack mules to haul their ammo. Second, if they had to make controlled shots, they couldn’t shoot Minute-Of-Manhole-Cover (MOMC). Command staff noticed this aberration amongst their anointed, and lacking any intelligent ideas, they called me.
Fit, But…
These troops were physical prodigies and highly intelligent. Their equipment was first-rate, and their initial training excellent. But once they had reached operational level, they were essentially cut loose and set adrift. “Hollywood Effect” kicked in. They shot more and faster in increasingly sophisticated training environments, but they were on their own, with no eyeballs-on critical oversight coaching. Any top shooter can tell you that today’s un-critiqued champion is tomorrow’s last-place loser.
Over time, the result was predictable: Unconsciously developed bad habits became pronounced and then ingrained. As their accurate hit ratio fell, they increased the speed and volume of fire. While other tactical techniques sharpened, their fundamentals foundered. I tried a technique discovered by some smart Brits.
Their regiment included a ceremonial unit of archers to uphold tradition and entertain civilians at public events. When several vacancies went unfilled by volunteers, a bunch of notably poor shooters were assigned. The archery coaches were perfectionists and ferocious disciplinarians. Qualifying with firearms was one thing, but the publicly-witnessed performance of their archers was, as they would say, bristling, with clenched teeth, “Quite another matter entirely, old man! The regiment’s honour, you know.” When those involuntary archers picked up their rifles again, they amazed their NCOs — and themselves.
It worked for them, for me, and it can work for you. Three Keys: Fundamentals, Fundamentals, and FUNDAMENTALS!
Just as it is with long guns and handguns, archery demands hand-eye-head coordination, creating a stable platform even under difficult and fluid conditions, consistently repeated positions and points of contact, breathing control, a crisp, clean release, and understanding that “follow-through” is a moment, not a movement. In practice and for correcting lapses in performance, the advantage archery holds over live firearms training is the lack of distraction by noise, muzzle blast, recoil and mechanical action movement, which can both induce and conceal faulty technique. Archery is unforgiving, and errors are magnified and clearly apparent.
Shortly after that experience, I ran into a guy who was doing the same kind of thing in West Africa using blowguns, another discipline demanding many of the same honed skills. “And,” he added, “In poor weather, it can be practiced inside a big mud-wattle hut or under a tin railway-stop roof. And, the local rat population — filthy beasts — was decimated.” Shooting skills skyrocketed.
I learned some good stuff. Then, of course, I forgot it — almost. I was talking with Simon Lee, a honcho with Mad Bull AirSoft, makers of premium airsoft handguns and rifles. Due to legal restrictions on and extreme costs of firearms, airsoft is huge in Japan, where many top IPSC competitors train with airsoft, then kick competitive butt with firearms. And lots of Japanese shooters are also avid archers. Hmm …
A few days later, I met Nathan Masters, a dedicated shooter, owner and chief designer of FlippinOut Slingshots. I quickly learned how he polished his essential pistol skills — hand-eye-head coordination, breathing and release — with slingshots and more: He had not only independently discovered the firearms-training benefits of archery and blowguns but was about to launch a new enterprise and website covering all three disciplines at simple-shot.com. Yeah, I’m getting back into them now — and maybe you should consider them too.
Practical, Fun Alternatives
For many good reasons, airsoft is a low-cost, highly effective alternative shooting sport, and all manner of guns are available. Even very high-end models, licensed by major makers like Daniel Defense, Barrett and Noveske are surprisingly affordable. To minimize ongoing expense, I recommend spring-air powered and rechargeable-battery powered AEG (Automatic Electric Gun) models rather than CO2 types.
If you’re considering archery, I recommend you find an archery center with an indoor range, rental gear, and low-cost basic instruction. Tell them you want to try both conventional bows and compound bows. There are lots of good books and videos available on the subject, but nothing beats live instruction and coaching. Typically, archers delight in introducing people to their sport, and those in the business tend to be very patient and supportive.
