The heroes who terminated the gunman at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee last week are speaking out.
Officer Rex Engelbert of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department led the charge.
Upon entry, it took him approximately 2 minutes and 15 seconds to engage the 28-year-old shooter.
“I really had no business being where I was,” Engelbert said after he responded to the call of an “active shooter” while en route to the Police Academy for routine administrative tasks.
“You can call it fate or God or whatever you want. I can’t count on my hands the irregularities that put me in that position when the call for service went out for an active deadly aggressor at a school,” he said.
Engelbert was joined by Detective Sgt. Jeff Mathes. The two men had never met before. But along with several others, they answered the call to go inside the private Christian school to stop the shooter.
“I had never seen Rex in my life,” Mathes explained, as reported by WSMV. “When we got there, he had already unlocked the door. Not knowing what I was going into, I walked through that door without hesitation.”
The responding officers immediately ran toward the gunfire.
“I looked for the nearest staircase I could find, because I could tell [the gunfire] was above my head,” said Englebert, who added, “I couldn’t get to it fast enough.”
Police Chief John Drake applauded the actions of his men.
“They did what we were trained to do,” Drake said. “They got prepared and went right in – knowing that every moment wasted could cost lives.”
“Their efforts also saved lives,” he continued. “They were able to protect these kids as well.”
“No one ever said it would be easy,” Drake said. “But they said it would be worth it. I’m totally proud of my men for what they did.”
Florida residents will be allowed to carry concealed firearms without a permit after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a Constitutional Carry bill into law on Monday. The move is viewed as another legislative victory for the governor, who is preparing for a presidential campaign.
The bill was signed in a private ceremony in DeSantis’ office, with his only public comment being “Constitutional Carry is in the books,” in a three-paragraph news release.
The new law will allow anyone who can legally own a gun in Florida to carry one without a permit starting on July 1. Background checks and training will not be required for carrying concealed guns in public.
The debate surrounding the legislation was split along political lines, with Republicans arguing that law-abiding citizens have the right to carry guns for self-protection. Republicans believe that most people will still want to obtain permits to carry concealed weapons in states with reciprocal agreements and to buy guns without a waiting period.
However, Democrats and gun control advocates argue that the new law will only make the state more dangerous, pointing to past mass shootings in Florida such as the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando and the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
“I am pissed,” said Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, during an online news conference. “I will chase him down across the state as well as possibly across the country…because Ron DeSantis today put his signature to a bill that guarantees there will be more Jaimes.”
Guttenberg added that he believes DeSantis is a coward for signing the bill behind closed doors.
“Somebody in Florida may die … because of this legislation. That will be because of you, Ron DeSantis,” Guttenberg said. “I understand why you hid today … You are a weak, pathetic, small-minded individual.”
Almost 3 million Floridians have a concealed weapons permit. Although background checks and a three-day waiting period will still be required to buy guns from licensed dealers, they are not mandatory for private transactions or weapons exchanges.
DeSantis has indicated that he thinks Florida should go further and allow people to openly carry guns. However, while some lawmakers have advocated for open carry, it is unlikely that such legislation will pass during this session.
The bill signing comes five years after former Republican Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill imposing gun restrictions following the deaths of 17 students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Under DeSantis, the momentum has shifted towards expanding gun rights rather than limiting them, earning him praise from gun-rights advocates.
“Government will not get in the way of law-abiding Americans who want to defend themselves and their families,” said Republican Senator Jay Collins, who sponsored the bill, in a news release.
John Velleco, the Executive Vice President for Gun Owners of America, celebrated the new bill.
“It was a pleasure to attend the signing ceremony with Governor DeSantis today in Tallahassee, and we commend him for pushing lawmakers to right this discriminatory wrong from the state’s past,” Velleco said.
The bill was signed one week after six people were killed in a Nashville school shooting, which was highlighted by President Joe Biden’s administration.
“It is shameful that so soon after another tragic school shooting, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a permitless concealed carry bill behind closed doors,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “This is the opposite of common-sense gun safety.”
