“Without a doubt, tourniquets were a difference maker and saved lives.” said Dr. Joseph Blansfield, Trauma Program Manager, Boston Medical Center days after the Boston Terrorist Attack.  Dr. Blansfield went on to say, “Tourniquets that were applied both in the field, on the scene…as well as applied either en route, or on arrival at any of the trauma centers…was really a direct benefit from the experiences that were appreciated in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

If you are even involved in a traumatic injury situation, you will want to do something.  The big question is will you have able to doing anything effective to aid the victim.  Your ability will be based upon your training, experience, and available gear.  Rather than waste precious seconds improvising, why not have the gear with you, ready to go?

A large pack, filled with trauma gear is naturally preferable, but these aren’t likely to be immediately available when you need them.  The Pocket Life-Saver EDC Med Kit is designed to be a compact, easy to carry, stop-gap trauma kit to immediately deal with a life threatening injuries while awaiting the arrival of professional medical personnel.

Pocket Life-Saver Contents:

1-         TK 4L ready-made Tourniquet           control Major Bleeding

1-         Package of Medical Gauze                 Wound Care

1-         NPA (nasopharyngeal airway)            Open Airway for Unconscious Patient

1-         3 ft. mini-roll of Duct Tape                 Wound Care / Chest Cavity Seal

(Plastic packaging can be used to seal chest cavity)

Contents are shipped in a sealed, vacuum packed plastic pouch.  Vacuum packing reduces the size and bulk of the kit making it easier to carry and resistant to the elements.

Keep in mind, the injured person could be someone you love.   Buying gear doesn’t give you skill.  If you have the skill you can make good use of the gear.

To purchase directly, go to www.StudentoftheGunGear.com

About the Author

Paul Markel has been a firearms industry writer for twenty years and is the author of the new book “Student of the Gun; A beginner once, a student for life.”  Paul hosts and produces “Student of the Gun” a show dedicated to education, experience, and enjoyment of firearms.  Episodes of SOTG can be viewed by simply by going to www.studentofthegun.com and clicking the “play” icon.

First there’s the conspiracy theory: The US Government is buying out all available ammunition, and telling the manufacturers to not sell anymore ammo to the civilian populace—In other words, the US Government is getting ready for a major, economic and societal shift that will result in all out Civil War, and as many know, those with the most toys, wins!

Then there’s other notion: gun shops are hoarding their ammo and only letting some of it out as they push the prices up even further–$17.49 for a 50 rounds box of .22 Long Rifle?! Just last year it was $9 for a box of 500 rounds!

Another idea launched is that there are so many survivalists, preppers, and newbie/wannabe preppers (they want to prep; can’t afford a gun, but a box of ammo, they can), who are hoarding ammo, either as something to barter, or are just hoarders subconsciously driven to fight scarcity, who now have a new item with which to fill their homes.

And, there’s yet another notion, where the manufacturers were completely taken aback by how effective President Obama has been in creating such divide American people, fearful that he’s taking us down the road of a dictatorship through Executive Order, and removing the Second Amendment, which was put there to protect against tyranny of any form—ironically, especially considering how anti-gun the president has been, no other president in US history has done the gun and ammunition business as good as has Obama highest gun and ammo sales, ever.

…As is often the case, the truth is somewhere in between the extremes.

Here’s the clincher: what none of the commentators mention is one other point: we’re running out of soft metals! In scientific circles, this is called “Peak Copper” and “Peak Minerals”. This is when what were easy to extract metals become fewer, and we phase to expensive and smaller returns on energy expended to get those metals.

This is how they used to find copper: 100 percent pure copper boulder, laying around river bottoms…easy pickings!

China, India and Russia

Part of the strain on copper resources, and for that matter soft metals, is the massive industrialization that has ramped up in China and India in the last ten years—with no end in sight! Demand has become so large from these two nations that a booming business in copper theft has exploded in the United States. They need copper for their own construction needs and will stop at nothing to get it. Just a few years ago, a gas and electric company was the victim of copper wire theft that would have resulted in millions of dollars of copper wire being shipped to China.

This is how they have to get copper nowadays…there might be perhaps a cup of usable copper ore in that giant truckload–imagine the fuel and resources energy to get deep down to what used to be laying around on the ground, ready to be picked up by hand…

Russian arms manufacturers, recognizing this increasing lack of copper, and how brass is an alloy comprised of copper and zinc, have been producing soft steel cases for a variety of cartridges, most notably the AK47 rounds and the American market of 5.56 NATO. Soft metals are being depleted, and the many  wars we’ve had over the last 60 years have added up to our selling off and shooting our finite natural resources in foreign lands, basically making them the natural resources for recycling in those countries in which we’ve fought.

This was made clear to me all the way back in 1983 and 1984, when I was travelling back and forth between Saigon and Rach Gia for my interrogations and mock trial by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. When we were travelling I noticed rural Vietnamese scavenging off a tank that had been ripped open by explosion during the war. In THE BAMBOO CHEST, I described this scene, as though like African pygmies butchering a large elephant. Perhaps, we’re now at point, where once copper miners could get copper in 100-percent copper boulders, we now have to dig a mile down, a pit two miles wide, to get our copper ore. Can you imagine how expensive that’s going to make shooting your rifle or pistol in the near future?

Soup Kitchens For Shooters

A chat with a friend revealed that a local Big 5 is having people line up, first come, first serve, to purchase ammo, right when they open. It’s like Bass Pro, who just a few weeks ago, received a new shipment of handguns one morning, and they were all gone by 11 a.m.

Here’s the irony, perhaps 30 to 50 percent of those standing in line for ammo, won’t even be shooters. They don’t even own a firearm. All they’re doing is hoarding. They’ve realized that next to gold, when things hit the fan, ammo will be as priceless as gold, perhaps more so. Gold is a pretty colored metal that because of rarity, was made into a form of currency, but ammo is food at the table and an attacker dead on the ground. When currency fails, as it’s continuing to do at a rapid rate, meat and potato systems take their place, and there’s no better meat-n-potato systems than the barter system.

It might even get to a point that you can buy a horse for a 500-round box of .22LR…

So, What About Your Ammo?

A couple weeks ago, I was chatting with my buddy and colleague, show host, shooting instructor, owner of Student of the Gun, and former Marine, Paul Markel, and asked, “What if this is all because we’re running out of copper—what if the government is doing the same thing as the private citizen, but on a much larger scale, and for very similar, yet different reasons?…Both are hoarding to make sure they have ammo, but the private citizen is doing it because he, or she thinks there won’t be any available due to the government. But what if the government’s hoarding for the same reasons, but it’s doing it because it doesn’t think the raw materials will be available to make that much more ammunition?”

“About ten years so,” Markel answered, “I read one of John Farnam’s quips on his website. He was my first introduction into private shooting instruction. Basically Farnam was talking about how the shrinking of supply of soft metals would lead to us using alternatives, such as steel cases.

..I just don’t get it. When I was a shooting instructor at the NECC (Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, the commander came back from the local fleamarket, flipping out that they were selling used ammo boxes. As though he thought it wasn’t normal for the government to make available to the public the sale of these items. He then ordered all ammo boxes be crushed and sold for the melted metal price.

By the time I finished my training contract, they had at least three to four million spent 5.56 in a heap next to these CONEX boxes, that the DRMO (Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office) could have easily sold to companies that utilize that stuff, spent brass. It was just sitting there, corroding and would be melted down and sold in that form. What a waste—Black Hills could have easily purchased it, and it would have gone to good use!”

Intrigued by the original quip that Markel was talking about on Farnam’s site, I tried to find it, couldn’t, and so called the master shooting instructor himself. Farnam said, “I’ve mentioned it many times, that base materials would become more and more scarce. I’ve mentioned to my student that it’s wise to be able to shoot cases made from other than brass.

Most ARs don’t seem to shoot the steel cased rounds. They’re hard on the bolt and extractor. Sig Sauer rifles seem to shoot them okay.”

A review of videos posted by shooters on YouTube reveals a number of malfunctions as a result shooting steel case, the major manufacturers being Wolf and Bear out of Russia. This was partly to do, especially with Wolf ammunition, with lacquer-coating of their steel cases. Wolf has since stopped applying this coating. But, it’s the steel case itself, as Farnam was clear to say, that’s just hard on ARs.

