Updated: 8/22/26 I taught my Sociology of Guns seminar at Wake Forest for ten years in a row, from 2015 to 2024. In year ten, I still enjoyed it but was not quite as excited as I was in year one. So, I took 2025 off. This fall I’m back teaching the course for the […]
Quote of the Day A federal appeals court threw out on Friday a lawsuit by California and the Giffords gun control advocacy group claiming that a Biden administration-era rule to curtail the production of illegal, largely untraceable “ghost guns” was …
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BSO's Crime Scene and Homicide units also responded to the scene for
the investigation. According to detectives, the preliminary
investigation showed the man, who was identified as Maurice Wright Jr.,
and the shooter, an adult woman, were known to each other.
The BSO
said that the woman told detectives that she needed to defend herself
from a physical attack during the incident, and said the shooting was in
self-defense.
More Here
The wolfettes went mad, barking. I looked out the front window and there was a majestic doe on thevfront lawn. Lillie was saying, "Please let me out! You won't need to feed me for a week!"
Having recently pointed out the rapidly expanding authoritarianism of the State of Colorado, we at TPOL now turn our attention to their de-facto ally to the south. The State of New Mexico is yet another example of how history, culture, …
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The British L85 is one of the more unusual stories in modern military small arms. Conceived during a period when Britain was attempting to develop a new generation of infantry weapons around a domestically designed intermediate cartridge, the project eventually produced the L85 rifle. This advanced but deeply troubled weapon would later become one of the most extensively reworked service rifles of its generation.
TFB’s Photo Of The Day goes in blue and red lights. Polícia Militar do Estado do Rio de Janeiro officers stand at attention in the darkness, berets crisp and squared, radiating exactly the kind of disciplined presence the force projects when it wants the streets to know it is there. These images capture something real about modern Brazilian law enforcement: formidable posture, hard equipment, and the weight of a city on their shoulders.
I presume the naysayers’ idea was that hipsters are urbanized young adults who reject mainstream culture and like niche equipment to pursue their interests—fixie bikes, old record players, and so on. I think naysayers also believe hipsters don’t have the physique to handle higher-power rounds.
We are in the mid-August heat wave. It hasn't rained in a couple of weeks and the sun is a constant tormentor. The grass is "crunchy", dry and coarse. In short, it is hot. Humidity is only at 36%, but the heat feels like a blanket.
There is a chance of a passing thunderstorm tonight, but it is well under 50%. Any rain would help but I'm not holding out for a deluge.
Fierce Firearms has released the Wingman SBR, a short-barreled precision rifle chambered in 22, 25, and 6.5 Creedmoor, built on the company's CT Mini Rogue platform and priced at $2,995 MSRP. The rifle ships with a titanium action, 12.5-inch carbon-fiber barrel, and a base weight of 5.3 pounds without an optic, mount, or accessories. Let’s take a closer look!
I confess that because this was a Christmas gift from a progressive relative, I had some misgivings. It does seem to take a traditional view of what happened: too many people who could not afford to buy stocks using margin accounts, which when prices fell caused widespread margin calls, which caused immediate selling pressure, which caused a feedback loop of margin calls and more panic selling. While catastrophic for ordinary people in over their heads (like Winston Churchill) and some speculators who lost millions more than they had, what really sank the economy was the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930.
Where the book is weak is money supply discussion. The Austrian school argument about N.Y. Fed Chair Strong inflating the money supply 1920-28 to bail out the Bank of England is not examined although he acknowledges that inflation in the 1920s played a part in creating the bubble.
Where it is strong is describing the people involved in the disaster: their quirks, their weaknesses, their greed and sometimes their well-intentioned efforts to prevent the disaster and then to alleviate it. That many of the speculators and political figures who created the Federal Reserve System were Democrats who tried to blame Hoover as a distraction from their roles in this is not subtly mentioned. Hoover comes across as a well-meaning person who got stuck with a mess properly blamed on Coolidge, Harding, and a lot of greedy, shortsighted speculators.
I am about halfway through.
On p. 321, he quotes FDR that the gold standard would be "unflinching maintained."
SOG Knives is marking its 40th anniversary with a limited-edition release of the Fat Guard Bowie, restricted to 500 individually serialized knives numbered one through 500. The knife arrives at $399.95 MSRP and is available now through SOGKnives.com .