As GunsAmerica previously reported, there is no evidence that crime rates increase in the wake of the passage of permitless carry laws. Fears and concerns over “blood in the streets” are totally unfounded. If Constitutional Carry was a threat to public safety, there’d be ample data to substantiate that claim as half the country has these laws on the books. And not one state has turned into the wild wild west.
America must keep faith with its military veterans. We owe the greatest debt to those who risked their lives to keep us free.
But the promises America has made to the women and men who have served in uniform are due for a review. The budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs has grown at a dramatic pace since 9/11 — from roughly $45 billion in 2001 to more than $300 billion this year.
None of these steps would be politically easy. Proposing and voting for new benefits for veterans have long been among the few policy areas that both Democrats and Republicans support. We also know that the array of benefits offered by the VA plays an important role in attracting and retaining the all-volunteer force — especially in an era of low unemployment and rising wages in the civilian sector.
But the moral responsibility Americans have to those who fought for the country is of diminished value if it does not align with the fiscal responsibility Americans have to keep their financial house safe and sound.
I haven’t been enraged reading a news article in a long, long time. Why am I enraged? Because of these Ivy League, snot-nosed fucks at the Washington Post.
These ones.
That’s the publically available editorial staff’s information about the board who wrote one of the most disrespectful articles I have ever seen about veterans. There are so many awful opinions in this opinion piece that it’s difficult to break down each and every one. I’ll lead with some words from the VFW, ya know, the VFW that helps in leading the charge against bullshit like this. The VFW that was a huge driver in getting the PACT act passed.
It is laughable that the employees of one of the richest individuals in the world have the audacity to suggest disabled veterans should be the persons responsible for balancing the federal budget – instead of their wealthy billionaire benefactors who notoriously skirt their tax liabilities.
You would think with all the collective Ivy League degrees held by The Washington Post Editorial Board they would understand basic economics. Instead, they recommend that veterans be subjected to means tests or outright forfeit their earned benefits if they manage to constructively cope with these life-altering disabilities.
If you don’t remember, the PACT Act was established to secure health care and entitlements for thousands of veterans who are being diagnosed with various cancers, lung diseases, and much much more. Health care was also improved for dozens of other causes and ailments.
We have been making great strides in helping or honoring those who served in the longest fucking war in American history. We went to a place where we could have been blown up at any moment. We went to a place where we had to watch someone point a gun at us before we were allowed to return fire. We fought in places where we had to put our battle buddies on choppers in body bags and watch them head back home to their families without breath or a heartbeat.
Vast numbers of us have terrible back problems, difficulty breathing at times, PTSD, Traumatic brain injuries, and on and on and on. These are things that we did for our country and we only ask for what was promised which is payment for the sacrifices to our bodies and minds that no reasonable government or dumb-ass editorial board could ever imagine stripping away with a means test.
Just like the VA’s motto until a few weeks ago, the terminology is what is outdated, not the benefits. Over the years, entitlement has become a bad word that implies laziness or the wanton use of funds by the government. The VA is the opposite of that. The VA provides entitlements based on the injuries you sustained while serving. Those injuries do not go away simply because you got a job. Veterans are entitled to these payments in the purest sense of the word.
Those injuries do not go away simply because the fiscal state of the United States is in dire shape. The injuries remain and will remain for the rest of our natural lives. Injuries like the aforementioned are something those entitled- the bad version now- people who have cushy jobs writing nonsense about some of the hardest working people in this country.
People that while they were typing or doing some kind of financial news stories, we were in sands above 100 degrees for months at time with packs that weighed over 60lbs on the regular. People who while the WP Board was polishing their Pultizers were calling family members on satellite phones from the rooftop where another person was standing watch with a machine gun ready to protect you while you talked to your kids.
People that had no problem walking near and over IEDs so that we could locate, close with, and destroy the enemy by fire and maneuver while you were at the latest James Beard award-winning restaurant. While they were in their posh environments, many of us were marching to the sounds of the guns.
The injuries sustained by veterans and active duty members should be one of the last wells that we fill our buckets with simply because the well is closer and easier to draw water from. Walk to the next village over and look in that well of governmental waste. While I type this blog, my hands shake. My hands aren’t shaking because I am mad, which I am, my hands shake because I sustained an injury to my fucking brain when I was blown up by an IED. Does that change because I have a good job? No.