Could it be that the reason the US Government is buying up all this 5.56, 9mm and .40S&W is because they’re afraid that steel won’t be a reliable substitute for the brass-cased cartridge, either, and if the metals forecasters are off (we’re actually at peak copper and we don’t have another 20 years), it’s better to have a mass of ready to go ammo, 20 years, which is about what it would take for DHS to use up the 1.6 billion rounds they just purchased, than have to re-barrel hundreds of thousands of AR/M4s in service with them?

According to both Farnam and Markel, the answer simple: hoard your ammo…who knows when we’ll be able to get more…

How To Train With No Ammo

For those of Scottish ancestry, the Highland Games are not to be missed, especially the caber toss, stone put, Scottish hammer throw, weight throw, weight over the bar, sheaf toss, maide leisg (“lazy stick” in Scots-Gaelic). What many either forget, or don’t know, is that though entertaining to watch, it was the challenge of these sports that led to their creation.

Scots created these sports to train for war, because the English has disarmed them. So, while they couldn’t train with mace, sword, pike and wall breaching ladder, they could easily do so under the watchful eyes of the English dictators by using these games.  For those who want to save your ammo, or just don’t want anyone to know you’ve got firearms, you can train in the secrecy of your own home, with your firearm, but just unloaded.

There’s the long used standby of dry-firing a weapon. I shouldn’t have to say this, but it needs saying. LISTEN UP: When dry-firing your pistol, AR or shotgun, make sure there is no live ammo within reach. And just like at the live-fire range, don’t train when you’re tired or under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

There have been too many instance of a weapon that was supposed to be unloaded ending up “magically” having a round in it and the one practicing sending a round through a few walls of the home…and who knows where. Check and double check, every time you begin and end a round of training with dry-fire, to make sure your weapons unloaded. And even then, you know to treat every weapon as if it’s loaded right? That means you never cover anything or anyone that you don’t want to kill or destroy…!

A tool that is also very good for dry-fire training is any of the many types of laser sights. Put one on your weapon and practice your trigger control with it by aiming and keeping steading on a point on a wall. The point is to make sure your trigger is breaking over, with your sights on target, checked by how little, or none, there is movement of your red dot.

And though, I can longer suggest using a .22 LR rifle or pistol because of how ridiculous those prices have gone I can easily suggest getting good a quality air rifle and practicing with that in the back yard or basement. When I was on the Navy’s shooting team, while a midshipman at UC Berkeley, we trained in a campus basement range, so you don’t need to train always at long ranges to be an amazing shot.

Whatever you do, don’t waste your ammo…

USEFUL LINKS:

• http://www.peakprosperity.com/video/237/playlist/153/chapter-18-environmental-data
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_copper
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_minerals

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Cork Graham is the publisher of GCT Magazine and Cork’s Outdoors. A former CIA paramilitary operations officer and combat photographer, he wrote the international best-selling Vietnam prison/treasure hunt memoir The Bamboo Chest. For his latest books, writings, and appearances, follow him at www.corkgraham.com, Facebook and Twitter. He is a combat shooting instructor: For training, write to us through our contact page.

Salvadoran Air Force door-gunner returns fire on FMLN guerrillas in the Usulután Province, Christmas 1985. Photo copyright Cork Graham.

As if the terrorist attack this week was not bad enough, there’s a distinct possibility that there could be a civil war in the United States within the next three to four years, hinted at only by inflammatory and ignorant statements by ESQUIRE staffer, Linda Ginsburg: “I’ll bet good money it’s a right-wing nutjob. Today is April 15, Boston Harbor was where the original Tea Party took place and the on-going gun-safety legislation makes it the mostly likely culprit”

For clarity, there are just as many left-wing terrorist groups in the US, as rightwing, and sadly, they don’t get the same coverage by the mainstream press, as it’s not politically correct, and even when the events of yesterday occurred, the media that was so ready to say it was likely a rightwing extremist, were sluggish in reporting that a Saudi national had been captured and arrested in connection with the Boston Marathon bombing.  The leads to too many civil wars have been with such self and public deception…

I know civil wars quite well. My introduction to civil war started early, with the Tet Offensive of 1968, when I was 4 years old. While many of my friends and family were watching the Vietnam War on TV, I watched the choppers, the tracers, and listened to the explosions, screams, yelling and gunfire from the roof of our home near the US Embassy in Saigon. In case you don’t think it marks you, guess again. It does. As a matter of fact, when people ask me about how Vietnam effected, me I still say that I was at war from age four until I returned healed from PTSR in Alaska in 1991, the year after I said no more to participating in war in foreign countries.

Author Cork Graham and his younger brother in the garage of their home in Saigon, Tet, 1968.

Between those times, I was either thinking about war, preparing for war, or in war. It’s not unique. Many soldiers, reporters, and fighters in one war, were often children in a prior, as we can see by such people as Horst Faas and Dieter Dengler. My war was Central America, or what we called Vietnam II.

I’ve seen so many countries at war, where the people are basically good, and normally friendly. Within these wars, I’ve seen them do things to their fellow humans, which can only be imagined as occurring in hell to those who’ve committed the most heinous crimes and sins.

So, when people tell me that the United States, and the rest of the most powerful nations are so advanced and above that, I can’t think of how insane that sounds, except to those who utter such nonsense. All we have to do is look at our most recent world history. I’m not talking about Third World countries where African tribal members committed genocide against a neighboring tribe, or the government under Pol Pot murdered so many. I’m talking about nations that where labels like “Bohemian” and “enlightened society” originated from: Germany, Yugoslavia, China, and Japan, for example.

Germany was so attractive for its multicultural advancements, where originally the Jewish community was well-thought of. Even Albert Einstein was elated he was able to go to Berlin for all that it offered the education elite.

That all changed with the Nazi Party, which incidentally many of the elite of the time were elated had come to power. What could be wrong with a political party that supposedly was out to help the citizens, and even called themselves Socialists? Hitler actually refuted the term and wanted to be called a “Social Revolutionary”. Have you noticed how that same self-description is being bandied by politicians and demonstrators in the streets of America, and Europe these days, as their own self-description?

What I learned from my personal experiences, the research and studies I’ve had to do over the years, is that in the Western World, and especially in the United States, there’s a major shift in wealth, with a greater divide between the haves and have-nots, and more importantly, especially in the US, is that the buffer between the two, the middle-class, has shrunk so drastically.

The Elephant in the Room

Thing is that no one wants to talk about what’s happening. And I mean, they REALLY don’t want to talk about what’s happening. Though some might get really agitated, others might outspokenly respond with their disagreement, most just get this glazed look over their faces, as if to say, “Huh?”

Why wouldn’t they? Most of them either believe the crap being spewed by the Whitehouse about how the economy is going better. Most of them are in one of the various bubbles that have been created in a false US economy, that has fallen from a nation of manufacturers and producers, to a nation of service providers. It’s no surprise that China owns all of the United States’ debt, they’re the world’s major manufacturer.

But, what about those who aren’t doing well on this fake economy, that I’ll be talking about in the section on the economy. What about those people who stick their heads in the sand?

Think about it. Can you really imagine what a civil war in this country would be like? We’re not talking about banana wars, like we had in Central America, where the major suppliers of arms and ammunition were the United States, Cuba, Vietnam, Israel and the Soviet Union. We’re talking about arms and ammunition manufactured and stored on the soil that those arms and ammunition would be used, the soil of the largest arms and ammunition manufacturers in the world—can you imagine what an uncontrolled fire is like in a oil refinery? Multiply that image by a thousand!

I think many of those who put their heads in the sand, think it’s preposterous, or just glaze over, because they see what this civil war could be like, and it terrifies them. I know it does me. Civil Wars aren’t just one side against the other. As we learned in El Salvador and Nicaragua, every faction fighting for power will get in on the action, and the one most likely to get the brunt of it will be the civilians just trying to keep their heads down. Brings to fore that oft said saying, better to go down fighting than unarmed, defenseless and begging…

Civil wars often hurt the civilians most before the military and government: Nicaraguan refugee who had stepped on a landmine placed by the Sandinistas around the refuge camp.

Bread and Circuses

One of the major reasons there hasn’t already been the major shift that would have happened with all the various illegal changes in US Government over the last forty years, plus the economy, is that the government has been very good at implementing a strategy that was fine-tuned during ancient Roman times.

