There is a gun blog out there that made a vitriolic attack at to what they refer as OFWG (Old Fat White Guys) and the way they train. I cannot help myself and laugh thinking about how much of the gun training industry is now held by the Tactical Metrosexual Guys. You have seen the type: Dressed in Under Armour Black T-Shirts one size too small so the biceps (with the duty tribal tattoo) and other muscle groups are tightly defined. Oakley wraparound ballistic sunglasses that they never remove unless they are going to bed (But I bet they keep during sex), cargo pants…er… excuse me “tactical” pants in black or khaki and scuffed tan boots that scream “I was there” referring to their time as supply clerks in Iraq. At the range they’ll be carrying every piece of gear they can attach with MOLLE and more guns than a Latin Kings meeting in South Central LA. Their ultimate wet dream is to make the cover of SWAT magazine but they will settle for an insert in Soldier of Fortune.
They thumb their noses at shooting sports because “they ain’t real” and “”they will kill you” but their time at the range is spent spreading their acquired gun wares for all to see and drool over. They don’t shoot much mostly because they have no money left to buy ammo because they had to buy the tactical pajamas with plate carrier in case they are attacked by a band of marauding AlQaeda terrorists breaking into their apartment while watching Son of Guns.
I posted before about a Federal SWAT-Type group that came to our club to shoot IDPA once invited by a fellow Federal Officer. They came wearing all their tactical thingies and s shitload of attitude only to be summarily outshot by a OFWG and a couple newbies with less than six months experience in the fine art of pistol shooting. They never returned and I am guessing because they felt embarrassed as hell at their scores and the muffled laughter from the other shooters.
Unfortunately looks sell and Hollywood determines how a warrior/shooter/Good Guy must look and most of these idiots follow that pattern. Those who are a bit more grounded in reality know better and have learned that shooters do not have a specific look. Clint Smith looks like a shortened version of Mr. Rogers. Pat Rogers looks like your standard Hollywood casting Irish barfly. Randy Cain looks like a baptist preacher who just woke up and the first time I met Massad Ayoob in person I was reminded of an old Italian organ grinder player and I actually wondered if he had a monkey nearby. And you do not see any of them wearing stuff that came from the runaway of the 10th annual Ninja/Operator High Couture Show.
The truth is you cannot tell who is a shooter by looks alone… or their lack of looks. And probably the more somebody looks like weightlifter the less they are good shooters. If the guy is so pumped that the hands at his sides are about a foot away from the body, he is gonna have a tough time trying to reach for the ultra customized Glock 18 in his thigh holster. In the meantime the OFWG will draw his snubbie from his shoot-me photog vest and make Mr. Tactical Metrosexual dance the Macarena.
PS: There is an old saying that goes: Don’t fuck with old guys. We tire easy and kill you quick just so we can go play bingo.”
PS 2: Gail will probably skin my butt next time I see her for my description of her Beau š
I read a funny story about the training company I go to. Their founder was a Delta training person and he started taking the other “Operators” to the USPSA and IDPA matches on Ft. Bragg. He said it was a great motivator to get better. āItās one thing to
get beat by a fellow unit operator, but quite another to get beat by some 50-yearold, overweight civilian.ā
http://www.tigerswan.com/downloads/Tigerswan-May09.pdf
Old age and treachery will win out over youth and skill
One thing I want people to keep in mind (since I was the one who pointed this out to Miguel) – this was an ostensbily pro-rights, pro-firearms weblog that was ridiculing, insulting, and outright attacking “old, fat, white guys” who were engaging in vaguely realistic firearm-related training.
Why? Because they were OFWGs, and the only people who would need to do such training are “law-abiding citizens of color living in high crime neighborhoods”.
The weblog’s theory as to why the OFWGs are engaging in the training? It ranged from “paranoia” to “retarded adolescents replaying gunfighting scene from Hollywoodās fertile imagination”.
And, again, this is ostensibly a pro-rights weblog.
