The Boulder Shooting

So a guy walks into a grocery store and shoots and kills 10 people in a state that has over 400,000 CCW holders, reciprocity with 33 states and virtually unfettered open carry. It's hard to believe that not one person had a gun... or maybe they did and were unwilling to use it.

Granted, all the information about this tragedy is not in yet but there are still some undeniable truths and some mighty suspicious coincidences surrounding this shooting so I'm going to bounce around here a little bit and talk about a few different issues. I have written about much of this before. I think its time to revisit it...

First off, Ahmed Al Alawi Alissa is a Syrian-born Muslim, not a white Trump supporter as was first reported by some wild-eyed, mainstream media newscaster. The motive here should be self-evident. Or was there a motive? Could it be that this was a carefully crafted false-flag to help push extreme anti-gun measures through Congress? Does it not seem odd to anyone that in this very city, an "assault weapon" ban which had been in place since 2018, was ruled illegal and unenforceable barely a week ago? A ban that prohibited the very rifle that this shooter used. 

Another interesting thing I saw in one of the many frantic, almost incoherent news articles was the college student who said she saw, from across the street in her apartment, and I quote, "I saw the gunman himself holding a semi-automatic rifle". Really? You expect me to believe that this student was knowledgeable enough about firearms that she could distinguish a semi-auto rifle from a single-shot shotgun from across the street? Perhaps 100, even 200 feet away? Maybe she could but it sounds a whole lot more to me like a contrived war on the tools of freedom. 

As I have said before on similar occasions, the moment that this man let his radical ideologies take over and Satan took control of his actions, he became the Beast. He became the evil that many pretend doesn't exist and should have been stopped by someone that accepts the fact that it does. Unfortunately, it seems that there was no one present that had the willingness to confront the Beast and he murdered until he was apprehended.

Which brings us to another point that I have made before and will make again. As far as I'm concerned, this is non-negotiable...

Be aware folks! Pay attention to what goes around you...EVERYTHING! Not just the guy in the hoodie. Women, kids, store owners, the cop on the corner... wait, the cop? Yeah, the cop. In the last 15 years, we have seen soldiers, sailors, security guards and yes, even police officers perpetrate mass shootings on citizens in this country. No one gets a pass my friends. Does this make you paranoid? No, I said pay attention to everything, not fear everything. Being ultra aware of your surroundings simply helps put you ahead of the game. With a little luck and a watchful eye, it may help you to maybe have the upper hand, allowing you to decide what course of action you need to take instead of the Beast deciding for you!

People need to try to come to grips with the fact that we live in an increasingly violent world. Violence thrives on fear and weakness. Violence MUST be met with violence if we are to survive! As distasteful as this may seem to some, it is a cold, hard fact of the society that we live in today. Therefore, we MUST be armed, trained, prepared and willing at all times to confront the Beast when he knocks on our door. By this, I mean that all good and decent people MUST be armed at all times! ALL TIMES! We do not have the luxury of being able to choose the time when an attack will befall us or our loved ones. It is imperative that we not only train and carry a weapon with us every waking moment of our adult lives, we must also work on developing the mindset that will allow us to perform an act that goes against everything that good and decent people have been taught from childhood -- we must face the reality of being forced to injure or kill another human being. We need to understand that it is justifiable, both by man's law and by God's law, to perform this act in defense of ourselves or others. We absolutely must, MUST be prepared to meet the Beast while we are eating dinner, watching a movie, at work, even while we sleep! The Beast will not rest and so must we not rest in our vigilance against it!

When we accept these principles of survival, we can more comfortably and confidently go about our daily lives. It is the world that we live in, like it or not. Making the sheep understand this ancient and everlasting principle of survival is another issue.

This principle became carved in stone the day that Cain murdered Abel and it holds true today.

Lastly, the bleeding heart liberals are already using this tragedy, as they have before, to push a ton of hell down on us in the form of the most draconian gun legislation this country has ever seen. This will be another battle, a battle for freedom and liberty, that we must be prepared to fight with every fiber of our moral being. Our rights WILL be taken away from us, or more correctly, we will give them away if we do not put everything we have into the upcoming battle for them! What about the rights of those killed by the evil guns you ask? Well, what about them? What if just one sheepdog could have been there to confront the wolf? What if "gun-free" zones didn't exist? What if, after the shooting started at the night club or the theater or the school; a single, trained, determined citizen stepped forward and shot the Beast in the face and prevented any further killing? Well, I'll tell you what if. It would still be the gun's fault for the injuries caused prior to the sheepdog killing the wolf. Sadly, that is just the society that we live in today.

BUT, just because what we do may be socially unacceptable, just because we may get in trouble for confronting the Beast doesn't mean that we should do anything differently. Not one thing. Our lives, our loved one's lives and even a complete stranger's life is still worth saving. It's still OK to shoot the bastard in the face to save a life; liability and other consequences be damned!

Now let's go just a little deeper...

I strongly suggested being armed and trained earlier. I don't mean armed with only a 5-shot revolver or a 6-shot, sub-compact, semi-auto mouse gun. I mean a fighting gun of a caliber that will increase your chances of stopping one or more attackers most rickey-tick. Nothing smaller than 9mm. In days gone by, most of us could feel fairly comfortable with those little guns. Those days are gone. We face a demonstrably different criminal element today. One that often travels in packs instead of singly. One that is often on drugs that may affect the effectiveness of our bullets. One that is wholly dedicated to their purpose and does not fear death. An adversary that has nothing to lose is possibly the most dangerous of all. 

If you are often out and about, maybe a distance from your home, consider carrying a carbine in your vehicle along with first aid supplies. Not just bandaids and Neoporin either. Have the supplies and the training to stop major bleeding. At a minimum, compressed gauze, an Israeli or "H" bandage, tourniquet and a hemostatic agent like QuikClot or WoundSeal. And of course, your ever-present "Get Home Bag"!