The term “Bread and Circuses” was the term coined then: keep the population fed and distracted through entertainment, and dictators won’t have anything to worry about. In the United States, as in ancient Rome, sporting events have been used to appease and distract the masses. With the advent of Television, it’s been made much easier to distract the citizens from much more pressing matters, like police actions in other countries that deplete the nation’s coffers, and fill the banks of a select few. All the while people are being entertained by football, basketball and American Idol. Not only that, society has been skewed so much that it’s better to be a celebrity, than a standup person defending their country against foreign aggressors: so much furor about the drug overdose of an actor or singer, and the deaths of members of a military unit hunting terrorists go almost unnoticed.

…And what was once bread doled out by Caesar, is now unemployment insurance and food stamps available from the government. In the coming months and years, this strategy will show itself to have been insane…unless you actually want chaos as an end result: there are those who think chaos theory is a great way to plan. More of that in the section on natural resource depletion.

…Just think what it’s going to be like when the population, as a whole, remembers that money is not gold or goods. It’s just a piece of paper that holds its value only because of belief and trust: trust in the government and the government’s worth. When that trust falls, so does the nation’s wealth, and the society’s cohesion and respect of that government…

Mass Zombie and Apocalypse Fascination

Ironically, the very same people who would pooh-pooh the idea of a civil war in the United States within the next five, or even ten years, are also fans of the latest craze: ZOMBIES!

I take it as the subconscious mind’s need to release a fear, by taking a very real potential and turning it into a fantasy. We’ve done this for centuries. The Grimm fairy tales and many other fables and tales are an example of the human mind’s need to control an ugly reality, and by overcoming that reality, not seem so afraid of it.

And what is there to be afraid of? Zombies aren’t real are they…?

Have you ever seen someone who is hungry? Have you ever seen someone starving? We’re not talking missing a meal or something like that. We’re talking many meals missed.

Some of you have seen snippets of hunger through the nightly news from such places as Africa. What you missed, because often the news is edited so that people can stomach it during dinner (or the media is afraid that no one will donate money, like the media did when people were murdering each other left and right during Katrina—hardly anyone knows that those who had been herded into the stadium in New Orleans, were led into a slaughter house, with the National Guard’s main duty on arrival being to bag up the bloated bodies), is that when people are really hungry, starving, before all the energy is lost and the bellies are bloated from eating only air, is a maddening rage, and fear, so that all you have is a bunch of wild-eyed, starving people fighting and crawling over each other for a handout, is similar to a zombie feeding frenzy.

Nothing to wake you up more to the primal qualities of humans when conditions are bad, than to see a pregnant woman stomped into the ground by groups of much bigger men fighting for food…!

Salvadoran soldier firing a LAW rocket, 1988. photo copyright Cork Graham

The Economy

Economy’s doing great! Haven’t you heard? I hear it all the time. Often it’s by people who are driving around the Bay Area in a BMW or Mercedes they bought five years ago and are still making the payments on. Or, they’re living mouth-to-mouth, while going to work at some software company, all the while trying make payments on a ridiculously priced home. When our parents and grandparents bought a house in the 1950s, they could actually afford it on a $15,000 annual income. Many now most can’t even afford a home on a $250,000 annual income, without running the risk of losing everything in 4-5 years.

Why is this? It’s because our money isn’t worth what its purports to be…the reasons are inflation, the printing of money, ridiculous government spending, and printing of money like it’s going out of style; then add in the fact the government is trying to become the largest employer of the populace, and you know something is amiss.

Don’t know what I’m talking about? Business is based on how much more money the business makes. Government is based on how much money it can spend, without making any money—need to hear more?

How about, what’s going to happen when all the citizens are employed by the government, an institution that only spends money–and all the free enterprise has been taxed out of existence? Who do you think will speak up against the government, when things are evidently wrong? Risk a paycheck? Yeah, right…! Welcome to the Soviet Union, just before it fell…

Median Income versus Average Income

There’s a little game played by the Whitehouse that many don’t understand, and that’s the difference between median income and average income. The government likes to spout about how well the average income is doing, and people eat it up, because it looks good. Everyone want’s good news after all—bad news takes work to confront, and as a whole, our society has become so lackadaisical, that it would prefer to believe the good than do something about the bad. We’ve become a generation that instead of taking care of the next, as our ancestors did, would prefer to leave responsibility and debts for stupid, selfish, self-destructive decisions and actions, to the next generation.

Because of the twisted developments in society, self-destructive behaviors, like trusting government over family, and the political party lines over rights declared in the very document that defines the United States, as republic of freemen and freewomen, our nation and society has devolved into a nation of slaves, indentured to illegal taxes, major debts and parasitic and successfully manipulative corporations. What was won by war, has been taken through financial, political, and economic voodoo from the American People.

Average(mean) household income, of course, takes into account the 10% that is making millions, and averages against the 90%. Before this didn’t matter, because the 10% didn’t make as much money as they do now. This was why a mechanic or tradesperson could easily purchase a house and expect to outlive his or her debt. Now, people are purchasing houses, because they get to use it against their taxes, which a renter can’t do so effectively.

Median household income, on the other hand, checks the pulse of the actual income, and can be better used to assist in gauging how people are living. Because of food stamps, and unemployment, people aren’t to the wire. As observed in El Salvador, when people get hungry, that’s when they’re willing to fight. Until then, it’s all a bunch of rhetoric from all sides.

The problem is that government is spending so much to keep this façade up, no president or administration wanting to be part of the one that calls a spade a spade: WE’RE IN TROUBLE…not just on a national level, but on a global one, as evidenced by events in Greece and Cyprus banking debacles of the last year.

Porn, Video Games, and Popcorn—The Desensitization of Society

Everyone looks at the prevalence of guns in US society as the ills of the nation, but no one really looks at the fact that guns have always been in our society (firearms classes were taught in most schools—when I was a Navy midshipman at UC  Berkeley in the early 1980s, the gunny took those of us on the shooting team to the range below the football stadium to practice, and compete locally against other teams) , but hardly anyone looks at the fact that video games have inundated our children, to the point that we have obese kids showing the signs of post-traumatic stress. Many who’ve not studied the mind, or counseled those dealing with PTS, aren’t aware that the subconscious mind makes no distinction between lived reality and imagine reality, so kids now graduate high school much fatter, and unhealthier, than their ancestors, and  feeling removed and disconnected from society, like a combat veteran returned from war, but without a knowledge or understanding that they need therapy to get control of how their emotions and thoughts are askew, a result of a rapidly advancing technology they don’t completely appreciate for its power…

Added to this is the prevalence of porn on the Internet that almost all children are exposed to by the time they can get into a library and check out a website. Romance is lost, secrets of the body aren’t enjoyed, and yet more desensitization of the emotions, emotions which previously held society together, not to mention the ambiguity of knowing what is right and what is wrong, in order to interact in a society.

When these conditions are added to the fact that loyalty to the American Ideal has been removed in schools, along with not keeping English the language standard of government (shoot, even foreign countries like South Korea make sure to teach their children English because it’s now the global standard of business and diplomacy), the opportunity for a fractionated nation grows every day.

Natural Resource Depletion

Now if everything before wasn’t scary enough for you, this is where I was depressed for a two weeks after taking Chris Martenson’s amazing course. It’s amazing because of the level and detail, research and thought put into it, and the amount of money he evidently put into it—all his! Who’s Martenson? He was a VP at Pfizer, someone who was likely to get millions more in drug money stocks, but who gave it up, just to answer a question—what happens when we run out…?

Run out of what, you might ask? How about everything! To really appreciate this, check out Martenson’s course: http://www.peakprosperity.com/crashcourse

I would do an injustice to the years, and his own money, that former Pfizer VP, Chris Martenson put into his course. It’s an eye opener. WARNING: I was depressed for two weeks after going through the full video course—it’s very honest, well-researched, and helped make sense of so many things that any thinking person would want to make sense of…common sense applied to a very real problem.