So, went up to the Beta Site after work to check out the new cargo container. They did a good job and even levelled it as best they could. However, I still need to jack it up and get some …
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Admiral Collingwood was Nelson's second in command at Trafalgar, and led the second division of ships of the line on HMS Royal Sovereign. Because this was the Age of Sail and because the wind was so light, HMS Sovereign was under fire for an hour as it approached the French/Spanish battle line. But the day ended as Collingwood had predicted to his officers earlier. Now, gentlemen, let us do something today which the world may talk of hereafter.
As we are today.
The news is that the Union Jack flag flown from the Royal Sovereign was purchased at auction last year by a foreign buyer and was set to leave the country. As one of only three surviving flags from the battle, historic preservation laws were invoked by the UK Ministry of Culture and the export was suspended to allow local UK organizations to match the purchase price.
Well, that has been done, and the flag will be displayed at the Discovery Museum at Newcastle-on-Tyne, Collingwood's home town*.
Bravo Zulu to the donors for preserving part of Britain's Royal Navy heritage.
* And not just Collingwood - many of Royal Sovereign's crew came from Newcastle as well.
Barbara Baird and Jackie Richardson impressed their families with recipes from the newly released cookbook, “Eat Wild: Cooking at Home with the Seafood of Alaska.” Find out more about this book, presented by Wild Alaskan Company.
O’Connor granted Defense Distributed and SAF summary judgment on their Second and Fifth Amendment claims while siding with the government on three Administrative Procedure Act claims.
Quote of the Day Purchasing a firearm should be exactly the same as purchasing a set of kitchen cutlery. You should be able to order a full auto Ma Deuce through Amazon and have it same day shipped to your …
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During this election cycle we have become aware of candidates who purport to be Democratic Socialists.
Go to their website, or even listen to them and they will tell you what they want. Abolish the Senate, change the President into a Prime Minister, expand or abolish the Supreme Court. That is Article I, II, and III.
Yet, they are seeking election to the US House, which requires an
Oath of Office.
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”
A Democratic Socialist cannot take that oath without a purpose of evasion. They cannot bear true faith and allegiance.
I'm just saying.
Above you will see a U.S. Navy International Harvester tractor, while below is a sporty-looking red Porsche.
Police said officers detained the shooter, whom they identified as a uniformed security guard contracted by QuikTrip.
Investigators say the man who was shot pulled a gun during a confrontation, and the guard fired in response.
The guard was later released, and the man who died has not been identified as the investigation continues.
More Here
Lodestar Technology today announced the appointment of USA Carry to its Independent Advisory Board, with founder and publisher Luke McCoy serving as the organization's Field-Testing Advisor.
EPD says both victims stated they did not know who had shot them, or
why. Officers say the victim who had been shot in the chest did admit to
shooting back as they were being shot at. Both victims’ injuries are
listed as non-life threatening.
More here
Today, August 21, is the Feast Day of Pope Saint Pius X.
Born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto on June 2, 1835, in Riese, Venetia, then part of the Austrian Empire (now in Italy), he served as pope from 1903 until his death in 1914. Pius X is remembered for his pastoral care, firm leadership, and unwavering defense of Catholic doctrine.
As pope, he enacted reforms that left a lasting mark on the Church. He promoted the use of Gregorian chant in worship and became known as the “Pope of the Eucharist” for his fervent encouragement of frequent Communion, which he described as “the shortest and safest way to get to heaven.” Notably, he lowered the age for reception of Holy Communion from twelve to seven, a decision still in place today.
Pius also took a firm stand against theological Modernism, which he considered “the synthesis of all heresies.” He resisted the movement of Christian Democracy when it veered into overt political activism, seeking instead to keep Catholic social work grounded in religious rather than partisan aims.
While the Church venerates him for his sanctity and his spiritual reforms, I like to think of Pope Saint Pius X as something else as well — the unofficial Patron Saint of Cigar Smokers.
Several years ago, I wondered whether any saint officially served as the patron of cigar smokers. My search uncovered a handful of saints with connections to tobacco. For example,
Saint Titus Brandsma is recognized as the patron saint of tobacconists. Yet there appears to be no widely recognized patron devoted specifically to cigar smokers.