Does the veteran with PTSD lose it when she works in an accounting job now? No.
Does the Washington Post editorial board deal with any of that? I’d imagine not. While we were going to MOS schools, they were going to Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Cornell. There is absolutely nothing wrong with going to one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
There is something wrong, however, when you sit there on your ivory fucking tower and scoff your nose at those with injuries, whether you believe they are true or not because you read a congressional budget office proposal and were bored on a Friday afternoon.
While I dont think this type of idea has or ever will get any legs, it’s beyond insulting when a huge newspaper like the Washington Post writes an opinion piece that can mislead and manipulate readers with a lesser understanding of the inner workings of both the VA and the veteran service organizations.
There are plenty of ways to improve the VA, the costs associated with the care of veterans, and the budget without ripping away the entitlements veterans are owed.
It is not only insulting but it also is completely untenable. Homes would go into foreclosure, cars would be repossessed, and families would struggle even more to put food on the table, a concern I’d imagine those Harvard, Yale, and Cornell graduates have never felt in their entire fucking lives.
The Washington Post editorial staff is an abomination to veterans. The Washington Post editorial staff seemingly are terrible people who target those who have served while not being personally impacted in any way. The Washington Post deserves to be shamed on the corner of every street in America. Still though, the military members who have served, are serving, or will serve are going to continue to serve so organizations like the Washington Post can write utter rubbish.
Freedom of the Press is a right guaranteed by the Consitution and those who you are trying to remove benefits from are the guarantors of that right. While invoking your absolute right to free speech, sometimes it’s better to invoke your Fifth Amendment right of shutting the fuck up.
S&W TRR8 two-piece barrel system is held in place by a special slotted nut. Image by TFB’s Rusty S from his TRR8 Review.
Welcome to another edition of TFB’s Wheelgun Wednesday, where we discuss all topics revolving around revolvers. Today’s topic comes from gunsmith Dave Lauck, of D&L Sports, in which he addresses one of the main detractors of the design of two-piece barrels for modern revolvers, which is that they can loosen under recoil over time.
The most prominent examples of two-piece barrels comes from the popular Smith & Wesson scandium framed Model 300 series, such as the 325, 327 (aka TRR8 and R8), and 329. While there’s no certainty that each revolver with a two-piece barrel will loosen, people have reported this problem, which can lead to less than optimal conditions for accuracy and safety, so let’s take a look at Mr. Lauck’s solution to loose two-piece barrels.
THE PROBLEM OF TWO-PIECE BARRELS, AND A SOLUTION
Another example of a two-piece revolver barrel, the Taurus Raging Hunter. Image from TFB’s Adam S’s review.
For those that are new to the concept of two-piece barrels, the steel, rifled barrel that interacts with the bullet is covered by a barrel shroud that incorporates the sights and rail systems for optics and weapon lights, if so endowed. The main advantage of this two-piece barrel system is weight savings, which is why Smith & Wesson utilize it on their lightweight scandium frames, thus a minimal amount of heavier steel is used for the overall design while keeping the aesthetics and features appealing.
As a side note, I’ve always loved the look of S&W’s 300 series revolvers. The second advantage of two-piece barrels is that the rifled barrel could be replaced if the owner shot it so much that the rifling begins to disappear, however, I’m guessing that aspect is rarely required with the exception of a few competition shooters.
Dave Lauck provided TFB his description of the two-piece barrel problem, and his resultant solution:
Multi piece revolver barrels can provide a weight savings by using various materials. Many shooters want to reduce weight on a carry gun. However, experience has shown that these barrel assemblies frequently come loose. Another problem is that it takes specialized tooling to correct the problem.
At DLS inc the goal is to solve problems with design improvements so they don’t occur in the field. The loose barrel problem can be solved with proper fitting and installing a barrel lock. While this custom work is being done, the barrel can also be given a precision, recessed and protected target crown, instead of the difficult to clean step crown. In addition, while the barrel is out of the frame the forcing cone can be properly cut and polished for best performance.