Sadly, because of having seen a variety of societal collapses up close, since age four, I’m not as deluded as Martenson to think that this is somehow going to turn out alright, that the resourcefulness of the human mind will somehow come and save us from what we’ve evolved through over the last few thousand years. All we have to do is look at Rome, the society and history we are most emulating, to see how we are crumbling. Evidently, the US Government is also not looking to so brightly at coming events…

Government Preparations

Perhaps you’ve been paying attention to the news. No, not the coming doom and apocalypse news that the zombie zealots have been broadcasting through their blogs. No, I’m talking about solid news you can count on, such that by Forbes magazine, where Ralph Benko asked: 1.6 Billion Rounds Of Ammo For Homeland Security? It’s Time For A National Conversation

For those who’ve never studied combat logistics, that’s enough ammo to fight a war for 20 years—in the UNITED STATES!

Remember how we’re already set up. We have the Army, the Navy, Air Force and the Marine Corps. These are responsible for the defense of our country against an enemy. DHS is supposed to be for our defense, but defense against who? Those guns aren’t being trained on an outside enemy: that’s already the duty of our armed forces!

The only possible use for that ammo would be to quell a rebellion–but if things are peachy keen, what rebellion?! Put that in with the purchase of law enforcement agencies of armored personnel carriers, returned from Iraq, and then it becomes more and more clear, even with all the refutations, and non-responses, by various factions that this could never happen in America…But, it is happening in America.

Gun Control

Over and over gun control advocates tout the merits of gun control. They use Australia as their poster child. What they don’t get is that Australia is not an example of how gun control doesn’t work, but how ridiculous it is to fight crime with gun control laws, as Australian MP Robert Borsak has commented.

Gun control is in place for only one reason: It’s complete purpose in the eyes of those in government, who seek to control the populace and turn a republic into a dictatorship, is to disarm the people. In every country that has implemented gun control, such as Germany, Russia and China, within 5 years, at the latest, the government was able to go enforce its total will upon the people, and with drastic results, as seen in the Nazi and Soviet death camps, starvation of the Ukrainians by the Stalin, and outright genocide against the Chinese by Mao. Thankfully, there are people in Congress who are holding on to the US Constitution, and understand why Amendments 1, 2 and 3 are in such order, or why they precede the Fourth.

Contrary to what many might think, prohibiting, “in peacetime or wartime, the quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owner’s consent,” is not an outdated idea. This was something put right in my face, when I was holed up in a campesino’s farm house in El Salvador, with a team of Salvadoran Navy SEALs, during the war. I couldn’t help think how, though he was asked, it was as though he was obligated. An American under the protection of the Third Amendment, wouldn’t even consider it, especially with how much we had put this campesino’s family in danger, should the FMLN have launched an attack on us while were housed there, not to mention the later danger, considering the FMLN’s atrocities committed against people providing aid to the representatives of the government they were trying to topple.

Where the balls stops, no one knows…

For the most part, people are just waiting and seeing. Some are actually preparing, by making sure they at least have enough supplies to survive a catastrophe, and the aftermath. Other’s are just going along with their heads in the clouds, kind of like a passerby of a mugging hoping that by looking away, the muggers will ignore them and keep at the one being mugged. Either way, something’s coming, and we see it in how much more stress there is in the normal, day to day, interactions between people…We wait. And, we see…Whether you work for the government, or you’re a concerned citizen, your first priority should be following the ideas put forth in the United States Constitution. It was such an advanced document for its time, and even now. It was written for such developments as we see now, what with the greed surmounting honor in our legislative, judicial and executive branches.

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Cork Graham is the publisher of GCT Magazine and Cork’s Outdoors. A former CIA paramilitary operations officer and combat photographer, he wrote the international best-selling Vietnam prison/treasure hunt memoir The Bamboo Chest. For his latest books, writings, and appearances, follow him at www.corkgraham.com, Facebook and Twitter. He is a combat shooting instructor: For training, write to us through our contact page.

What do Leandro Aragoncillo, Karl Koecher, Aldrich Ames, Ana Balen Montes, and Gary Ridgeway, the Green River Killer, have in common? Yes, that’s right: they were all, except for Ridgeway, spies who beat the polygraph!

The polygraph is one of the greatest hoaxes perpetrated on the intelligence community since it was sold to the US Government. The problem is that it can easily be beat by anyone trained to do so: spies, and counter-intelligence…and some who don’t need to be trained, such as psychopaths. The reason for this is that it relies on a number of physiological responses to questions: changes in heart-rate, blood pressure, breathing, and even perspiration. As such these don’t really take into consideration the effect of a “test” environment on a subject. Or, if a subject has not been evaluated as to whether they are a psychopath, the subject might actually pass a polygraph test.

As far as those like me who’ve experienced both sides of an interrogation (I was the subject in a Vietnamese political prison, and in other parts of the world, I assisted those in counter-intelligence), the polygraph makes a phenomenal non-intrusive tool of intimidation for an interrogator to be able to observe the subject’s whole scheme of tells, which are impossible to detect in a normal field environment.

But, you know what I also learned from seeing a polygraph being used? Depending on the knowledge and experience of the subject, you could get the same effect out of using a D battery and current tester. It’s all based on what the subject believed and how they would react. If someone believes that a current tester is a lie detection machine, they’ll respond when the current from the concealed D battery draws a reading: they see the pointer move and are told that it’s registering a lie. The real lie detection occurs as the result of how the subject responds, and the interrogator’s interpretation of all the tells, and the information in the subject’s file—I can’t stress enough the importance of how much information can be collected on a prisoner in the field, that a interrogator could use in the room.

That file, that information, can be coordinated with a questioning to tell the difference between lies and truths when observing all that a subject offers: tells and dialogue–information. Examples of tells are, but are not limited to: micro-expressions, subconscious releases of nervous energy through foot, head, hand movements, and overall fidgeting; flushing of the skin; sudden eye movements; dilating of the eyes; touching of self, such as a brushing of the nose, eyes, or ears, baring of the neck; shift in breath rate and intensity, so many, that a trained lie detector needs to be aware of and interpret correctly during questioning of the subject.

Interested in getting a better understanding of micro-expressions? Check out this link: http://goo.gl/BYjkx

This is a lot of information, I know. The key to becoming an efficient lie detector, is getting proper instruction and training, and then applying that information and knowledge in real world scenarios to gather information and discern truth from lie. To start, listen to our little teaser webinar below, but more importantly, sign up for our FREE newsletter to get not only the latest weekly newsletter full of useful information, but also an immediate link to the full hour and fifteen minutes webinar that the teaser below is derived from. You can get access to the first of many FREE webinars but signing up here: FREE Newsletter subscription sign-up page.

Do you like secrets?

…Everyone loves a secret!

I love secrets. I love secrets so much that I entered into a field for four years where all we dealt with were secrets and shadows. And it was there where I learned about secrets.

You know what I learned?

…In a moment, I’ll tell you exactly what I’ve learned about secrets. But, I’m sure you’re wondering why GCT Magazine has been in remiss in offering regularly scheduled articles, and online TV and radio show broadcasts…

Last year was a hard one. If you don’t know what happened, I’ve detailed it as much as necessary in this blog release at my personal website: SEX, DEATH, LOVE, and OTHER LESSONS FROM 2012. As you can imagine, writing can be very cathartic and healing.

And now, we’re back on track, and from what we’ve been paying attention to in national and international news, just in time. We have a number of improvements and add-ons this years. And I’m sure you’ll be very impressed and delighted with getting them. Now, back to what I’ve learned about SECRETS.

…What have I learned?

–THERE ARE NO SECRETS!

Yes, that’s right, there is no such thing as a secret. Just because you don’t know something, doesn’t necessarily mean the next guy down also doesn’t know. That means it’s not a secret. A secret is just information that you, specifically, don’t know…

The secrets out there are just bits of information we might not yet be aware of, or it’s information being waved in our faces, and we just don’t want look at it: isn’t it amazing how our genetic predisposition is to actually ignore certain bits of information? Ever been in a relationship you know you shouldn’t have been in for some very logical reasons? Yeah, you know what I mean. You knew that other person was telling you things, but not until you broke up that it was all clear. The key is to be clear as you’re listening and collecting that information.

Then, there’s information you get that is important, and it might as well be a secret, because you don’t have the prior knowledge and experience to know how to interpret and use it, no matter how essential it is to your success…

As for the enemy, my experience was that they always knew what we were up to. We had spies. They had spies. We all had spies. If we were lucky, we planned and launched an operation and they just weren’t ready in time. Other times they were, and it was not pretty. When I think of dead friends, I think of those times. I’ve learned my lessons. Get the facts, look at them, and understand them…and then, just as important, use that information effectively, in a timely manner. And that my friends is the real understanding of information, secrets, and intelligence gathering and use.

