Let it be the Ruger LCP, a snubbie, a Seacamp or any of the old and new subcompacts out there, let us dispense with the bullshit from the get go: They are carried out of laziness by 90% of their owners.

Since I’ve been carrying, I have done so with a medium size firearm (after a short initial stint with a full size) and I know the kind of dedication it requires. It is not light, it is not that concealable if you carry outside the waistband, you may be faced with having to do a whole uncomfortable strip show if you have to go inside a Government-Mandated Gun Free Zone. Doctors and dentists offices seem to prefer chairs with arms where a you can’t seem to fit with the gun in your waist, etc. I know it is a pain in the ribs, you know it too.

One day,  Lazy Gun Owner is perusing through the glass counters of his local gun shop and sees that small wonder Stamp-Size Gun and suddenly his mind flashes with an epiphany: “Well damn! Look it here! I can carry that pretty little thing in my pocket, nobody will notice and I don’t have to load up on my waist like rough carpenter!” So they get that gorgeous cute thingie, a couple of boxes of ammo (one defensive-type of course) and head for the range.  Here is when he discovers that cutie Stamp-Size Gun won’t shoot accurately past 5 yards, although actually the gun can but it is the Shooter that cannot do it since a small handgun usually has the trigger pull of a nutcracker trying to pry open a golf ball and a small sight radius that makes aiming more difficult. But Lazy Gun Owner does not know or promises himself he will take the time to learn sometime in the future and anyways most gunfights happen at bad breath distance, right? Who needs aiming? Next he gets home, ditches his big gun, holster, spare mags and slides the new miniature in the pocket….along with the tactical knife, 43 cents in change (including a Canadian penny), 3 Skittles and 3 ounces of lint.

If you are going to carry a sub-compact, be smart about it. First: Be Proficient with the Gun. I don’t care how well you shoot your $5,000 ultra customized 1911 from a race holster, it is not a guarantee that you will be James Bond with a small semi auto drawing the bottom of your front pants pocket. Shorter Barrel and short sight radius makes any sub compact a gun that requires a different approach and practice, plus the added time and effort to dig for it in your pocket which does hinder proper grip and initial manipulation. Second: Carry the gun smartly. Have nothing but the gun in the pocket designated for the gun and use a pocket holster designed for that effect. There are holsters available that not only will help you with a proper grip and presentation of the gun (remember, you are still drawing from a pocket and it won’t be fast) but will also protect it from sweat, dirt and other elements that might cause a malfunction when the you need the gun the most. Added advantage is that most pocket holsters will disguise the shape of the gun and help you avoid printing. Third: Get the best defensive ammo you can safely shoot. But also be aware that smaller pistol calibers will be more inefficient than bigger pistol calibers and that all pistol calibers are not good people stoppers. Fourth: Carry spare ammo. Yes Virginia, there are malfunctions and missed shots and multiple targets out there. Who told you that only 5 puny rounds were enough?

There is always one or more trade offs when you seek comfort or any other advantage.  What you carry is your decision as well as how you carry and how much practice you should have. We all have heard/ read the tales of people brought down by a single shot from a .22, but always think that it is not going to happen to you and that Murphy is going to mess with your sorry but right there and then.

TSA to swab airline passengers’ hands in search for explosives…. Oh hell, just when i though I did not need another reason not to fly. Now I have to make sure I don’t do any reloading if I have to fly to a match or anywhere.  I like the “random” check part as not to offend terrorists’ sensibilities while they adjust their ANFO jockstrap. ACLU is static that we will not unfairly target the terrorists who are trying to kill us. Of course that means TSA will swab and dismantle the leg braces of a handicapped 4 year old instead.

Now that we can check our firearms again in trains, AMTRAK seems like a nicer option. Screw it, I’ll drive.

I just saw today’s episode of Impossible Shots and I think it is the best they ever done. It featured 84 year old WWII Veteran Sniper Ted Gundy who fought at the Battle of the Bulge. Mr. Bundy had contacted Impossible Shots and asked how was possible for modern snipers to connect a thousand yards. Impossible Shots went the distance and took Mr Gundy to Ft Benning as a VIP Guest for a week. He relives his experiences, talks to a new generation of fighters and you can’t help but choke a little at the emotions this gentleman shows for his past and our future.

Please read on the show narrative from Firearmstalk.com If you can’t wait for the show, at the bottom of this post you can find out what happened when and Old Sniper meets modern rifles and techniques.

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Big Ass Spoiler Alert:

Mr. Gundy, to the amazement and admiration of the top Army Snipers makes three head shots a one thousand yards on his first try. At 84 years of age and with a missing leg. It was truly the Greatest Generation.

I tried to write it nice so I don’t come out like a jerk, but I just couldn’t find the words so here it goes: I think there is a lot of bullcrap about the application of oriental philosophy in our western lives. It seems that if something was written by some guy with a sing-songy name a couple or three centuries ago, it must have a great relevance and we must bow to the knowledge imparted there because well, it is one of them oriental wise men, you know?

I was told by doctor that acupuncture was going to make me quit smoking. I suffered through the needles and came out wanting a big cigar and a fifth of JD which is weird because I don’t like cigars and don’t drink. Herbal Medicine? Got me a nice case of gastritis that is still with me 20 years later. Have you actually tried real chinese food? Most of it is boiled and bland or just plain gagging. That is why soy sauce is available: it is the oriental equivalent of ketchup or Tabasco, you gotta hide the original flavor.