Then I came across a humorous anecdote attributed to Pope Saint Pius X, preserved in a reader’s letter
published by Cigar Aficionado. Whether historically accurate or not, it perfectly captures the pope’s reputed attitude toward cigars.
Reading of his [Pius X] defense of cigars as not being a vice, I was reminded of a story that a cigar smoking priest of the Diocese of Tulsa, who is now in training for the Vatican diplomatic corps, told me. When he was a seminarian in Rome, he learned that Pius X, who was the pope from 1903 to 1914, called a bishop onto the carpet to reprimand him for his scandalous misbehavior with wine, women and song, and to correct his wrongs patiently.
The pope offered the errant bishop a cigar from the papal humidor on his desk. The bishop declined the offer with the protestation, “I do not have that vice, Your Holiness,” to which His Holiness replied, “If cigars were a vice, I would not offer you one, for you have quite enough vices already.”
There’s no way to know if the exchange truly happened or if it’s simply an ecclesiastical folklore. Still, we do know that Pius X kept a humidor in his papal office. It is also said that he broke with the long-standing tradition of popes dining alone by inviting friends to join him at table. It’s easy to imagine that more than one of those dinners concluded with the pleasant aroma of cigar smoke lingering in the Vatican rooms.
I’ve long believed that a fine cigar, enjoyed thoughtfully and in moderation, is less about indulgence than about creating a space for conversation, gratitude, and quiet reflection. Whether shared among friends or savored alone after a busy day, a cigar invites us to slow down for an hour and appreciate the blessings we’ve been given. That seems entirely compatible with a life of faith.
His enjoyment of cigars certainly didn’t prevent his canonization in 1954 — perhaps a gentle reminder that the Church has never regarded the moderate enjoyment of life’s good gifts as incompatible with holiness. I’d like to think those quiet moments with a cigar occasionally offered Pope Saint Pius X a chance to gather his thoughts before returning to the immense responsibilities of the papacy. For that reason, at least in my own book, he remains the unofficial Patron Saint of Cigar Smokers.
Regina Cigars produces a
cigar honoring Saint Pius X, and I have several waiting in my humidor. This evening seems like an appropriate occasion to light one, perhaps accompanied by a glass of Italian wine, while offering a prayer of thanks for the witness of this remarkable saint.
I started the Weekend Knowledge Dump series in March of 2012. This is installment number 750. That’s right. Seven hundred fifty straight weeks without missing a single installment in more than 14 years. I’ve published this Knowledge Dump every week from the United States as well as from more than 40 other countries. I haven’t […]
Someone took out a Flock camera in Lumpkin County Georgia. Not crying about it. But the Sheriff, in a screed on Facebook said the following: Sheriff Stacy Jarrard said the license plate reader was being used as a public safety tool, including to help alert authorities when registered sex offenders entered the park. … Jarrard […]
Still weeks from the end of August, most American schoolchildren are now again confined to these government-run, tax-funded institutions for another school year. This graphic was and is intended for christians, but it is just as true for lovers of …
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Rhonda saw a buck in velvet as she descended the driveway and Lillie is definitely more wolfette than Canis familiaris.
We currently live in a renaissance period for optics and especially red dots. Everywhere you turn, someone is making a decent red dot for recreational shooting or duty work. Expensive, quality red dots are easy to come by (you expend a lot of money on a product, it better be good quality). The more intriguing end of the product spectrum is the affordable or cheap end. How affordably-priced can something be while still being incredibly reliable and worth purchasing? We might have found that threshold in the new Vortex Optics Crossfire II Solar 2 MOA Red Dot . So, today we are going to review this lil’ guy to see how it performs and just how good it is. Let’s dive in!
Photo Of The Day: The Heckler & Koch G95 A1 has become the backbone of the Bundeswehr's small arms arsenal, and the rifle's procurement narrative took another significant turn very recently. Germany's federal procurement authority, the BAAINBw, has now fully executed the framework contract for 250,000 G95A1/KA1 rifles, representing a complete call-off of the agreement between the Defense Ministry and H&K. There are rumors that they want 250,000 more.
Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week we took a look at how less truly can be more and how keeping it simple can sometimes have more benefits than installing a ton of accessories on your handgun. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I wanted to take a look at some of the keys that allow you to be successful when it comes to carrying a concealed handgun.