First you need to find out whether there’s information worth collecting. Then, you have to get that information. Once you have that information you have to assign it an identity, a code, that enables it be brought up by others, like an index that can be referenced quickly. Then, in the process, you need to be sure of what you’re looking at. And finally, you need to get it to the right people, within the right time frame. If you screw up any of that chain of conversion, it’s all for naught.

Really want to know what 9/11 was all about it. It wasn’t about some conspiracy. It was about egos, identification of agents, and messed up bureaucracy of a government that has grown too big for it to work effectively, without great cost and often with great detriment to the very people it’s supposed to defend.

So how does this effect you? Well, as anyone who has been in the military and law enforcement, or in the government, for that matter, knows, what you get is always on a NEED TO KNOW basis. What they don’t think you need to know is up to them. Are you OK with that?

Often it doesn’t even have to do with operational secrecy, and it has all to do with funding and funding appropriation. Ever wonder what the difference used to be in the past with Special Forces units from other units: SF operators pay their own way to get more than just what the military or government offers. Ever observed some of the training regimens, and realized that units aren’t getting in enough shooting–just to point out some deplorable conditions in the military right now.

I’m not talking about a reserve unit never expected to go to combat. I’m talking about a unit set to deploy within the month.

How’d you like to deploy to Afghanistan with only 58 rounds to train with? That’s 18 rounds to zero your weapon, and 40 to qualify with. Do you know that of that 40, you only have to hit your target with 23 to qualify? How reassuring is that? NOT MUCH!

This is while the President’s security force gets 500 rounds a week to practice…?!

DON’T BE A REGULAR SMOE

You know what the US Rangers and CAG/Delta Force in Somalia were most afraid of? No, it wasn’t the Somalis. It was their own comrades, known as the “regular Army smoes”. They were afraid they’d get a hell of friendly fire from their own, who weren’t as finely trained and didn’t put in the time doing drills that would give them the skills.

IT’S NO SECRET that you probably don’t know as much as you should about your specialty, whether it’s combat medicine, intelligence gathering, hand-to-hand combat, long range tactical shooting, navigation. The list could go on…

You probably got the best that the academy or the military could give you. But, if you’ve read this far, you’re likely like us, not satisfied with what the government is able to provide, most often offered at discount price, the best price the government or agency could get. Would you let your life, and those of the men and women in your group, be reliant on something as miniscule as that?

That ‘s why we originally came up with the concept of GCT Magazine, and now you know why we’ve come up with the new newsletter. There’s no way you could find out all that there is out there. You just don’t have enough time. And frankly some of the best stuff out there doesn’t come from the standard meat and pototaoes providers that the military, and law enforcement get hit on day in and day out for contracts. That extra special offering is often hidden in the warehouse of a mom and pop operation, or in the back forty of a specialist who trains the elite of the elite and they take a lunch break at the local diner, telling everyone that ‘friends’ from out of town were visiting for the hunting or fishing.

At GCT Magazine, we have a collection of former operators from CAG, SAD, Special Forces, SEALs and Marines, active in the security consulting field, who either work with us in the field as consultants, or also as act as direct sources for the articles, webinars and information products—As all are field-experienced and most of them combat veterans, they bring a level of quality to the information provided in our newsletters.

PRIVACY

If you’ve learned what I’ve learned, you understand the importance of privacy. That’s what you get with the information that we provide. We do offer classes, and workshops. We do a variety of consulting, and we get paid well for it—Don’t you think only an idiot would pay less than for the best when it comes to security in this day and age?! But, for our newsletter list we offer the opportunity to pick and choose through a profound mountain of information through the privacy of your own home or office, via the Internet.

As a member of our weekly newsletters, you  receive what you’ve been missing by only reading articles, online radio interviews and watching our online TV shows that are publicly available to the average visitor to our online magazine. You also get access to the real goodies that people have paid in the range of $500, to as much as $10,000 to retain us as security consultants.

MAJOR NEW OFFERINGS!

What’s new with the newsletter is that it’s not only a much more customized and personalized newsletter for you that the magazine would never be (you’ll actually be able to reply directly back to the email address associated with the newsletter and let us know exactly what topic appropriate information you’d like that we’re not yet providing), and we’ll also be making available unique, interesting and even very controversial, webinars and trainings that others will be paying for later, but you get TOTALLY FREE as our newsletter subscriber list.

Here’s just a few examples of upcoming Webinar Titles:

• Sharpen and Hone Your Most Dangerous Weapon
• ADVANCED Combat Shooting Training
• ADVANCED Leadership Skills
• Choose Your Weapons Wisely
• And a whole bunch more of webinars, information products and equipment giveaways and contests, even REAL WORLD JEDI MIND TRICKS for you PSYOPS guys and gals–ONLY to our loyal NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIBERS.

Get ahead of the curve: SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER by typing in your NAME and EMAIL below, so you can GET IT ALL!

The 56th Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, always had a very strong lace with the communist ideals, and also, expansionism. A kind of jester, with a very provocative position against the USA and the general capitalism, he showed himself to be a very controversial and contradictory man, with ideas of dictatorship like that of Stalin. Chavez used to say that he was a Bolivarian, following the ideal of Simon Bolivar, a revolutionary leader from centuries XVIII and XIX. Bolivar was a Venezuelan military and politician leader for the independence of Latin America from the Spanish Empire in the XIX century. Chavez used its demagogy as a libertarian man. Almost two centuries after the death of Simon Bolivar, the history changed its direction, but the needs to use ancient leaders as excuse for a corrupt government is always welcome for leftist leaders, this is case in history that always repeats.

Chavez in December 2012 admitted a possible withdrawal from the government because of his disease. On September 8th, in a speech, Chavez announced his fear of being incapable of continued governing and announced his vice-president, Nicolas Maduro, as being the candidate of “chavism” in the 2013 election. Communist Chavez always had provocative ideas and many expansionist attitudes, like always supplying his army with Russian AK-47s and other military equipment, being very armed, as he said, against capitalism.

The last  years were very controversial in South America, when in 2008 the Colombian leftist army called FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), a guerrilla warfare group that committed atrocities and attacks against journalists, military, and the government, suffered a strong offensive from the government and went to Ecuador, the Colombian Army invaded the territory to capture the fugitives and it had a serious diplomatic problem. That operation was called Operacion Fenix (Phoenix Operation), and was responsible to the murder of one of the leaders, Raul Reyes. Chavez, as fast, showed a position against Colombian government and armed the frontiers, with tanks and infantry, already in place, in case of war, for a good position to invade Colombian territory. Both Ecuador and Venezuela mobilized their troops showing Colombia that it was not acceptable to invade their territory to capture a terrorist. That year the Colombian president was Alvaro Uribe. He didn’t excuse the act, and showed that it was an act of Colombia’s self defense, and not an offensive, that it just a counter strike against the guerrilla.

That time Chavez announced that it was a cowardly action for the murder of the second man on the FARC. It was just one of the innumerous times that Chavez appeared to attack other countries leaders that didn’t followed him on his journey for the leadership, a leftist leadership in South America.

Chavez, in that year, told that if Colombia invaded the Venezuelan territory it would be a declaration of war. Uribe had good relations with USA and didn’t have intentions to support a leftist government.

Chavez compared with other dictators

“He is neither a strategist nor is he schooled in the operational arts, nor is he a tactician, nor is he a general. Other than that he’s a great military man”. This quote from General Schwarzkopf about Saddam Hussein shows how Chavez leads his own nation. He many times had the Venezuelan people on his side, and all support from militaries and also militias, followed by many presidents from other countries in Latin America, and good relations with Fidel Castro. It was very dangerous for anyone against Chavez, because all media was on his side. Many university students still idealized him as a leader.

In 2005, Chavez did the biggest acquisition of weapons of the history of South America, the number is of 100,000 AK-47s and support ammunition from Russia. The idea was also feed the FARC with weapons, as they were having difficult to find right ammunition for their weapons, the difference between the Soviet 7.62x39mm and the 7.62x51mm NATO. And this acquisition was exactly when Venezuela and Colombia had their worst moment of their relationship because FARC’s leader Rodrigo Granada was hiding in Venezuela, and the Colombian Armed Forces invaded the country to get him. His idea was start a weapon factory in Venezuela, producing ammunition in the standard of the used by FARC.