But the Lord knows that my Mom must have dropped me on my head a couple of times because I heeded the advice of some and decided to read on some Far East classical authors on warfare and how it may apply to Personal Defense. I know I might upset some much more knowledgeable and famous folks than myself but I am sorry to say the knowledge them suckers in kimonos “share” do not apply to Civilian Self Defense. I dusted  my copy of The Art of War and added it to my newly acquired copy of The Book of Five Rings to see what knowledge I might absorb.

The Book of Five Rings is about swordfighting, samurai/ronin style. Legend has it that Miyamoto Musashi was a serious hombre with the sword who never lost a match against its adversaries or even got a cut anywhere on the pajama. The book was originally a scroll that Musashi wrote attempting to explain his approach to sword fighting so most of it will not apply to gun skills. One good thing about his literary approach is that he is not “educated” so he dispenses with most of the flowery language common to Japanese and most oriental writers. In the same book I got, the editors also latch on a copy of The Book of Family Traditions on the Art of War by Yagyu Munenori who is “educated and you feel you need a weed eater and the Sierra Club Guide to Japanese Arbor and Flowers to read through it. Munenori’s teachings also apply to sword fighting but more as a combat & battlefield tactics than a civilian self defense issue.

Some of you are now steaming out of your ears thinking “How dare he mock such great and noble warriors? I will throw down the gauntlet right here and now! Katanas at 10 paces sir!” Well, take it easy and pick up your metal glove, I believe in long range acquisition with a modern firearm if possible. Yes, i will cheat, screw the rest. Why am I so “disrespectful” about Samurai (and also about knights while we are at it)? Because they were a bunch of elitists jackasses for the most part, wielding absolute power with their steel and their techniques. The little people were not humans and just basically target practice or ready-to-abuse subjects for these people. I am from the “Great Equalizer” School of Thought which sees a weapon (firearms) as the reset button of a society. Not every Joe had the money, position or budget to avail himself of a good sword, accouterments and training time to master swordsmanship.  Yet a simple tube propelling a lead ball shot by a peasant can manage to bring down and abusive cast of assholes. I don’t know why but that easiness to inflict deadly force to a mini dictator brings a warm fuzzy to my heart. We have romanticized so much samurais and knights that we ignore or conveniently forget that they were nothing more than petty Stalins who had the power of absolute life and death over their subjects and no sense of justice but their own desires. Somehow learning anything out of them makes me think that it is like learning medicine from the notes of Dr. Mengele’s experiments at Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

Still, I sat down with a pen and a highlighter to collect the alleged pearls of wisdom and did mark some interesting passages, but there was this nagging feeling on the back of my head that kept saying: “You read this before in a much simple and understanding format….You read this before in a much simple and understanding format….you moron. Think!” Then, around 3 am my degrading brain finally kicked open the file drawer and pulled out the card with the recorded info. There is a modern Book of Five Rings written by a modern warrior who applied his knowledge to teach the common folk how to defend themselves. Not an elitist (except when it came to one’s pursue of excellence with a firearm) and with a no BS view of the world without any chrysanthemums or Cherry Blossoms to adorn his writings: The Late Colonel Jeff Cooper and his excellent booklet Principles of Personal Defense. Forget Musashi, Munenori, Sun Tzu, P. F. Chang’s and Lt. Sulu, just get this book and digest its 56 pages. It will do more for your training and mindset foundation that 10 years in a Shaolin Monastery trying to snatch a pebble out of some white bearded guy’s hand. Its simplicity will astound you and its frankness may freak you out some. But it is God’s honest truth when it comes to Self Defense.

As for the Book of Five Rings, it goes next to the Art Of War to the uppermost shelf with the rest of the book I might want to check some day in the next decade if I need to recall a passage. I think I might be ordering some more Cooper books to absorb more of this modern Master & Teacher.

And if you are still insulted by my lack of respect for the Ancient Oriental Know-It-Alls, it is a feeling, you’ll get over it eventually… or not. I really do not care.

I just got back from Barnes & Noble to fend off my insatiable craving for books. I was after Tales from the Stakeout Squad by Paul Kirchner and The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi. After 45 minutes of searching, I decided to ask the Customer Help desk to locate the books. No joy on the Cirillo book according to the associate but they did have a copy of Musashi’s book. The lady left the kiosk and instead of taking a left and head for Military books (like it appears in the website) she made a right. I followed her to a row near the entrance where she pulled out the volume and gave it to me. I thanked her but I was kinda surprised at the location… under books for Business Management.

Somehow I don’t see a Katana being used much in Corporate America (or Corporate Japan for that matter), specially with the No Weapons policy in most workplaces. Just in case I might have to carry if I get called to the main office.

A crew from the United States Air Force spent Saturday night and Sunday morning airlifting different groups of wounded soldiers from Kandahar to Camp Bastion to Bagram, back to Kandahar, then back to Bagram, and back to Kandahar. These patients were from Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, and the United States. Here, an Air Force nurse caresses the head of a wounded, unconscious Canadian soldier while whispering into his ear. Photo & Story by Michael Yon.

Uniquely designed to destroy the delicate Everglades ecosystem, the Ford EF Everglades equally grinds over alligators, swamp deer, snakes, Palmetto fronds, wild pigs, vines and the occasional Earth Lover communing with the swamp mosquitoes. It spews 3 tons of choking diesel smoke per gallon and the noise shakes baby birds out of their nests.

H/T to SayUncle for the original meme idea.