Apparently, some of Clancy's defenders are relying on this. What is it?
Forensic astrology is a specialized branch of astrology that applies astrological techniques to investigate past events, solve crimes, locate missing persons, and profile suspects. It utilizes event charts, horary charts, and natal charts to analyze planetary alignments and zodiacal degrees for clues, rather than predicting the future.
Key aspects of this practice include:
Chart Analysis: Practitioners examine specific houses, such as the 7th house for perpetrators or the 8th house for death and transformation, to determine motives and outcomes.
Techniques: Methods include analyzing angular planets, mutual receptions, and fixed stars like those in the Via Combusta zone to identify danger or violence.
Applications: It is used to map disappearance points, trace timelines for missing persons, and interpret crime scene data, often appearing in crime fiction and true-crime analysis.
Resources: Notable texts include Forensic Astrology for Everyone by Caroline J. Luley and Exploring Forensic Astrology by B.D. Salerno, which detail methods for amateur and professional astrologers.
Things are moving along….
Waffen Tactical has some new scope mount options for the 1903 Springfield and M1 Garand rifles. These mounts require no drilling or alteration to these historical firearms. Keep reading for all the details.
8/20/26 CNN:
FBI raids former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s home, seizes devices in probe tied to sexual assault claims
The clarification in the article got us out of naughty land:
Federal agents seized electronic devices from former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell at the San Francisco airport on Saturday and then raided his home in Washington, DC, the next day as part of an ongoing probe connected to sexual assault allegations, sources familiar with the investigation told CNN.[emphasis added]
As temps continue to drop across the US and more hunting seasons loom on the horizon, Fiocchi America has announced a new 12 Gauge dove hunting load in Golden Dove Duplex . By strategically mixing two different shot sizes - #6 and #8 - you will hopefully be able to bag more birds this fall.
Earlier this year, I blogged about Lindsay Clancy's suit against her doctors for failure to properly treat her for postpartum depression. So far, my mass murder research has found 112 mass murders that were clearly postpartum depression and 261 that were likely caused by postpartum depression. This is just stupid. She is not a victim. She is not disputing that she killed her children. There is nothing inappropriate about trying her. She has a very strong case for not guilty by reason of insanity.
We can grieve for the father and the deranged mother. But wearing pink, a politically charged color?
At our Caldwell house, we had purchased a home warranty plan from American Home Shield. We were not impressed. When the dishwasher failed, it was not a crisis so several days for them to get a technician out was okay. The replacement went okay.
The second incident disappointed us muchly. The well pump failed and we could not seem to impress upon the Third World support team that this was a serious matter. For all we knew, they may have assumed we could just go to the village well. (Okay, I am being sarcastic; more likely, what they pay third parties to take a look left them with few vendors.)
After several days of flushing toilets with irrigation canal water and using bottled water for drinking, cooking and washing dishes, they agreed to let us hire our own well company. We had already made the appointment. Then we discovered that well pumps were limited to $1500. That will get you a very dedicated illegal with a long straw.
It was only $5000 to replace the well pump. The technician from Burgess Pump & Well (who I can highly recommend), explained that it was too small a pump for the motor, which they ran at too high a voltage to overcome this. While it let them come in below responsible well drillers, it meant less than three years of life. American Home Shield sent us a $1400 check ($1500-deductible).
For this house we picked the well-rated First American Home Warranty. The HVAC technician found frost at the compressor, which usually indicates a Freon leak in the system. As this unfreezes, the system starts working again. This explains why it started working again many hours later.
She also explained the repair process. First American has them check for a Freon leak. If that solves it, great. Only afterwards will they look at replacing the compressor. She indicated previous owners may have suffered this same problem and an HVAC tech told them the compressor needed replacing. They would, of course, have not spent that much money.
Cougars (catamount, panthers, whatever) are in lots of places where the Wildlife Weenies don't seem to want to admit that they have cougars. Like in Michigan for example. Good for Michigan for admitting what landowners and hunters have known for years.
When I lived in Natchitoches Parish in the early 80s, I had panthers on my property. i would hear then occasionally and saw them twice. Ours were dark brown, almost chocolate and would appear black in certain light conditions. The neighbors would talk about sightings, but the wildlife weenies would not admit that we had then in the area. okay, fine. In 2002 I wrote about it on Castbullet.