How many of you will heed this advice? Not many. But hopefully some of you will. As they say, the life you save may be your own.

Airgun Wars

Ammo prices have gone to infinity and beyond! That is, IF you can find it. Even a lot of the not-so-popular calibers are becoming virtually non-existent. A great many shooters are also concerned about an uncertain future and are sitting on their ammo and saving it for self-defense purposes. Recreational shooting and training have gone WAY down. Most of us simply cannot afford it. So what do we do?

We have limited options available in order to address this problem. 1. We can give up shooting completely, saving what little ammo we have for important stuff like hunting and civil wars.

2. We can cut WAY back, only shooting a few rounds out of a few of our guns to try and keep tuned up and have a little fun.

3. Do more dry-practice, maybe in conjunction with the above options.

4. Shoot more rimfire... oops, scratch that too.

5. Get a good quality airgun while you still can, lots of accessories and ammo for it and then go have a ball for just pennies!

Let's take a deeper look at #5. Many people still look at airguns as toys, insufficient to keep our egos stoked. I can assure that they are not. Aside from the obvious safety concerns that must be addressed when using ANY type of tool that expels projectiles at a high rate of speed out of the business end, modern airguns are accurate, powerful, affordable, easy to maintain and cheap to feed. For the purposes of this article, let's talk specifically about air rifles. Starting at the very, very bottom, you can get a decent plinker for 30 or 40 bucks. Depending on what kind of performance you're looking for and what kind of money you want to spend, you can go all the way up to several thousand dollars and everything in between.

You can get airguns that look like your favorite AK or AR-15 and a number of other models. You can also get them in several calibers. The most popular for the recreational shooter are .177 and .22 and, to a lesser degree, .20 caliber but did you know that air rifles are also available in big-kid calibers? Yep, .257, . 30, .357,  .44 and even .50 caliber! These are pricey but some of them are even capable of cleanly taking big game. Did you know that Lewis and Clark had an air rifle on their famous expedition? Yes sir, a .46 caliber Girandoni. Girandoni air rifles go all the way back to the late 1500's.

So let's speed up the clock and get back to the 21st century... 

I'm not going to list every model and action type out there but I will mention a few of the most common to give you some things to think about should you decide to jump onboard the airgun band wagon.

* Some of you are familiar with the cheapest ones. We called them Red Ryders when we were kids. Remember? They had the cocking lever that is part of the trigger guard and vaguely resembles a real, lever-action Winchester rifle. Those are spring operated and pretty anemic but great for having fun with the kids and teaching them gun safety and they're very inexpensive. They shoot .177 caliber BB's only, as far as I know.

* The next is the pump-up style with a lever under the barrel for adding compressed air. That's what I grew up on. It was a .22 caliber Benjamin although I don't remember the model number. This type can be pumped to variable pressures depending on how many times you pump it. Usually 3 times is the minimum to help ensure that a pellet doesn't get stuck in the bore and 10 pumps was usually considered maximum. I was raised on a ranch in NM and my dad used to pay me a bounty for certain pesky critters so I was out hunting all the time. I contribute much of my marksmanship and woodscraft skills to that old Benjamin and my early bounty hunting days.

*  You can also get those that derive their power from little CO2 cartridges. I don't care for those at all so I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about them. There are also a few others that I'm not going to talk about simply because they're not as popular.

* And then there's the break-barrel actions. Yeah, these are my favorite nowadays!  To add air for the next shot, simply hold the stock in one hand and reach up and grab the barrel towards the muzzle and try to break the gun in half. The barrel hinges right at the chamber and bends down to the shape of an inverted "V". When it snaps into position and there's no longer any tension on it, put a pellet or BB into the chamber and close the barrel. The one I have, automatically engages the safety when you load it. 

The remainder of the article will be about break-barrel guns. There are literally hundreds of different models of break-barrel guns. Some are quite affordable, others will require refinancing your house. Crosman, Benjamin, Beeman, RWS and Gamo are some of the oldest names in airguns. SIG Sauer, Ruger and a few others have more recently entered the airgun arena. Ruger makes a damned fine example of a break-barrel air rifle. Most of these guns are quite accurate, some of them stunningly so. Velocities can range anywhere from maybe 700 fps to well over 1200 fps, depending on caliber and the type of projectile being used. These guns are more than capable of humanely taking small varmints and game animals. They have airgun competitions and you will be amazed at how remarkably accurate some of these guns are! Practical range of the air rifle, again, depends on the gun and the type and style of ammo being used. 10 yards is mentioned a lot in ads and videos and whatnot so I assume that's kind of a standard in the industry but 20 yards seems much more realistic to me. Its not even too awfully hard to hit a pop can pretty regularly out to 50 yards or more with many of these guns.  

Now then, I want to talk about one gun in particular. It is the Beeman Silver Kodiak X2, Model 10774.There are other guns similar to this one but this one is mine and I like it a lot. I bought it primarily for a SHTF small game gun. This little jewel comes with a scope and two barrels, a .22 caliber barrel and a .177 barrel and it only takes maybe a minute to change them out. With BB's and alloy pellets of the .177 persuasion, you can expect at least 1200 fps. Alloy .22 pellets are more like 950. Lead pellets run about a grand in .177 and 830 fps with the .22. The receiver is satin nickel plated and the stock is synthetic which makes it fairly weather resistant. It has no open sights but the 4x32 Beeman scope does a great job. Depending on where you get it, it will probably run you between $125 and $150.

 It's not a stone cold, long-range killer but it's more than accurate and powerful enough to take bunnies, grouse, squirrels, etc., out to at least 20 yards. In fact, this one is plenty accurate enough to make reliable head shots at that range. Beeman says that accuracy will improve substantially after a few hundred rounds and I doubt if I have much more than a hundred through mine.