Anyway, Chavez insisted that the AKs were for the regular army and the citizen’s militias, to defend the nation. This moment was good for Chavez to buy MiG29s from Russia and Super Tucanos from Brazil, as the media was focused on the rifles acquisition and the tense moment between Venezuela, Colombia and USA. Even Donald Rumsfeld was worried about the number of one hundred thousand AKs.
During this decease in 2012, FARC used their official site to show all support to Chavez.

Acquiring the Russian weapons

In 2009, there was a great acquisition of weapons, to stablish the Venezuelan domination in the north of the South America. Chavez acquired lots of combat cars, around one hundred of medium tanks T-72 models, and at least thirty modern T-90, and tactical missiles. To substitute the AMX-13 and the Scorpions, Chavez bought from Russia the BMP-3 with 100mm cannon and 30mm cannon to counter armored infantry. Chavez repeatedly said that it was only for defense, trying to get the rest of the world to ignore the offensive qualities of such armament. Chavez with the persuasion, convinced Russia to sell them the SS-26 Stone (9M726) tactical missile, with capability to attack 300km (almost 187 miles).

The United States announced that the acquisitions were out of bounds, and Colombia, together with the US, decided to act against the guerrilla warfare and drug sellers in South America. Chavez all the time being arrogant and dramatic said that it was a menace against Venezuelan sovereignty.

Chavez showed all the time the need to get weapons and show its powers always showing intention only in defense of the territory. In 2012 Chavez announced interest in getting the Russian Sukhoi (Su-35S) , and the air force tested the Training Plane YAK-130 from Russia to substitute for the old US F-5.

 The Future of South America

There has been a historical contest between Brazil and Argentina for the leadership of South America. In Mercosul, the two countries always seemed to dictate the rules, for both had been the most stable economic over the others. Mercosur, or Mercosul (Spanish: Mercado Común del Sur, Portuguese: Mercado Comum do Sul, Guarani: Ñemby Ñemuha, English: Southern Common Market) is an economic and political agreement among Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela; and with Bolivia as accessing member.

After Argentina’s economy had fallen, the dependence of Argentina and other countries on Brazil was visible. Venezuela in other way, was never from Mercosul, but always interested to be a part, but never was a good neighbor, so it was always hard to member Venezuela.
By the way Chavez became a very charismatic leadership for the other countries, supporting Bolivia, Honduras, Ecuador, helping economically, military and his role function became more visible than the president Kishner in Argentina.

After the death of Chavez, Venezuela was heavily armed, but without the same charismatic leadership, which has left the Venezuelan people unable to tell the future of their own country.

In the balance of power in South America we have both leaders nowadays with Dilma in Brazil, following the ex-president Lula’s politics, and Chavez in Venezuela.

Recently, in 2012 the president of Argentina Cristina Kirchner tried to make a nationalist propaganda about the Falklands Islands, and in January 2013, a letter for the English Premier, David Cameron, telling that England is supporting a colonialist police in South America. The tabloid The Guardian published the letter full of demagogy and accusing the England on being colonialist based on the resolution from the United Nations.

This is a completely fake nationalist propaganda, as Argentina has no power to face English armed forces.

English government rejected the letter and appealed for a democratic way, on being voted by the island residents the right to chose. On March 2013 a plebiscite will be done.

Kirchner’s strategy is maybe being a new leader on South America, in offset Dilma Roussef in Brazil. Both being the leaders and Argentina have a leader role player in the continent. And trying to be a syndicalist, or regionalist, or leftist leader but focused in politics for the continent to have the support of other presidents on her politics and, indirectly, leadership.

The balance of power in South America will be ragged with a full leadership of Brazil, which has always a good relation with all countries around, even USA, in North America. Cristina Kirchner showed that has no charisma, even in Argentina, that people was against a possible re-election. People in Argentina are all against a reform in legislation, and want basic democratic ideals of economy, freedom of speech. Her level of rejection is over 80% and the protests are supported by Argentines living in Washington, New York, Madrid, London and other cities over the world.

Brazil is trying to be the new one and only player in South America to have a good dialog between the South and North, and South and Europe.

In any of the situations, is good for Brazil and the USA that Hugo Chavez is gone, the other countries will follow a model of international commerce and opened market, free of demagogy, full operating in market, job offers and economic establishment, as it happened in other countries that had their dictators fell or died.

Chavez as it was supposed did a self coup d’état, when his party did a change in the constitution by the Supreme Justice Tribunal and the very utopist idea of the endless Bolivarian revolution, as it was not in constitution, the contradictory text the legal procedure was in 30 days have another election, but as controversial, he assumed the presidency not being present, illegally. For the perpetuation of the Bolivarian Revolution, the “chavism” wrests the constitution. For the Chavez’s followers, no other name can be their leader; it was the communist image of Lenin. This Schrõdinger’s experiment doesn’t work on the Bolivarian Venezuela.

Hail the Cuban medicine

The political maneuver was very intense, when he did the changing of constitution to be in power, assuming the position illegally just because he was the only one who ruled the country, Chavez left Venezuela to Cuba because of his biggest allied and icon. Cuban medicine was really efficient when could put the second deceased on presidency in less than one decade.

Not being ironic, his followers cannot expect that the only reason of Chavez have gone to Cuba was thrust it’s medicine.

When people were expecting news from Chavez, the USA didn’t manifest still in public, but communist Chavez has been a barrier for any good interaction between the North and South America.

The end of the Drama

The drama over the health of Hugo Chavez made his followers live a tense moment, this transition of government, the self coup d’état, in truth this is just another political maneuver to keep the popularity, like occurred in Cuba with Fidel Castro, this will keep the Bolivarian movement focused on Chavez’s decease and the Chavez’s opposition will be only in supporting actor, as the villain.

Communist Chavez left the world being watched by everybody in a place that he was supported by all the citizens, this time, the left movement cannot was it was sabotage as every communist that died before.

New barriers

After the Death of communist Chavez, the leftist presidents from South America went all to the burial of Chavez and it’s not exactly being in intention of provide solemnity, it’s another maneuver for the test of power between the South American countries.

Kirchner’s intention of the Great Argentina is still alive, the Falklands are being the point of her politics. By the way, Paraguay a week before Chavez’s death, showed interest on destabilizing the balance of power on his favor, better saying, against Brazil’s favor. In 2012 Brazil demoralized Paraguay being in favor of removal from Mercosul after the president’s impeachment and in the Agata Operation, a military operation in frontier of Paraguay to combat on local guerrilla and drug traffic from Paraguay to Brazil.

Before Chavez’s death Paraguay showed his face on being a candidate on leftist popularity when he requested all the trophies from the War Against Paraguay in XIX century, when Brazil won the war. After two centuries was very demagogic the request exactly when the whole world was expecting Chavez’s destiny.

Another figure was Morales, the coca farmer that became president in Bolivia was always the right arm of Chavez, being schemers together on many political actions, include the nationalization of Brazilian oil in Bolivia.

Venezuela on the vacuum

As with every dictatorship, when a dictator dies, a vacuum is established and all the future is uncertain. It was in Iraq before, was in Palestine, in Cuba is being a completely expectation and now in Venezuela.

All the Venezuelan citizens are shocked; the Bolivarians pro-Chavez are adrift, not believing on a near future. Re-democratization will be hard when a exceeded ideology is on people’s reality, they can only see a figure and cannot ratiocinate on what is right, or at least good by the whole country. Even the vice-president is not trustable as Chavez was. Chavez was a figure, and the only real character.

By the way, the opposition is shocked because Chavez’s popularity made the country live a reality, even not accepted, continuum, and they cannot imagine a place that they will have to live. An uncertain future is worrying the whole population and this twilight is now the opportunity of North America negotiates a good promise for Venezuela. Obama showed interest on negotiation and the new election, but this time the whole population is in doubt.

The new scenario is uncertain on a near future, but the real time for re-open for the world, as Chavez did a great job putting Venezuela on international media, now many countries have the interest to negotiate or keeping negotiating on. It’s time for a very exact politician.