In fact, it is no such thing. It is a blatant false-flag operation designed to give it the appearance of being pro-rights, but instead providing a barely-stealthed vehicle for the same kind of bigotry and intolerance we have to constantly fight from the blatantly anti-rights weblogs. With “friends” like these…
….who needs Sarah Brady.
“PS 2: Gail will probably skin my butt next time I see her for my description of her Beau”
See you at the IDPA World Championship? I’ll be there with Luigi. š
Can yu shoot me a link Miguel? I want to go and ‘visit’ with these guys.
TTAG is an anti-gun blog flying a false flag.
All he does is steal from honest gun blogs, malign the gun industry, and recruit writers that have more talent than he (which is none)
I think you guys are missing the point. This is about “need” versus “wants”.
Those that need it cannot afford it and those that can afford it want it and have made into a game.
Great Post! It has always been a huge pet peeve of mine that people will instantly listen to someone’s advice if they “look” like they konw what they are talkig about. But discount the acctual subject matter expert before they open their mouth because they don’t “look” the part.
As an OFWG, I object to the characterization.
Seriously, I didn’t know TTAG was a false flag operation. Never paid him much attention. The article in question is pretty awful, though. It’s like observation about arguing with Brady types: we have facts and data, they have penis jokes.
And you’re on the blogroll. Nice to see that the Florida Carry logo adorns more pro-gun blogs! http://www.allnineyards.com/?p=173
@David – Then the “point” should have been figuring out how to make firearm training more accessible to those who cannot afford it, rather than pointlessly maligning those who can.
@Gail. Yes but visiting only. Sarah and I will make a day picnic thing out of it.
@Linoge: The blasting of IDPA and other shooting sports is nothing new. My take is that it got started by “instructors” that got pissed people were learning more out of a $15 match than their $500 classes.
If we were in a different world, I’d submit a challenge to those idiots: I will offer “my champion” OFWG with a revolver to shoot against their selected ninja with his selected uber Pistol at 20 paces.
Just don’t tell them that my champion OFWG is Jerry Miculek. š
Note to self #1: Being critical or questioning is maligning, regardless of intent.
Note to self #2: Thinking is prohibited, if I ask the same questions as my adversary, I must be an adversary.
@Linoges: I think what some people do is silly, and that is their choice. To contrast situations where people need the training against others playing games is a valid argument. Just for arguments sake and a point to discuss. It was a question designed to provoke thought and discussion.
@Miguel: I enjoyed your original post. I hope you do mind if I found it humorous. And a conclusion I agree with.
Logic really is not your strong suit, is it, David?
If Farago wanted to encourage “thought”, then he would not have stooped to using such words as “paranoia” and “retarded adolescents” – those are blatant ad hominem attacks that served no purpose but to insult and attack the people being discussed… which is not exactly a good basis for “discussion”.
Unless, of course, you want the discussion to be nothing more than pointing and laughing, which is just great…
wait wait wait how exactly is TTAG a false flag?
@Linoge
This is not about ridicule. It is about communication. The words are inflammatory. It is designed to provoke a reaction. But to focus on the words used or the messenger is to miss the message. If the delivery is more important then the message, then you miss the point.
If a person is offended by those words, do they understand why they offended? It usually because they are thinking emotionally and not rationally.
@AntiCitizenOne
TTAG does not meet the ideological purity requirements. See http://www.weerdworld.com/2011/reminder-psa (Read the comments there and the linked TTAG posts)
You cannot disagree, you must conform.
Frankly, bullshit.
Farago had a literal world of other words he could have used to describe what those people were doing. He chose words that were specifically demeaning, insulting, and completely uncalled for. He chose to take a route that would offend and annoy people, and due to that, his message is completely pointless.
Now, if he wanted to discuss the value of training people were receiving or giving without stooping to the same level as the anti-rights cultists, then maybe you would have a point. But he did not, and you do not.
As for TTAG being a false-flag organization, Farago opposes open carry, he blames the victims of crimes for being crime victims, he believes that unless you can afford a megabucks safe and the necessary house to anchor it to you should be barred from firearm ownership… the list goes on, and on, including, in a blinding stroke of irony, holding a 30-second video of some random training to a “purity test”.
Thank you.