 

I haven't spent much time on the range with this one yet but I have done some preliminary testing with it. Here's what I found out...

On paper, it did pretty well considering it has not had the requisite number of break-in shots run through it. Using the .22 barrel and Gamo Match lead pellets from a fairly steady rest, it put 7 out of 8 shots in 1.5 inches. The first shot out of a clean barrel was dead center and 2" high, out of the group. 3 of the last 4 shots were in less than .75". What I gathered from this is that it might be prudent to put 4 or 5 rounds through a clean barrel before expecting your gun's best accuracy. I supplied a picture of the target below and 2 of the fired pellets compared to an unfired one. The target was stapled to an old plastic trash can because its what I had handy at the time. The pellets you see passed through both sides of the trash can and then into a plywood wall. The dents in the plywood were between 1/8 and 3/16" deep.

The next thing I did was shoot a full can of root beer, also at 20 yards. The pellet easily went through both sides and hit the wall. Interestingly, the can split from top to to bottom on ENTRY side, only making a small hole on the exit side. Picture supplied below.

The final event was to see if I could hit a quart bottle filled with colored water at 50 yards. There was just a little bit of dry grass out there so I sat an old oil filter on the ground and then put the quart bottle on top of that to get above the grass. I didn't realize that the round dropped that much so it took me a couple shots to get it on the target. It was roughly 6" below point of aim. I heard the first 2 shots hit something but the bottle didnt fall over and

it wasn't leaking so I walked out there to see what was going on. What I found was that I had hit the oil filter twice, less than .75" apart (picture supplied) which further led me to believe that a clean barrel is not my friend. The next shot was on the bottle but surprisingly, only put a dent in it but did not penetrate. The heavy plastic and the pressure of the water inside was a little more than the pellet could overcome.

So, there you have it! As far as I'm concerned, this gun or one like it, is a winner, not only for survival/preparedness purposes but for cheap recreational shooting and hunting as well.

What did all of this have to do with Airgun Wars? Well, nothing really but hopefully I piqued your interest enough to get you to read it!

Ruger PC-9 Review

So... the Ruger PC-9. I promised a review of it so here it is.

Let me just start by saying again that I absolutely adore this little gun! It's well balanced, accurate, reliable, the controls are handy and the breakdown feature is solid and simple. It breaks down in the blink of an eye and fits easily in a large briefcase, range bag, gym bag or small suitcase. Reassemble in 5 seconds and you're ready to rock and roll. It comes with 2 magazine wells, one for Ruger mags and one for Glock mags. I love the fact that it shares magazines and ammo with my 9mm Glocks and there's just something very sexy about pistol-caliber carbines!

 

So why did I get it to begin with? Well, I wanted a handy, short reasonably accurate long gun as a constant companion for my EDC. It's basically an urban fighting rifle. If I go to the woods or the civil war breaks out, I'll probably grab something with a little more horsepower but a 115 grain bullet at over 1600 fps is nothing to sneeze at.

It's just a tad heavier than you might expect for a little 9mm carbine but that's because its built like a fricking tank. VERY rugged little gun! No comparison to something like the Kel-Tec Sub 2000 which is kind of a pathetic excuse for a real gun. I suppose they're OK for recreational use but they are definitely not fighting carbines. When you pick up the Kel-Tec, it kinda makes you wonder why the muzzle is not painted orange.

How does the PC-9 shoot? Well... well, very well. I haven't really put it through its paces yet but I've shot it enough to know that it is going to be one of my forever guns. The trigger could stand a little attention but it's really not bad for a Ruger. I wasn't looking for a match-grade trigger on a 9mm self-defense carbine anyway.

Preliminary accuracy tests are impressive and I plan to do more with it when I get time. I had probably put maybe 200 rounds through it and had the iron sights (rugged, easy to see aperture sights) dialed in pretty well when I decided that I wanted to put some glass on it. I had an extra 3x Nikon compact scope laying around so I stuck it on top of the little Ruger. My first trip out to the woods with it was enlightening, to say the least! 

My bench was a rickety little plastic table and the ammo was Remington 115 grain FMJ so I didn't really expect to set the world on fire but I was actually more than impressed with the results! After goofing around with it a little, I decided to see if I could make something that resembled a group with it at 50 yards. After a few sight-in shots, I shot a 3-shot group that strung vertically a little more than I like but was still only about 1⅛". So when I saw that it might actually be a shooter, I put a little more effort into it and the second group measured just ⅝"! Granted, that was only at 50 yards but that indicated that it had the potential of shooting about and inch and quarter out at 100 yards. I don't know about you but I can live with that kind of accuracy out of this type of a weapon!

Downsides? Well, not many really besides what I already mentioned. I guess the biggest thing is the spring on magazine catch needed to be a little stiffer. Even though the button is marginally protected, it's not at all hard to bump it and have a speed-unload. I remedied that most rikky-tik by finding a similar sized, slightly heavier spring, thinning it down slightly on one end and replacing the original. It takes a just little more effort to release the mag now.

These little darlin's are difficult to impossible to find now and I have no idea what they would cost if you found one but they were quite reasonable when I got mine.

They also make this gun in .40S&W and I desperately want one!

 

Nearing the End...

One of my final posts before I left FB. 

This was posted yesterday, 30 January 2021, by the daughter of some friends of ours. I know these good people. I can literally see their house out my kitchen  window. Since I can see lots of houses out my kitchen window and I know most of the people in them, I won't be identifying these people when I say that. I don't know that they would want their names all over FB. 

This means that I probably know some of the people that turned this man away. Luckily, angels were watching over and guiding this man. I am appalled and disgusted that any of my neighbors would do that! Until now, I was pretty sure that I could trust everyone around here and depend on them during hard times. Now, I'm not so sure. Could these people not have at least made a phone call for him or called 911? Could they not provide him with a blanket and a granola bar as they turned him away? I am way more than disgusted at these people. I'm going to post this far and wide and I hope it gets back to these bad Samaritans!