An image of the separated two-piece barrel system from the S&W 325. Image credit: DLSports.com
As you can see in the photo below, Mr. Lauck’s barrel lock is installed just aft of the barrel shroud on the top of the frame. The barrel lock is essentially a set screw that keeps the barrel from turning under recoil. The photo that follows is of TFB’s Rusty S’s S&W TRR8 in its factory condition without a barrel lock.
Image Credit: DLSports.com
Rusty’s S&W TRR8 without a barrel lock. Image credit: Rusty S.
Mr. Lauck also addressed another potential design issue with a feature also seen on the above-listed revolvers, as well as on some Ruger GP100 and Redhawk series of revolvers, the spring-loaded front sights. He describes the issue and his solution below:
Another problem that arises too often with spring loaded interchangeable front sights is they get caught on the top lip of the holster while re-holstering. When the revolver is pushed into the holster the front sight becomes unlatched from the retaining pin.
Then when the revolver is drawn again, the front sight falls out of the gun during the draw stroke, and is often lost under field conditions.
This is another concerning problem that should be prevented before it occurs. Once the correct front sight is selected to achieve proper zero on target, then the front sight should receive an additional cross pin to rigidly secure it in place, even during rough use. The sharp, fragile and shallow notch rear sight can be replaced with a DLS inc heavy duty rear sight to solve those problems.
Thanks to Dave Lauck for providing his insight into these issues. If you’d like to see more of his custom work and services, visit DLSports.com. Have you or any of your friends encountered a loose two-piece barrel on a revolver? What did you do about it? What about losing a front sight, spring-loaded or otherwise?
Doug E
Doug has been a firearms enthusiast since age 16 after getting to shoot with a friend. Since then he’s taken many others out to the range for their first time. He is a husband, father, grandfather, police officer, outdoorsman, artist and a student of history. Doug has been a TFB reader from the start and is happy to be a contributor of content. Doug can be reached at battleshipgrey61 AT gmail.com, or battleshipgrey61 on Instagram.
Broad bodies shining white against the muted reds, greens and ochres of their adoptive home, you’d think that scimitar-horned oryx would be easy pickings for West Texas hunters, but that is very much not the case. On the sprawling, 295,000-acre 02 Ranch for the purpose of helping perform the initial field testing of a Ruger-made Marlin lever-action, I quickly learned just how incredibly wary these beasts can be and how surprisingly well their curved headgear blends into the thorny ocotillo and yucca plants that dominate that landscape.
The specific Marlin in hand was the newly re-released Model 1895 SBL, chambered in .45-70 Gov’t, a hard-hitting but short-range cartridge, necessitating that I close the distance with an animal in order to take a clean shot—something that the free-ranging oryx seemed dead set against.
Adding 11/16×24 TPI threads to the end of the barrel allows for the installation of suppressors—such as the Silencer Central Banish 46 shown—or other muzzle devices, while an extended optics rail permits the use of either conventional or long-eye-relief scopes, or even a red-dot.
Numerous stalks had already failed, and the current one was on the verge. Guide Dave Callaway, with Backcountry Hunts, and I had been chasing a quartet of antelope for more than two hours when we noticed a single large male up on the hill about 900 yards ahead of us. As we continued following the group, it eventually became apparent that they were onto us and were heading full-steam to the next county, but the loner was still blissfully oblivious to our presence and was now only about 300 yards out.
We slowly scrambled to within about 150 yards and watched for a long while from the concealment of a tall Spanish dagger. Now agonizingly close but with only his head visible above the brush, we chanced moving in closer for a clearer shot at the bull, which finally came at right around 100 yards. Loaded up with Hornady’s 325-grain LEVERevolution ammunition, the first shot from the sticks knocked the bull to the ground, where he stayed for close to 30 seconds before surprising us by springing up and running for the hills, and a second hit grounded the hearty creature for good. The 1895’s action had been so smooth in readying that important follow-up shot that I hadn’t even been consciously aware of it until the excitement was over and the oryx was down.