If you want to stir up some crap around a campfire, tell then that there is no such thing as a black panther. In certain low-light conditions a brown panther will look black. That is what people see and that is what they report. If you go back to the little video linked above, one of the photos looks black.
I'm just glad that they are out there.
Primary Arms continues to expand its array of high-end rifle scopes. The latest models are higher-magnification models that still maintain the smaller footprints of the Compact PLXc family. These premium scopes promise a lot of capability in a small package.
A preliminary investigation indicated that four unidentified men
robbed the victim's cousin of a Rolex watch reportedly valued at
$25,000, police said.
An additional suspect approached the 25-year-old man on a bicycle and pointed a handgun at him, according to investigators.
Police said the man, who is licensed to carry a gun, drew his weapon
to defend himself and his cousin. His firearm malfunctioned, however,
and he was shot.
The suspects fled eastbound on Juniata Street. Police recovered the victim's gun at the scene.
More Here
The Hows and Whys (and Fixing) of the Israeli Carry Way A magazine filled with defensive ammunition, but none in the pipe. The chamber sitting empty before the action. This is empty-chamber carry, and it’s been subject to great debate in the American gunosphere. So, let’s discuss its history, the motivations behind the empty chamber, how to solve those problems,...
more
Quote of the Day Their uninterrupted, continual, and severe, abject failures absolutely must be a cloak of greatest weight from which they, and their fellow travelers, cannot escape the burden thereof; mere “casting out” from successful society must never be …
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The Dyrt, the app for finding the best campsites, built by the largest RVing and camping community in the U.S., has announced the 2026 Best Places to Camp Near Water.
I met our guest today, Derrick Ratliff, at this year's Leupold Relentless Rifleman , the NRL Hunter match I wrote about here ; he was working the same brutal high-desert terrain I was, and it turns out talking to the guy who made the rifle you’re competing with is some of the best pre-match conversation you'll have. Derrick founded Horizon Firearms, the Texas shop behind the .22 Creedmoor and a reputation for custom long-range rifles built to be handed down rather than traded in. Horizon is only one piece of what he runs, though. Derrick is also the brains behind Iota Outdoors, which builds precision rifle stocks and accessories, and serves as VP of Kaspar Outdoors, the holding company tying those brands together with names like Circle Y Saddles.
New Percheron at the Indiana State Fair Pioneer Village this year.
You can click to embiggenate to their full 16MP glory.
His father and his attorney hope things will soon change.
By Lee Williams SAF Investigative Journalism Project There was initially a lot of talk about releasing Patrick “Tate” Adamiak from federal custody after President Donald Trump won his second term. One senior government official actually said Adamiak would be “home by Christmas” of last year, which thrilled Adamiak’s family. After all, to this day they […]
The post Tate Adamiak Has Been in Prison Longer Under President Trump than Under Biden appeared first on Liberty Park Press.
You guys are gonna love this……. Ya ready? Yea? You sure, now? Ok…behold: Lions, no tigers, and bears..oh my! I appear to have bought a zoo.
An unknown person posted this recently online. We think that the point is obvious. (We have not been able to separately verify that these quotes are accurate, but they fit both the men and the times.) What happened? Why, since …
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Every AK owner who has tried to run a suppressor has bumped into the same three problems: the barrel lacks a shoulder for a conventional mounting index, the gas system produces back pressure that increases cyclic rate and parts wear, effectively decreasing longevity, and that same back pressure drives toxic gas straight into the shooter's eyes and lungs. These are the realities of the Kalashnikov design, and the suppressor industry has largely answered them with AR-centric solutions dressed up in AK-compatible threads. JMAC Customs ' Combloc Division and Richmond Tactical have taken a different approach, engineering the Banka suppressor for the AK from the outset.
Photo Of The Day and we take a look at the Colt MK47 40mm Advanced Grenade Launcher. At 39.6 pounds, the weapon operates as either a standard automatic grenade launcher or with programmable airburst capability, accommodating both in-bore and radio frequency programming for precision ordnance delivery.
You’ve almost certainly seen an ARWEN in a movie (more on that later), but chances are you didn’t know what it was, or its Cold War backstory.