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Nearing The Beginning Of The End!

It’s bitter cold in Vernon Arizona. Last night it was about 20 degrees at 10 pm. There’s almost a foot of snow on the ground near my parents home, and their home was quiet, silenced in a dark spread out wilderness, a typical night. A few homes scattered within the miles of the area had dim lights shining at that hour.

My mother was sitting on her bed when she just happened to look up and seen a man in the window pass by. Shocked she hollered for my Father and said “Xxxxx, there’s a man outside the door”. My father stepped out into the cold where an older man nearing his seventies was standing in their carport. My father asked “Can I help you?” The man said “Where Am I?” My father said you’re in Vernon Arizona, what's going on? The man was half frozen, shivering, with frost all over his face and looking for a place to just lay down.

He was very tired and delirious with no bearing of his location. My father asked him what happened, are you lost, where’s your home, where’s your family? The man asked if my father had a phone charger and my father handed him his cell phone and said no, but you can use my phone. The man was extremely Humble, and thankful and thanked him as he stood in the freezing cold trying to remember numbers. The man told how he had been up on the mountain looking for wood and had gotten stuck and had spent hours trying to dig out, when he decided to walk out for help. While using his phone for GPS and directions his phone went dead after walking a great distance. He told how he knocked on a few Doors, Our Neighbor’s Doors and was told to leave, that he was not welcome and to leave their property. 

It was very clear that he was in desperate need of warmth and help, completely at the point of laying down somewhere, which is a normal human reaction after being so cold and tired after so many hours. 

Miracles happen everyday. Had my Mother not seen him, they could have found him dead the next morning. I cannot express the seriousness of the situation. He had knocked on several doors! His footprints were spread through acres of land.

Thank goodness, My father gathered him up and told him he was taking Him home. He started the truck, loaded him inside, and headed to Concho Valley several miles away with the man all the time thanking him and it was a humbling moment for all involved.  When they arrived at his Home in Concho Valley his wife was in the front yard overwhelmed with worry and once reunited they both thanked my Father over and Over. My father, the humble man that he is,  turned to him and said “No Sir... Thank you!”

It was clearly my fathers honor to assist this man.

Do you know who your neighbors are?

Is it Nearing the Beginning of the End?

The end of human Compassion? Of Decency and Good Will?

I cannot image the overwhelming feeling of vacancy that must have been felt as time and time again this freezing older man was told “No, we won’t help you”...

Leaving him to literally fight the elements that without a single door knock left could have ended His life. But he didn't knock, he had given up at that point and was headed for any kind of shelter to lay down very diluted and let down. 

Are we such bitter souls that making a call to the Sheriff or providing any kind of compassion has become unreasonable? I am stricken with amazement at the footprints found leading him to my family’s Home in Vernon. To think that a human being was left to die in the cold for no reason by so many. It opens your eyes!

To This I say... WE ARE NEARING THE BEGINNING OF THE END!

I am eternally thankful for the way us kids were raised! That we were taught to love one another and to stretch out our hands to those in need. I'm thankful for the lessons that are still being taught to us by actions and not just words.

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Our Upside-down World..

One of my friends posted this in response to an article and comment I made earlier this morning and you talk about nailing it! I don't care if she copied it from somewhere else or not and I don't care. It is the God's honest truth and I had to share it with you!

"Today I woke up and as I had my morning coffee, I realized that everything is about to change.
No matter how I vote, no matter what I say, something evil has invaded our nation, and our lives are never going to be the same.
I have been confused by the hostility of family and friends.
I look at people I have known all my life--so hate-filled that they agree with opinions they would never express as their own. I think that I may well have entered the Twilight Zone.
You can't justify this insanity. We have become a nation that has lost its collective mind!

If a dude pretends to be a woman, you are required to pretend with him.

Somehow it’s un-American for the census to count how many Americans are in America.

Russians influencing our elections are bad, but illegals voting in our elections are good.

It was cool for Joe Biden to "blackmail" the President of Ukraine, but it’s an impeachable offense if Donald Trump inquires about it.

People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves.

People who have never been to college should pay the debts of college students who took out huge loans for their degrees.

Immigrants with tuberculosis and polio are welcome, but you’d better be able to prove your dog is vaccinated.

Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate to the US must go through a rigorous vetting process, but any illiterate
gang-bangers who jump the southern fence are welcome.

$5 billion for border security is too expensive, but $1.5 trillion for “free” health care is not.

If you cheat to get into college you go to prison, but if you cheat to get into the country you go to college for free.

People who say there is no such thing as gender are demanding a female President.

We see other countries going Socialist and collapsing, but it seems like a great plan to us.

Some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, and other people are not held responsible for what they are doing right now.

Criminals are caught-and-released to hurt more people, but stopping them is bad because it's a violation of THEIR rights.

And pointing out all this hypocrisy somehow makes us "racists"?!

Nothing makes sense anymore, no values, no morals, no civility and people are dying of a Chinese virus, but it is racist to refer to it as Chinese, even though it began in China.

We are clearly living in an upside down world where right is wrong and wrong is right, where moral is immoral and immoral is moral, where good is evil and evil is good, where killing murderers is wrong, but killing innocent babies is right.

Wake up America, the great unsinkable ship, Titanic America, has hit an iceberg, is taking on water and is sinking fast. The choice is yours to make. What will it be? Time is short, make your choice wisely!

This has so much truth to it that seeing it all pulled together is frightening"

According to Their Faith...