When my son and I took up archery, after familiarization with recurve bows, we bought low-end Browning compound bows from Gander Mountain. After putting in lots of time and practice, we considered more sophisticated and far more expensive bows, but in the end, realizing our “cheap-os”—not cheap, but inexpensive—gave us all the capability we needed for both recreational shooting and hunting, we decided to put our money into more and better arrows. You don’t have to go overboard to be a well-equipped archer. Browning doesn’t offer bows anymore, but PSE Archery has made Browning’s bows for years, and they’re excellent.
You don’t need Herculean lungs or wads of money to take up blowguns. The variety of blowguns and darts available is astounding, and you can practice indoors or out. Much of blowgunning is intuitive, but the hand-eye-head coordination and breath control involved is terrific training, and as with archery, improvement is rapid and obvious. Generally, I recommend you start with an inexpensive 36″ or 48″ .40-caliber blowgun, and if that whets your interest, upgrade from there. Their range and power might amaze you.
If you haven’t flipped a slingshot since BFH — Before Facial Hair — you’ll be blown away by today’s slingshot smorgasbord. Having looked around, I don’t think anybody offers better slingshots than Nathan Masters at simple-shot.com. His models range from $20 to $175, yet all of them pack great accuracy and small-game hunting capability. The biggest modern advances in slingshots are in the bands and the structural quality and consistency of the frames, making a huge difference. These ain’t your granddaddy’s flippers — and they can definitely make you a better firearm shooter!
So give it a shot: sharpen your skills — and have fun!
Connor OUT
In the largest cheating scandal in the Coast Guard Academy’s history, 20% of the class of 2025 were caught sharing homework answers with one another and were also aided by an older student from the prior year.
“And in another instance a cadet who had taken the homework assignments and done poorly on them and gone and talked to the instructor and gotten the right answer, distributed those answers,” said Commander Aaron Casavant, the Assistant Commandant of Cadets. “There were networks of cheating.”
It comes at a time when the Coast Guard service is already under scrutiny for a report that former Coast Guard leadership withheld from Congress and the publicsexual abuse and misconduct at the Academy over several years.
Whether the cadets understand how their actions affect the current image of the Coast Guard, Casavant said he’d like to think so, but he’s not sure. Twenty-five cadets have asked to appeal their sanctions Casavant said, knowing it could affect the start of their careers.
Casavant said they found out about the cheating incidents when the class instructors reviewed the computer program used to administer the homework assignments. They found two issues.
“What we found was that the homework assignments were being completed in the order of seconds and minutes, rather than the amount of time that the instructors expected a homework of that complication and difficulty to take,” he said.
THE UNSINKABLE BATTLESHIP OF MANILA BAY
Warship Wednesday, May 6, 2015: The unsinkable battleship of Manila Bay
Click to big up
Here we see the concrete battleship, Fort Drum, as she appeared before 1941. While yes, this is not a ship but a U.S. Army coastal defense fortification, it has all the aspects of a ship above the waterline!
When Dewey swept into Manila Bay in 1898, the battle that his Asiatic Squadron gave the outgunned Spanish fleet was brief and historic– leaving the U.S. with de facto control of the island chain (or at least the Bay) that was made official after the war ended. After the Japanese defeat of the Russian Pacific Fleets (both of them) in 1905– during which a number of the Tsar’s ships took refuge in Manila Bay under the watchful eye of the USN, it became a priority to beef up the defenses around the harbor to keep the Navy there from turning into another Port Arthur.
The island, before 1909. If you prefer, you can refer to this as the ‘keel’ of Fort Drum
In the mouth of the Bay was El Fraile Island, a small slip of rock that the Army, in charge of Coastal Defense, decided to place a mine-control battery atop. However, this plan soon changed and the Army, with the Navy’s blessing, went about building their own static battleship.
Under the plan of Lt. John Kingman of the Army Corps of Engineers, the military leveled off El Fraile starting in 1909 and encased the entire island in steel-reinforced concrete with an average depth of 36-feet thick along the walls.
Several stories deep, a fort was constructed that included water cisterns, fuel tanks to run electrical generators, barracks for artillerymen, dining facilities, and storage for enough food to last the defenders months if needed.