Bernardo Guerra Lobão is a an International Relations Analyst and specialist on terrorism, international security and defense, new wars and strategy. He is based out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The other edge of the Internet sword is the speed and snowball effect of rumors, lies, and disinformation.   And, like it or not, bad news and/or conspiracies fly faster from the keyboards of malcontents than any good or positive news ever will.   People can’t seem to hit the “forward” or “post” button fast enough when they think they have a juicy piece of gossip or a conspiracy.

In the current climate, on one side of the argument you have a coalition attempting to force disarmament down the throats of the people.   They are organized and have a definitive playbook from which they operate.    In general, the patriots and those devoted to the founding principles of the nation recognized the other side.   These same patriots are also extremely distrustful of any company or company representative who is perceived as being friendly or cooperative to the opposition.

Looking for Judas

American patriots; primarily taking the form of gun owners, shooters, constitutionalists, etc. are on the lookout for Judas.  They are watching closely and looking for someone to betray them.  These folks already understand the progressives and naked socialists want to rule and control them, what they are on guard for is the person or company who is supposed to be on their side cutting the “deal with the Devil”.

Gun people are looking for “price gougers” and others they perceive to be “taking advantage” of the current situation.  But more than that, these folks are ever vigilant for the first company to compromise or cut a deal with the government that is trying to disarm them.

During the last month I’ve spoken to innumerable representatives of the firearms industry; marketing and PR reps, wholesalers, vice-presidents, small business owners, you name it.   When one PR rep told me that his client (don’t ask and don’t guess) was taking steps to accept the “inevitable” bans to come I had to offer strong words of caution.  The absolute worst public relations move possible for anyone in the firearms industry is to publicly capitulate or offer that they will “accept” whatever repressive and punitive regulations are shoved down their throats.

I reminded my good friend that the American gun owner, shooter, and patriot, has a LONG memory when it comes to a perceived betrayal.   American shooters hold a grudge like nobody’s business.  They are also some of the most loyal customers a brand could have.  There are multiple generations of Remington owners in America, or Winchester, or Colt, or S&W, take your pick. Win an American patriot over and you’ll have him for a lifetime, piss him off and it will be decades before he forgives you.  Sign a deal with the Devil and you’ll never see him again and, out of spite, he’ll actively campaign against you.

Acceptance is Approval

The first truth that we must accept as a coalition of patriots is that compromising or simply accepting evermore restrictive regulations offers our de facto approval of them.  If you accept the notion that some guns are good and some guns are bad then you are agreeing with the opposition that controlling guns, an inanimate object, will somehow control the behavior of the criminal or mentally deranged.

If you accept a compromise, you are admitting that the other side is correct and that you/we are in fact part of the problem and ergo accept responsibility.  That we’ve come to a point in our nation’s history where the law-abiding are being blamed for the actions of the criminal is the height and definition of insanity.  If we hold out any hope of winning this battle we cannot accept or even entertain the idea that the rights of a lawful citizen should be sacrificed for the unattainable and imagined gain of reduced criminality.

What should sicken every thinking American in this nation is the fact that the other side, the anti-gun crowd, never seems to concern themselves with the violent actions of the recidivist criminal.   We are supposed to believe that an inanimate object has the mystical power to control the human host and absent that object the human in question would revert to a saintly status.

Proactive vs. Reactive

I’ve been in this game and paying close attention long enough to realize that the time for sitting on the sidelines is long over.  Members of the shooting sports and firearms community who assume that they can stick their finger in the wind and wait to see from where the wind is blowing will be trampled and forgotten.  Companies without any type of proactive strategy to reach out directly to their customer base are rolling the dice.

As the digital ink is drying on this electronic parchment rumors are flying around the interwebs about this company or that hoarding ammunition, cutting side deals with the government, or deliberately restricting sales in an effort to be politically correct.  Our non-friends at Dick’s Sporting Good solidified their moniker by pulling AR-15 type rifles off their shelves and cancelling customer orders for said guns.  As a patriot, I would hope other patriots will do Dick’s the service of providing empty spaces in their parking lots and their aisles free of gun owners.

Ruger is to be commended for setting up the “Protect your Rights” section on their website and encouraging patriots to fight for their freedoms. S&W also should be acknowledged for publicly pulling out of the Eastern Sportsman Show after Reed Exhibitions banned all AR’s and “tactical accessories”.

The patriotic American gun owner is not just on the lookout for Judas; they are also searching and hoping for friends and allies in this fight.  They need to be reassured that their favorite manufacturers and suppliers are not sitting by the sidelines waiting to see what happens.  The patriot is looking for those who will publicly stand with them.  When all is said and the American patriot will remember both those who betrayed them and those who stood by them and they will hold that memory for a long time.

About the Author

Paul Markel has been a firearms industry writer for twenty years and is the author of the new book “Student of the Gun; A beginner once, a student for life.”  Paul hosts and produces “Student of the Gun” a show dedicated to education, experience, and enjoyment of firearms.  Episodes of SOTG can be viewed by simply by going to www.studentofthegun.com and clicking the “play” icon.

It’s two in the morning. It’s dark. Your dog, sleeping peacefully at the foot of your bed when you turned out your side lamp, rustles you awake with a shake of its head and a flapping of its ears. He’s not barking, but he’s sniffing at the closed door of your bedroom.

You grab your pistol from the side table, make sure it’s loaded, and creep to the door. You open the door and follow right behind your dog, who peels off in the dark.

You hear scuffling and barking. There’s yelling at the dog. You respond with, “I’ve got a gun and I’ve called  the police. You better get out of here!”

…But, the intruder doesn’t leave. Matter of fact you can hear your dog’s yelp as the intruder tries to grab your dog.

Any sane burglar would have been running for an escape the moment he realized his cover had been blown. This intruder is up to more than theft. This guy is nuts. This could likely turn into a worse nightmare than it already has been.

What to do?

Turning on the living room lights is a good start: bad guys seek the dark for their business.  But, be sure that when everything’s lit up you’re ready, because it’ll force whoever is hiding to show themselves, and if they’re either seeking suicide or murder, or both, they’ll rush you.

For this very reason, a pump shotgun is the preferred choice for home defense. It makes an easily recognized sound when the action is worked, that would send any normal thinking person out the window. For those not so sane, a full load of buckshot to the chest would be the appropriate response.

The thing is that whichever piece of buckshot doesn’t plunge into the perp’s body, will likely drive right on into the nearest wall. If the consistency of that wall isn’t able to stop that buckshot, it’ll likely go through those walls, and might even have enough energy to make it next door.  We’re not even going to talk about the potential of something like a full slug going through you walls, and possibly hitting an innocent bystander.

With the advent of the Taurus Judge, a remedy seemed available. Though multi-cartridge firearms have been around for years, this was the first viable multi-cartridge offering in a while. It shoots .45 Long Colt and .410 cartridges. We got our hands on Smith and Wesson own multi-cartridge offering and found it to be that much better: with moon clips that permit the user to also load .45 ACP.

As everyone who’s been in an ambush knows, those who make the most noise and get the most lead down range has the likelihood of gaining the upper-hand, even if you’re starting on the receiving end  of that ambush. In a home invasion, those who draw first blood will likely take the night. This can be the stun of the blast of the shot. It can also be a glancing hit. At close range, under five to ten feet, the first shot, though perhaps not perfectly accurate, can easily be the determiner. If there’s more than just one projectile, so much the better.

Weighing in a 30 ounces, the Governor can be trying for some to use effectively, especially for those who don’t practice enough to have proper form. With a 2-3/4-inch barrel, on tpo of the extended cylinder, it shoots like a five-inch revolver.

Made of scandium metal alloy, the pistol holds six rounds.  All rounds, the .45 ACP with moon clip, can be placed anywhere, but I like to load the shotshells as the first two or three as I’m seeing the pistol being used for surprise shots under five to ten feet away.

The trigger was a little over four-pounds and crisp. Cycling the cylinders on double-action is easy, as evidenced by the segment we shot for GCT TV. And even made it easy to keep the Crimson Trace sights on the target.

Most often the complaint has been that the pistol is “torque happy”. You need to practice with this weapon, like any weapon, to use it properly. Weak and limp wrists need not apply. This is also not a target shooting firearms. This is a killing weapon. You’re in a combat station, directing the energy of the weapon into the target. You’re not just holding up the firearm and trying to get a tight group on the paper during a weekend jaunt to the range. Good combat form during practice and you’ll have good form during a firefight.