This is a very long read and a departure from what I generally post, but considering the turbulent times that seem inevitable, I thought it timely. We will receive only the blessings that we deserve in accordance with our true faith. If it is inconvenient or unfashionable for you to exercise that faith in a way that is pleasing unto Him, don't be surprised at the returns that you receive. If it's how you dress, substances that use, language that you use, your activities on the Sabbath, how you deal with people in your business dealings or whatever. The decision is yours...

Earlier this summer, 2 LDS sister missionaries were attacked in Houston, TX. This is one of their stories...

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Hello! My name is Lauren Willardson😊 I am a daughter of God, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I am one of the missionaries who was stabbed in Houston about a month ago. Because this week marks one month since I returned home from the hospital, I wanted to share the story of what happened in my own words, and more importantly share the path paved with miracles that I have walked with my Savior during this past month! It is my hope and prayer that by doing so I may bear witness of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and confirm to each of you that God TRULY IS our loving Heavenly Father, that Jesus Christ is the Master Healer and Savior of the World, that He gave His life because He loves you more than you can comprehend, and that through Him ALL THINGS truly can be overcome!
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As many of you know, on August 16th around 4 am a man broke into the apartment where my companion and I lived and started attacking us in our sleep. We fought and prayed, struggling for our lives for about fifteen minutes. After the struggle, through the power and mercy of God, the man left. My companion and I called 911 and were then rushed to the hospital. We found in the ambulance that I had sustained nine stab wounds. At the hospital, I had a life saving surgery and then received treatment for many days. Thanks to your many prayers on my behalf and the infinite Atonement of my Savior, Jesus Christ, I am so pleased to report that I am now at home recovering nicely😊 I plan to return to missionary service as soon as my doctors will allow❤️
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While this time at home is definitely different than my original mission plan, I have learned more about Heavenly Father’s love during this time than I ever could have in 18 months! As I look back on these experiences, I testify that His plan is perfect and that it is with perfect love that every part of His plan is prescribed! I can see His loving hand through this experience because Heavenly Father prepared me my whole life with a great support system from my friends and family so I could have a wonderful recovery. He prepared me with a confidence in my life purpose and faith in Christ, that sustained me during the ordeal, during those critical life or death moments in the hospital, and in all of the pain that would follow. He made sure we would survive the incident by placing my companion and I together in that apartment, because we are convinced that if either of us had been there with any other missionary, we would not have survived. Even though we were stabbed, He kept His promise that "thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less" (D&C 122:9) by sending angels to protect our vitals and main arteries. The surgeon who saved my life said that if the knife in my shoulder had been turned even a degree to the left or the right, it would have sliced a main artery and vein and I would have bled out before the ambulance ever arrived. What a miracle that we were protected and the knife glided in so perfectly! From all of this to having such experienced trauma surgeons...to having the president of the particular hospital I was taken to be LDS and let my parents in when no visitors were allowed with covid...to having my mission president and his wife led by the Spirit to the hospital in time to give me a life saving blessing......the evidence of God’s hand throughout this ordeal is overwhelming!!
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If these miracles do not convince you of the great and miraculous love of our Heavenly Father, then I beg you to consider the Greatest Miracle of All, even the gift and life of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. He loved YOU...you reading this right now....Heavenly Father loved you enough to sacrifice His ONLY Son. He sent Him to die because He loves YOU and because He knew you were worth it. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ saved my life so many times that I cannot do anything for the rest of my life but witness of the INFINITE and INTIMATE love of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I will bear Their Names with every breath They give me, so long as I live❤️
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It is with this opportunity that I would like to conclude: by bearing testimony of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. On that dreadful morning of August 16th, after the man had gone, I remember waiting for the ambulance to arrive while my companion was on the phone with 911. I remember noticing for the first time all the places I was cut because we had been fighting with too much adrenaline to notice the wounds previously. As I sat there with my limbs tensing up to the point I could not move, not knowing if I was going to bleed to death, I remember looking down at my hand and seeing that it had been stabbed through the middle. While you may think that this would be an alarming sight to behold, I remember feeling the greatest peace as my mind instantly thought of a similar wound in the hands of One much greater than I. As more wounds were discovered on me in the ambulance and procedures following, I soon learned that my intestines had been pierced near my side, and my ankle pierced through as well right above my foot. With these three wounds I have learned more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ than I had ever understood previously. As I thought of His pierced hands, and feet, and side, and felt the pain of my own wounds in similar spots, I finally understood a microscopic proportion of just what Christ went through to save us. There are no words that can describe the amount of agony Christ chose to endure to save us. I do not possess the ability to describe what it feels like to have your hand stabbed through, the searing pain that follows wounds like these, or what it feels like to almost bleed to death, but because I have experienced these things I now can say to all the world: NEVER DOUBT HOW MUCH HEAVENLY FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST LOVE YOU!! I went through this because it just happened to me, but to think that Christ CHOSE willingly to feel everything I felt, an eternity more, and eventually die just so He could be there for us even when we sometimes choose to turn our back on Him.....I cannot help but exclaim like Pontius Pilate, "Behold, the Man!" I testify that He suffered excruciatingly, so that when you go through your own Gethsemane, you do not have to suffer. He will carry you when you cannot walk. He will take away the pain when you cannot bear it. He will bring you peace when hope seems lost. He will do this for you because this is what He has done for me. None of this is unique to me. He does it for all of us. I just had to have a little tougher experience to finally learn it, but I hope and pray that each of you will not have to do the same. That you will use my experience instead and learn it now. Please learn and never forget JUST HOW MUCH YOUR SAVIOR LOVES YOU!!!
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I know with all of my heart that I am only here today because of God’s power and I am sustained every day through your many prayers!  I am touched to see all the good in the world that comes from a community of universal faith! I just want to express my deepest and most heartfelt gratitude to every single one of you reading this story. I have read tons of posts from people who are praying for my companion, for me, and for our families. We are truly humbled and honored. I wish I could look every single one of you in the eyes and say how GRATEFUL I am for your love and support. Your prayers enabled me through every step of this journey and I hope you each know that they have quite literally caused modern day miracles in my healing process. THANK YOU!! I love you all! I would not be where I am today without you, and I am honored to be your sister in the family of God.
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If you would like to hear more about the miracles during this ordeal and how Christ enabled me through, I have started a Facebook/Instagram account (account info below) where I will post more details and spiritual insights throughout my recovery, until the day I return to the mission field! The account is called “The Work of His Hands” to highlight how every miracle worked in my life came from the hands of my Savior. I hope that through this endeavor many of you may come to know as I do that Heavenly Father’s hand is working miracles in your life through our Savior, Jesus Christ😊
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Please feel free to share this post to promote faith in Jesus Christ! However, we ask that you please also be sensitive to what is shared by word of mouth to prevent the creation of any more rumors 😊I love you all! God speed! And please remember this story and never EVER forget how much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you❤️
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Facebook account: The Work of His Hands
Instagram Handle: the.work.of.His.hands