Topside Plan
Engine tank section. Click to big up
Powder magazines and “navy-type” electrical passing scuttles. Drum could stock 440 shells for its main batteries. Click to big up
Atop the roof of the structure, which itself was 20-feet thick, were mounted a pair of M1909 turrets that each houses a pair of 14-inch (360mm) guns. Although a Navy-style mount, it was all-Army and contained unique wire-wound guns modified from the standard M1907 big guns mounted in coastal defense forts stateside.
While the standard CONUS 14-inchers were “disappearing” mounts, these larger 40-caliber tubes, with their 46-foot length, allowed the 1,209-pound AP shells to fire out to some 22,705-yards. To protect these turrets (named Batteries Marshall and Wilson), they had 16-inches of steel armor on their face, 14 on the sides and rear, and 6 on the roof. Of course, these giant turrets, with their outsized guns, tipped the scales at 1,160-tons or about the weight of a standard destroyer of the era, but hey, it’s not like they were going to sink the island or anything.
For comparison, the huge 16-inch/50 cal Mk.7 mounts on the Iowa-class battleships– commissioned decades after the Army’s concrete fort was built, weighed 1,701-tons but had three larger guns rather than the two the boys in green staffed.
The M1909 mount was tested at Sandy Hook Proving Ground, New Jersey before shipment to the PI. Only two of these mounts were ever constructed and, to the credit of the Army, are both still in existence despite an epic trial by combat. Click to big up
As befitting a battleship, the fort had a secondary armament of four casemated 6-inch coastal defense guns (dubbed Batteries Roberts and McCrea) as well as an anti-aircraft/small boat defense scheme (Batteries Hoyle and Exeter) of smaller 3-inch guns.
To direct all this a 60-foot high lattice mount (just like those on the latest U.S. battleships) was fitted to the ‘stern’ of the fort that contained fire control spotters (that fed to plotting rooms protected deep inside the facility), as well as 60-inch searchlights, radio and signal facilities to keep in contact with the rest of the harbor defenses.
Finally commissioned in 1913– just in time for World War One, the concrete battleship was named Fort Drum after former Adjutant General of the Army Richard Coulter Drum, who had died in 1909– the year construction began.
The man…
The fort was a happy post until December 8, 1941, when, just hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese struck at the Philippines. Largely relegated to providing some far-off gunfire support and exchanging pot shots with Japanese planes until Manila fell, this soon changed.
In December two water-cooled .50 caliber machine guns manned by a 13-man platoon of 3/4 Marines (withdrawn only days before from China), was sent to the concrete battleship to beef up her dated AAA defenses.
They joined the 200~ soldiers, officers, Philippine Scouts, and civilian ordnance-men of the 59th and 60th U.S. Army Coastal Artillery Regiments, commanded by Lt. Col. Lewis S. Kirkpatrick. Later, when Bataan fell, about 20 tank-less soldiers from an armored unit– Company D, 192nd Tank Battalion (formerly Harrodsburg’s 38th Tank Company of the Kentucky National Guard)- managed to escape to Drum and lent their shoulders to the wheel for the last month of the campaign.
As the Japanese had done at Port Arthur in 1904 where they brought in 10-ton Krupp L/10 280mm howitzers from the Home Islands to churn the Russian fortifications to gruel, the Imperial Army shipped new 40-ton Type 45 240 mm howitzers just to batter Fort Drum in March.
Although they peppered the fort’s concrete and knocked out some small guns, Drum kept firing and after April, along with Corregidor and the other harbor forts, became the last piece of real estate owned by the U.S. When the Empire tried to take Corregidor in the end, Drum’s 14-inchers made Swiss cheese of a number of their thin-skinned landing barges, sending many of the Emperor’s best troops to the bottom of the Bay.
On May 6, 1942, some 73 years ago today, when General Wainwright surrendered Corregidor, he included the harbor forts in his order. Although still capable of fighting, the defenders of the fort obeyed orders, smashed their generators, burned their codebooks, spiked their weapons, turned the fire-hoses loose in the interior– paying special attention to the powder rooms, and raised a white flag at noon.