PDX1 .410/.45 Defender Combo Pack

A good firearm is worth nothing if the ammo that’s driven out of its barrel isn’t up to snuff. When the Taurus Judge came onto the scene, many scrambled for a variety for birdshot options: 9, 8, 7, 4, 2 and BB were at the top of the list. A .410 just doesn’t have the capacity. So, many thought of the shotshell capability as viable only for snakes. Yes, birdshot isn’t just for snakes and vermin, at close range it is perfect for inside a house or apartment so that you don’t have projectiles flying through walls and knocking off some neighbor watching TV or eating a meal next door.

Winchester’s PDX1 combo pack offering is the perfect paring to the Governor. With it, you’re not only able to run with .45LC, but a .410 load that is more than efficient to take an intruder  with three copper disks and 12 copper-plated BBs in the dark than with a single project coming  out of the barrel at once. The smiley faces the three disks makes cutting paper, as recorded in the latest episode of GCT TV, is very impressive. Makes it easy to see what they’ll do punching into flesh.

I’d easily expect good enough energy out to ten feet with the disk, but not with the BBs. They really start spreading out at five feet.  And while the BBs and disks would be flying at 1100 feet out of a long gun, they’re going at 750 out of a Governor. Still, they have been recorded as passing ten-inches into ballistic gel at 15 feet.

The other half of the twenty-round box is 225 grain hollow point .45 Long Colt. These are flying at 850fps and can take a big chunk out of your adversary. For home defense, I’d easily give this combination an enthusiastic, HOOYAH!

WATCH the corresponding episode of GCT TV:

Cork Graham is the publisher of GCT Magazine and Cork’s Outdoors. A former CIA paramilitary operations officer and combat photographer, he wrote the international best-selling Vietnam prison/treasure hunt memoir The Bamboo Chest. For his latest books, writings, and appearances, follow him at www.corkgraham.com, Facebook and Twitter. He is a co-instructor with ETS, for more information visit: www.emergencytacticalskills.com

Of all the gunslingers of the American West, none has such cross-cultural, historical recognition as a Wild Bill Hickok. Almost always depicted in photos with his favorite pair of cap and ball Colt 1851 .36 caliber Navy Model revolvers, the question was whether he drew them simultaneously, or used the second pistol sequentially, as he ran out of ammo in his primary.

Many say he used both at the same time, and this is how it has been depicted in film for decades. It would have probably gone down in history as just another interesting note in history, if not for an incident during the Vietnam War.

During the police action, a US Army sniper was caught in an ambush, and because of how quickly he was being overrun, went to his .38 Special revolver. When interviewed, he stated that had he remained on his rifle, he would have easily been overrun and killed. As it was, he went running through the onslaught and shot them down at extremely close ranges, as he passed through their lines. When I saw the piece on the History Channel, I wondered what would be the viability of such a practice. Would it be worth training to be able to shoot two pistols simultaneously?

Even with some Special Forces, where being ambidextrous is thought of as an asset, it’s taught to favor your strong side over the other. Take the Israeli Duvdevan, they prefer to keep the weapon on the strong side, even when trying to get around a corner that would favor the other.

We’ve been taught to be able to go to the weak side with our weapon should the strong arm go down to injury, but being taught to actually use a firearm in both hands is not taught. Only in movies do we see two-handed simultaneously fired weapons, most significantly in the films about Wild Bill Hickok, of course.

All in the Eyes

So, the question arises, how do you feasibly  shoot two pistols at the same time? Can’t split your eyes and have your left eye track down your left handgun’s sight, and the right eye aiming down the right—or can you?

It’s not perfect, but peripheral vision can be a definite asset in dealing with such an idea. Don’t we all have the ability to point with fingers, without having to specifically look at what we’re pointing at? Point shooting is partly based on this principle. It’s not target shooting, but most combat shooting is nothing like target shooting, especially at ranges under 10 yards.

Much is made about Wild Bill Hickok’s street gunfights, how he had taken his time to aim at Davis Tutt, in the gunfight that made him a household name in the United States. If you were to look at the sights on his two pistols, they’re small and almost the size of a shotgun bead. Using a gold, or ivory, shotgun bead as a front sight with the back sight filed down is a very old point shooting technique. The purpose is to keep you from trying take the time to sight and instead to literally just point.

Basically, Col. Applegate’s training is based under the assumption that perfect alignment of the centerline of the shooter to the target, and proper placement of the pistol in the hand, so that there is a  straight line down the forearm to the muzzle of the pistol will improve the chance of a good hit. Have the pistol off line, and guaranteed to miss.

WATCH the training film put out by the War Department, teaching the method propagated by Col. Applegate:

Since you’re not using the sights, as per a more traditional stance, I thought it a great form to follow in order to at least get on the target. What I found is that if I used my peripheral to focus on target and point my firearms as an extension of my body, something most of us can do easily pointing our index fingers at two different objects, I was on camera able to hit the target.

Now this is just a study in its initial stages, in upcoming episodes we’ll more accurately replicate combat conditions by having the targets move and also move ourselves. Then, we’ll add poor lighting and that’ll really bring it to peak. Stay tuned!

WATCH the latest supporting episode of GCT TV:

Cork Graham is the publisher of GCT Magazine and Cork’s Outdoors. A former CIA paramilitary operations officer and combat photographer, he wrote the international best-selling Vietnam prison/treasure hunt memoir The Bamboo Chest. For his latest books, writings, and appearances, follow him at www.corkgraham.com, Facebook and Twitter. He is a co-instructor with ETS, for more information visit: www.emergencytacticalskills.com

When the chips are down, I mean really down, there’s something reassuring to have squad armed with a stack of LAWs and collection of M18A1 Claymores. In a pinch, you can shake the confidence of a major force of aggressors. A couple LAWs into the center and they scatter. They regroup and you lead them into the spider funnel.

Waiting along the funnel, a number of claymores. If trying to slow them up, prepare a full-on ambush with electric detonation. These can not only slow up the tracking enemy, it can just ruin their whole day.

While making a name for itself in Vietnam, the idea for such an effective force multiplier originated during the Korean War. It was during that war, especially during the cold winters, that wave after wave of Chinese were sent to take hilltops defended by UN troops. If you read BREAKOUT it’ll give you a picture of how horrific the fighting was with dead Chinese pile eight high just in front of Marine machine gun posts.

The military needed some type of anti-personnel technology to deal with this type of mass attack. Norman A. Mcleod, came up with theM18A1 Claymore, named after one of the most deadly and intimidating swords in Scottish history.

Cork Graham receiving a refresher course in placing and detonating an M18A1 Claymore at Kaneohe Bay MCB Hawaii.

Since the Mine Ban Treaty of 1997, Claymores have been intended for use only as controlled detonation mines. They’re issued in a satchel with instructions, the M57 detonating device, and M4 electric blasting cap assembly.

The first time I heard a Claymore go off, was in a quarry near the Salvadoran Navy SEAL base that was used as a shooting range. When the Claymores went off in that environment, they had an almost lightning and thunder metal whine to them. In battle, under heavy canopy, there was more of just a thump, the shockwave travelling through the ground for a mini-earthquake. At Kaneohe Bay MCB Hawaii a few weeks ago, there was the recognizable thunder and earth rumble.

When they’re detonated, Claymores send those steel shot at 4,000 fps. It was a trial getting the shot to those velocities, mainly because of energy being leaked between the projectiles. The remedy was to pack the shot in an epoxy, and then later they applied tin foil as a layer between the explosive and shot matrix.

Marines check the pattern of Claymore shot on a target

By 1960, they had worked out all the bugs and the standardized M18A1 Claymore was used effectively in combat in Vietnam in 1966and ever since.

WATCH the corresponding Claymore segment at GCT TV:

Cork Graham is the publisher of GCT Magazine and Cork’s Outdoors. A former CIA paramilitary operations officer and combat photographer, he wrote the international best-selling Vietnam prison/treasure hunt memoir The Bamboo Chest. For his latest books, writings, and appearances, follow him at www.corkgraham.com, Facebook and Twitter. He is a co-instructor with ETS, for more information visit: www.emergencytacticalskills.com