Homemade Hollowpoints

A concern was voiced a couple days ago on a social media site about expanding bullets maybe not being as  readily available as FMJ in a SHTF scenario. I suggested creating an expedient hollowpoint by drilling a hole in the nose of FMJ bullets. There are those that doubted my word on this subject.
I would not have suggested it if I couldn't prove it. I've done it many, many times. Like this...

https://youtu.be/Vs3eKoh8BJI

Social Media Wars

OK, here's the deal...

The overwhelming majority of my friends, both here and in real life, consider themselves to be patriots to some degree or another. Sometimes patriots have varying ideas about what constitutes "patriotic duty", and that's OK. Sadly, some people that claim to be patriots are nowhere to be found when it's time to do patriot stuff. 

My fervent quest to get people to leave Facebook and join Gab.com instead of Parler or MeWe or a few others is not about which one is my favorite or because I'm trying to be a bully, as one little, snot-nosed punk said. It's about supporting patriots. Please read the rest of this...

Staunch conservative patriot, Andrew Torba, started Gab in Aug of 2016 as a total free speech alternative to Twitter and Facebook. Shortly after that, Twitter refused content from Gab  and Apple refused to host their app due to what they called "pornographic content". (Understand Gab is NOT a porn site by any remote stretch of the imagination).

A short time after that, Goggle pulled Gab's Android app because Gab would not let Google dictate to them what is or is not free speech like Parler  and MeWe and the other ones. Gab's rules are simple. If it's not illegal, you can post it. If it offends you, don't look at it. If it offends you a lot, mute or block the person that posted it. Imagine that! Gab let's you decide for yourself. 

So, Gab stood alone, sued Google for removing their app under the provisions of the Sherman and Clayton Acts and won! Google said OK, we'll restore your app if you just abide by our rules. Umm, no! Stupid is as stupid does.

Then Go Daddy and PayPal dropped them for the same reasons. Now they had no place that would host their website and no way to accept payments online. Did he quit? No! Again, he stood alone and used alternate methods and got everything going again. 

So you see, Andrew Torba is kinda like the LaVoy Finicum of the social media world... except he's not getting the support from patriots that he deserves. Everyone ran off and tried every new, little Dairy Queen treat they could find instead standing hard for the one that stood up for us. This isn't about which outlet is best, it's about loyalty. Every single one of the rest of them bent under Google's iron fist so they could have an app on the Playstore. All but one.

Gab has encrypted chatrooms, groups and operates very much like Facebook and it's as easy as any of them to use. There are NO ads so they have no income other than donations and/or paid memberships which, for a measly $5 a month, you get additional privileges. WELL worth it to get rid of all those stupid ads.

So I hope at least some of you will reconsider your choices and stand against the giant with me and Andrew Torba and join Gab!

The Cancer That Killed Lady Liberty

Some of you may have seen part of this article before. That's because I have felt this way for a very long time. Much of this I have said before, because at that time, things were as bad or worse than they have ever been but I've added some things to bring it up to date.

Every time I think things are about as bad as they are going get, they get worse. The federal government's accountability level is now at zero. The direct disregard for the constitution and violation of our rights is more blatant and in our faces now than ever. Can it get any worse?

 Tell me how much different this is than 1938 Germany. Property being stolen, bank accounts being seized, permits, fees and penalties in everything we do and innocent, peaceful citizens being injured or murdered with monotonous regularity and now, the cancer called Liberalism has all but stolen the most recent Presidential election and in so doing have made many others questionable. HOW MUCH DIFFERENT IS THIS THAN 1938 GERMANY? 

This may be the last election until after the National reboot. This election is more critical to our freedom and our future than any other election in the history of the United States. I have no expectations of Trump solving all of our problems. But I can tell you for damned sure that if we allow Biden/Harris to get in there, our troubles will have just begun.

Those that sat on their dead asses on election day and pounded your chest and bragged about what a wonderful thing you did by not voting for the "lesser of two evils" or even worse, didn't vote at all, will be largely responsible for what is about happen in this country. Go ahead and write in your favorite hero that has zero chance of getting in there. Biden and every other liberal in the country will thank you. 

Any other election in my lifetime I may have agreed with you. This is not any other election. This is the final nail. Will you help drive it?

We are currently in a war over our liberty... our GOD GIVEN liberty. Technically, we have been for some time but we have reached a point in this war where the battle lines must be more clearly defined. I don't know if everyone completely understands how bad it actually is now or how fast our liberties are deteriorating and how bad it will get in the near future. Of all the enemies that we have made around the world, the very worst one is right here at home...the Democratic Party. Primarily the liberal Democrats which, as it happens, makes up most of the party.  

Yes, I am aware of the smattering of Democrats that are, in all actuality, conservatives but they are few and far between these days This post probably doesn't apply to them.