While my successful hunt had already proven that Ruger’s Marlin was accurate enough for its intended application as a short-range hunting rifle, the process of dialing-in the Leupold scope had also hinted at an accuracy potential that was far more than just adequate. And, even at a glance, it was apparent that Ruger had made a few changes to the 1895 SBL that hadn’t been present on late-model Remington Marlins, so I was quite enthused to get a production gun sent in for a full evaluation.
Unlike Remington-era Marlins, Ruger is nickel-plating and spiral-fluting the 1895 SBL’s bolt—changes that both add functionality and a touch of flair.
On a foundational level, Ruger hasn’t done anything to alter the operation of the Marlin 1895; the company has merely sanded down a few rough edges—in some cases literally—and made a few tweaks. It is still a centerfire lever-action rifle with a solid-top receiver and an under-barrel tubular magazine, and cartridges are fed into the six-round magazine via a port on the right side of the receiver.
As SBLs in particular—models always intended to be the most garishly dressed guns at the otherwise stolid lever-action party—my test samples also featured polished stainless-steel receivers, extended optics rails, eye-catching black-and-gray laminate furniture and big-loop levers.
Instead of a separate grip cap, the new rifle bears a Marlin logo laser-etched directly into the wood.
Actuating the lever downward drops the locking block and pulls the bolt rearward, simultaneously extracting and ejecting the spent case, cocking the hammer and releasing a fresh round from the magazine onto the carrier. During the upstroke, the carrier levers upward, positioning the cartridge such that it can be guided into the chamber by the returning bolt.
Ruger has slimmed down the 1895 SBL’s wood-laminate fore-end (above) considerably, making it a better fit for most hand sizes. A new finish also gives the furniture’s checkered areas a much darker appearance.
The most obvious changes to the Ruger-made 1895 SBL are naturally the external ones. These include the addition of 11/16×24 TPI muzzle threads to the 19″ hammer-forged barrel and a noticeably slimmer fore-end. Also, rather than a discrete black pistol grip cap, the new gun instead bears Marlin’s horse-and-rider logo laser-etched directly into the wood, and the previous XS ghost-ring sights have been replaced by a HIVIZ set. Ruger is also nickel-plating the bolt, the rear 3.5″ of which now bears spiraling flutes; this is mostly for the sake of aesthetics, but it should help reduce drag a little bit as well.
But unseen inside the Ruger-made Marlin are also a host of small refinements that together add up to a far better fitted and finished final product than had been produced by Marlin in the past decade. Just a few of these include: improved thread timing of the barrel with the receiver, ensuring properly aligned front and rear sights; more precisely cut hammer notches, resulting in more consistent engagement with the sear and a cleaner trigger pull; and an improved chamber requiring fewer operations to machine.
Ruger has also placed particular emphasis on tight tolerances and effective part stack-ups: at each step in the process parts are gauged to ensure proper fitment—and, on stainless guns like the 1895 SBL, the metal is heat-treated prior to machining to avoid warping. All parts that interact with another part are tumbled to remove burrs, and edges throughout the gun, from the trigger to the lever to the loading port, have been softened for added comfort and a more refined presentation.
As can be seen in the nearby results table, the accuracy of the Ruger-made Marlin wasn’t just good for a lever-action—it shot well for a rifle of any kind—particularly given what a thumper the .45-70 is. The trigger’s single-action break had zero take-up, zero overtravel and was extraordinarily consistent; 10 trigger pulls averaged a 5-lb., 5-oz., release, with seven of those readings registering as either 5 lbs., 5 ozs., or
5 lbs., 6 ozs., on the gauge.
The Marlin name has taken something of a shellacking during the past 15 years or so, and yet, in spite of this, the brand remains much beloved among lever-gun fans.
As a result, if Ruger gets this re-launch right, it stands to win a lot of brownie points with a lot of shooters, and the two 1895 SBLs that I’ve handled extensively thus far certainly seem to indicate that a resuscitation of Marlin’s reputation is already well underway. Whereas “Remlin” became an unflattering pejorative over time, if these rifles are indicative of what the factory is producing in general—and I have no reason to doubt it—then “Mayodan, NC” on the side of a Marlin barrel may well come to be seen as a hallmark of quality.
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