Although the 240~ soldiers and Marines of the garrison did not suffer any deaths in direct combat, their time in Japanese prison camps was by no means easy. A number of their unit, including Kirkpatrick, did not live to see the end of the war. Only one officer, battery commander Capt. Ben E. King, survived. Casualties among the enlisted were likewise horrific.
In the end, they were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and that of the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation, which the 59th carries to this day (as the 59th Air Defense Artillery Regiment)
While the Japanese occupied the concrete battleship and used it as a coastal defense position for the rest of the war, they never did get the M1909s operable again.
US Army landing on Drum
Following bombardment by the USS Phoenix (CL-46), on April 13, 1945, the U.S. Army landed on the roof of the once-great fort. They found the Japanese defenders, shut inside its concrete warren under their feet, unwilling to surrender. Therefore, with McArthur’s blessing, a detachment of B Company/13th Engineers, poured 3,000 gallons of diesel/oil slurry down the ventilation shafts and set it off with timed charges as they withdrew.
US engineers and soldiers guarding them, pumping diesel fuel and oil into the innards of Ft. Drum Philippines. Note the 14-inch turret in the background
The fort burned for two weeks and no living Japanese prisoners were taken, only 68 “body remnants” were recovered. These men were sailors and survivors from the ill-fated super battleship Musashi, sent to the bottom just six months prior. So in the end, her final crew were battleship men.
According to an Augus1945 Yank magazine article:
First there was a cloud of smoke rising and seconds later the main explosion came. Blast after blast ripped the concrete battleship. Debris was showered into the water throwing up hundred of small geysers. A large flat object, later identified as the 6-inch concrete slab protecting the powder magazine was blown several hundred feet into the air to fall back on top of the fort, miraculously still unbroken. Now the GIs and sailors could cheer. And they did. As the LSM moved toward Corregidor there were continued explosions. More smoke and debris.
Two days later, on Sunday, a party went back to try to get into the fort through the lower levels. Wisps of smoke were still curling through the ventilators and it was obvious that oil was still burning inside. The visit was called off for that day. On Monday the troops returned again. this time they were able to make their way down as far as the second level, but again smoke forced them to withdraw. Eight Japs-dead of suffocation- were found on the first two levels.
Another two days later another landing party returned and explored the whole island. The bodies of 60 Japs-burned to death-were found in the boiler room on the third level. The inside of the fort was in shambles. The walls were blackened with smoke and what installations there were had been blown to pieces or burned.
In actual time of pumping oil and setting fuses, it had taken just over 15 minutes to settle the fate of the “impregnable” concrete fortress. It had been a successful operation in every way but one: The souvenir hunting wasn’t very good.
Starboard beam view of the battleship USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) passing between CORREGIDOR (background) and FORT DRUM as she enters Manila Bay. Date: 3 Jul 1983 Camera Operator: PH2 PAUL SOUTAR ID: DN-SN-83-09891 Click to big up
Now, abandoned, the unsinkable battleship with its charred interior spaces lies moldering away in Manila Bay.
Over the years, it has become a tourist attraction and target for scrap hunters who have carried off every piece of metal smaller than they are.
For more information on Fort Drum, please visit Concrete Battleship.org
As for Gen. Drum himself, he is buried at Arlington Section 3, Site 1776.
Specs:
Displacement: It is an island
Length: 350 feet
Beam: 144 feet
Draught: nil, but the fort stood 40-feet high and the lattice tower over 100
Propulsion: None, although the fort had numerous generators
Speed: In time with the rotation of the earth
Complement: 200 men of Company E, 59th Coastal Artillery Regiment, commanded by Lt. Col. Lewis S. Kirkpatrick (1941-42)
Armament: (as completed)
4xM1909 14-inch guns
4xM1908 6-inch guns
Armor: Up to 36 feet of concrete, with up to 16-inches of plate on turrets
If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO), Publishers of Warship International.
They are possibly one of the best sources of naval study, images, and fellowship you can find http://www.warship.org/
The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.
Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.