The party itself has done more damage to our way of life and our heritage than any other single factor.

* It is absolutely incomprehensible to me how ANYONE that professes to be an American can support the Democratic Party!

* It is absolutely incomprehensible to me how ANY member of ANY minority can support the Democratic Party after what they have taken from you!

* It is absolutely incomprehensible to me how ANY blue-collar working man or woman can support the Democratic Party!

* It is absolutely incomprehensible to me how ANY man or woman that is trying to run a business can support the Democratic Party!

* It is absolutely incomprehensible to me how anyone that professes to be Christian can support the party that supports killing babies!

ARE YOU REALLY THAT STUPID? YOU are the problem with this country! YOU have become enemies of the Constitution of the United States! YOU have become an enemy to me and my family and our way of life! 

If you claim to be a liberal Democrat that clings to the tenets of the DemocraticParty, you are no friend to me or mine. If you are family, I'm sorry but we have nothing to discuss. You are not family to me if you support the idiocy that is going on in this country brought about by the cancerous, liberal trash of the left. Yeah, I'm well aware of the problems within the Republican Party as well but let's take it one step at a time.

Liberalism is NOT a political choice, it is an incurable mental illness that has done more damage to our country in the last 3 decades than our enemies have done in the last 220 years! 

No, we cannot just get along! No, we cannot work this out! No, we cannot agree to disagree!

If you have somehow managed to become a friend on social media, just go ahead and leave now. If I find out, I will unfriend you and block you.

Maybe you don't know just how damned serious I am about this! My country is falling apart and you are more to blame than any other single factor and I damned well don't appreciate it! Yes, if one were to truly repent of their idiocy and change their party affiliation and liberal ideals, I would forgive them and welcome them back with open arms but until then, consider yourselves black-balled from every aspect of my life.

If I have offended any of you, that's tough. Put on your big-kid panties and deal with it! I'm sick and damned tired of the violations of my personal rights, unconstitutional and unreasonable taxes, policies, penalties, fines rules, debt, political correctness, liability scares, invasions of my home and privacy, permits, licenses and fear of simply walking or driving down the street! The gloves are off libtards! Get out of my life, ALL of you! This is no longer simply a difference of political opinion. We can no longer just shake hands, go play golf and good-naturedly poke fun at each other until the next election. In elections gone by, maybe. Not anymore. 

Those of you who understand what America and freedom are all about and are willing to fight to maintain it, welcome brothers and sisters! Roll up your sleeves and get with it! We have a hell of a lot work to do!

The Decline of Liberalism on the Navajo Nation

When I started this run for Apache County sheriff, I was given all manner of advice from lots of well-intentioned people. Some good, some not so good. I was told that I could not win running as a Republican, especially as a white Republican. I was told that I needed to register as a Democrat prior to filing my intention to run. As I have said previously, I could and would not do that. In my eyes, I would be lying to the people before I ever even got elected. Registering as a Democrat only makes me a Democrat on paper, it does not make my heart and mind a Democrat. 

With that being said, I will also say that if a sheriff is doing what he is paid to be doing, it shouldn't matter one bit what party he is or what party any of his constituents are. Protecting natural rights and enforcing the law fairly and equally MUST BE NON-PARTISAN! 

If a sheriff is doing what he is paid to be doing, he must be blind to race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, party affiliation or anything else that people use to divide us. Quite naturally, I have my own beliefs, as you have yours. Any of my beliefs that are not somehow directly related to my job performance need to stay at home.

Now then, taking into consideration all of the above, David Peelman and I have been greatly encouraged by things that we have encountered in our joint and individual trips to the Navajo Nation. 

For one thing, we have seen a plethora of Facebook pages pop up in support of conservatives. Navajos for Trump, Navajo Consevatives, Navajo Republicans, Native Americans for Trump and many others, none of which were here a few years ago. 

We have seen Biden and Kelly signs defaced or destroyed. That is still illegal and we absolutely do NOT condone it, but; right, wrong or indifferent, it is still an indicator of change. The same signs for the same people, had they been running in 2016 or 2012, would almost certainly have not been bothered.

We have talked to people on the Rez that already knew of us before we introduced ourselves and had already voted for us. We saw people that happily put our bumper stickers on their trucks. We were told by dozens of Navajos that it was time for a change, that their current sheriff and representatives have not been making any attempt to represent or preserve traditional Diné values nor are they trying improve their way of life. The people are tired and they're ready to open a new chapter in Diné history.

We were further encouraged in Round Rock yesterday when we were putting up signs across the street from a housing area. I already had my sign up and was waiting for the old man (🙃) to get finished hanging his when heard a faint, "thank you!". I turned around and looked briefly and didn't see anyone then heard, a little louder, "Thank You!". I looked again, didn't see anyone and figured someone was hollering at their neighbor or something. A third time I heard, "THANK YOU!!". I turned one more time and probably 100 yards away, across the street and several houses down, a Navajo lady was frantically waving to us and telling us thank you. She was not going to stop until we acknowledged her. We both turned and waved and held up signs. Happy that we finally responded, she eventually turned and left. Those kinds of things have not only provided encouragement but strengthened our resolve to give the final heat in this race everything we can possibly muster up to win our respective races. We are encouraged but we MUST KEEP FIGHTING!

If either or both of us lose, it sure as hell won't be for lack of trying!

#CopeForSheriff 

Let’s Talk About Scatterguns

 Some of you may recognize parts of this from an old article I did years ago. I have added more current and specific information and decided to make a new post out of it.

Enjoy!

