09:55 – I was shocked to learn that the “hispanic male” sought in the mall shooting in Washington state supposedly turned out to be a Turk, presumably musloid. The first image they released was so blurred it was difficult to tell much. Images that they finally got around to releasing later appeared more to be of a young man of Middle-Eastern appearance than a Hispanic, although I saw no comment about that at the time.
Brick and mortar retailers are already suffering at the hands of on-line retailers, so the last thing they want is for people to start thinking it’s dangerous to go to the mall or big-box stores. And the truth is that it’s not particularly dangerous, even with musloid terrorists targeting such places. The risk of being killed in a terrorist outrage disappears into the statistical noise, but it still makes sense to avoid shopping malls, big box stores and similar locations, particularly as they become more crowded during the holidays, especially since there are good on-line alternatives for shopping. Buying from amazon.com, walmart.com, and similar retailers gives you the same products at the same or better price, delivered to your door. And you don’t have to go out among the teeming masses to get your stuff. Those were pretty strong selling points before musloid terrorists started attacking groups of people, and they’re even better selling points now. I certainly intend to do most of my shopping on-line, but I’ve been doing that for more than 20 years anyway. The next attack could be in your town, and it’s best not to be there when it happens.
We’re working on more science kits today.
11:35 – Email from Jen. She, her husband, brother, sister-in-law, and two nephews are all experienced clays shooters, and are now well-equipped with tactical barrels, night sights, and other accessories for their Remington 870 shotguns. They also have a large stock of buckshot and slugs for them, as well as a spares kit of items recommended by a local gunsmith. They’re also now well equipped with tactical rifles, magazines, other accessories, and ammunition for them. They’ve all shot familiarization with the tactical rifles and have scheduled regular training/practice sessions with them.
In terms of self-defense, their only glaring lack was pistols. They live in a Constitutional Carry state, and after some discussion all four of the adults agreed that it was time for them to start carrying. The problem is, none of them have any experience to speak of using pistols.
A few months ago, Jen asked me what I recommended. I suggested that all four of them plus the two nephews should find a reasonably local shooting range that offered various pistols for rent and get some experience actually shooting different models and calibers. I also suggested that they look for an NRA-certified pistol instructor and take the intro class.
They did all of that, and then got together to discuss what to do. There were different favorites of make/model/caliber among the group, but they decided for commonality of magazines, spare parts, and ammo that it made more sense to pick one model that everyone found acceptable and standardize on it. The instructor offered gentle advice as well. They ended up standardizing on the Glock 23, which wouldn’t have been my first choice, but is certainly a reasonable one, particularly given the diversity in size and strength among the group members. They’ve purchased seven Glock 23’s, half a dozen spare magazines for each, and several thousand rounds of .40 S&W. Jim and Claire’s sons aren’t old enough to buy pistols themselves, so the parents bought two each. Jen and David bought one each plus an extra one as a community spare.
They’re happy with the stock 23’s, but decided on the recommendation of the instructor (with my support) to install tritium night sights on all of them. They’ve also each chosen a suitable holster, which choice varies from person to person, as well as a magazine pouch. Jen’s husband added a set of carbide dies for reloading .40 S&W, since they’ll be generating a lot of reloadable cases during practice sessions. They intend to get in at least a few hundred rounds each of practice/familiarization on a butt that they’ve set up on Jen’s property. Once they’ve all completed that, they intend to hire their instructor, who’s a retired Marine and police officer as well as a former combat pistol competitor, to teach them how to defend themselves with a pistol.