Let’s Talk About Scatterguns

by Cope Reynolds

For personal protection, the shotgun has no peer in most cases. It is a graphically devastating weapon. For most of the purposes considered in this article, a pump-action 12 gauge is hard to beat. Although the 20 gauge is a very comfortable and effective gun to shoot, it’s best reserved for hunting. This is because you’ll often have a hard time finding either buckshot or slugs for the 20 bore. Wal-Mart, for example, rarely even carries the heavier 20 gauge stuff, simply because there’s not enough demand for it and it’s hard to get them to special order things for you sometimes. A lot of men buy a 20 gauge for their kids or wives, but they mostly use them to hunt birds or rabbits, so most stores don’t see a need to carry anything but the smaller shot. Compared to the 12 gauge, there just aren’t that many people who hunt deer with a 20 gauge or use it for home defense even though it will do fine for either.

There’s not anything wrong with the 20 gauge by any means, I have two of them. But for a survival situation, the 12 gauge is a much better choice, primarily because of ammo availability and selection. Police, military, hunters, survivalists, militia members, ranchers, etc., all use the 12 more than anything else. If you do insist on using the 20 gauge, and plan on storing a bunch of shells to make up for non-availability, what happens if you have to “bug-out” on foot? You can only carry so much and leaving the gun behind shouldn't be an option, as I think a shotgun is essential. When you use up what you can carry, you’ll just be out. You can’t carry all that reloading stuff with you, either. I personally am not really stocking up on any reloading supplies. Of course, I have a bunch anyway, just because it’s a serious hobby of mine, but I figure when things go bad, I would rather have all those components already assembled into something that I can use.

Something else to consider is power. While the velocities of the 20 gauge are comparable to the 12 gauge, the weight of any given shot charge or slug is much more with the 12. Granted, this generates a little more recoil, but my 5’5”, 135-lb. daughter can handle a 12 just fine. The 20 gauge usually shoots a slug that either weighs 273 grains or 328 grains. And I have one “recipe” for a 341-gr. slug. Compare that to a 12 gauge that shoots slugs weighing anywhere from 437 grs. to 575 grs. That’s a hell of an increase in delivered energy, which translates to penetration and longer range.

As far as buckshot goes, #3 buck is the by far the most common for the 20 gauge. If you get much bigger than that, the 20’s little shell just doesn’t hold enough pellets to do any good. If the 12 gauge only holds between nine and 12 double-ought buckshot pellets (depending on manufacturer and type of wad used), you can safely assume that the 20 would hold only five to six of the same pellets. While you can put eight pellets of #1 buck in a 20 gauge shell, most 12 gauge loads will hold 16. In any case, you’re not looking at a very dense pattern from the 20 for defensive purposes.

So let’s talk just a bit about patterning. Without getting too deep into it, the degree of pattern spread of the shot fired by a shotgun is determined by the amount of restriction in the last 2 or 3 inches of the barrel. It’s called “choke”. For the purposes of this article, we will only concern ourselves with four different chokes; Full, Modified, Improved Cylinder and Cylinder Bore. Full choke is the tightest of the four. It generally provides for more pellets on target at a longer range. It is not as useful for shorter ranges, especially when hunting. The Modified choke is a little more open and is a pretty good all ’round choke. Improved Cylinder is more open yet and is at its best at closer ranges. Improved cylinder works well for quail, pheasants and grouse or other critters that jump right out from under your feet. Cylinder bore is completely open, meaning the there is no restriction at all in the barrel. Cylinder bore also works well for birds and bunnies that are close in. It is also the most popular for self-protection shotguns. More on that in a minute… There are a number chokes besides these and it seemed like they came up with something new every few years but I think they have most of the gaps filled now. For my money, I can accomplish everything that I need to do with one of the four chokes mentioned above.

Depending on the configuration of the barrel and the type of ammo used, the shotgun can be used for hunting upland game birds, waterfowl and virtually all game animals from the smallest to the largest and most dangerous that America has to offer. It can also be used effectively for most African game. It can be used for breaching doors, signaling, less lethal applications, stopping vehicles and making bad guys really wish they had chosen a different profession. Long story short, there’s not a whole lot the scattergun can’t do. It is an incredibly versatile weapon in the hands of someone that knows it and understands its limitations.

Let’s talk about defensive uses for the shotgun for just a minute. Its an amazingly effective and devastating weapon with a wide range of applications. Buckshot is great for home defense. My favorite is #4 Buck for the home because of the reduced possibility of exiting the average sized person and injuring a family member or other innocent. One of these days, we’ll explore that at great length.

Slugs are yet another trick up the sleeve of the shotgun. As the name implies, a slug is a single projectile. A single, massive, awe-inspiring projectile. The 1.25 ounce, .73 caliber, 12 gauge slug, at somewhere’s in the vicinity of 1300 or 1400 fps doesn’t take no for an answer. Solid core or steel doors, block walls, engine blocks, wheels, transmissions, grizzly bears, etc are little match. Contrary to popular belief, the popular and affordable Foster-type, rifled slug can be fired through any choke. It is a complete myth that the rifling on the rifled slug is there to impart a spin on the slug. Not true. The rifling facilitates the firing through ANY choke, even Full Choke. However, you will probably get the best performance out of Improved Cylinder or Cylinder Bore.

Before I leave, A couple of the best choices for defensive shotguns in my not so humble opinion are the Mossberg 590 or 500, and the Remington 870. While some will tell you that the 590 is far and away better than the 870, it really comes down to what you like. I’ll admit that the 590 has a slight edge over the 870 in my opinion, simply because it was designed solely as a combat shotgun. It really has no sporting purpose. There are plenty of after-market accessories available for both the Mossberg and the Remington. Also, Winchester makes a couple of suitable defensive-type shotguns, but I have little personal experience with them. 

 Here's a comparison of popular shot sizes for reference...

 So… there’s your crash course on all things shotgun!

 

In Liberty, Cope Reynolds (Desertscout) 

Southwest Shooting Authority of Arizona 

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Colts and Kimbers are what you show your friends. 

GLOCKS are what you show your enemies!