The Wandering Minstrel

I ordered “The Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide” last week from GunLaws.com. It arrived yesterday and I started reading it today. I read the first two chapters this afternoon, “The Right To Keep and Bear Arms” and “Carrying Firearms.” Both chapters were very informative and interesting.

The author, Alan Korwin, spices up the pro-rights aspect of gun ownership in Arizona throughout the text. He also hasn’t missed opportunities to knock the politicians and others responsible for the mess created by gun laws. At least in the first two chapters, there is a definite flavor for exactly where the author stands.

Korwin has a blog called Page Nine. The most recent post, Eyewitness Report “Occupy” Rally thoroughly exposes the “Flea Party” demonstrators in Phoenix.

Here is an excerpt from the website blurb about AGOG:

If you want to know what you can and cannot do with guns in Arizona, this is the book to own. Since 1989 we have been publishing the guide Arizonans go to for all the details on the state’s gun laws.

You get a copy of all the gun laws word-for-word, but more important, everything is described in plain English. The descriptions are cross-referenced to the laws. Updates on our website are free.

While we were waiting for our decadent meal at Screamer’s yesterday, we saw some flyers on the counter. One was for the CCW class we took last month and another advertized upcoming gun shows. I was going to write the information down, but taking a picture was so much easier. Clickable image.

The Wickenburg area Boy Scout District is holding a Camporee on the weekend of October 15, 2011. As a part of the weekend activities, approximately 30 Boy Scouts will be at the Wickenburg Sportsman’s Club for instruction in gun safety. After the safety briefing, they will be given instruction in Trap Shooting.

The event already has access to several shotguns, but they were asking to borrow a few more. They also need volunteers to donate some factory shotgun ammunition for the event.

I called the gentleman in charge of organizing the event and offered my Remington 870, The Better Half’s Remington 870 Junior and 100 rounds each of 12 and 20 gauge number eight shot shells. He was happy to accept our offer and we made arrangements to deliver the items.

We’re proud to support any event that gets kids interested in sport shooting. After all, they are the ones that will have to carry on the never-ending fight to protect our right to keep and bear arms and the Second Amendment itself. The Better Half and I will be attending the event and she, as usual, will have some images to share when I report on the day’s activities after it’s over.

I finally got around to catching up on my reading today. I finished reading Jeff Cooper’s “Principles of Personal Defense.”

I actually went back to the beginning of the book and re-read the first couple of principles. It took me about an hour to read the entire book since it’s under 80 pages in length. Just because the book is small doesn’t take away from the importance of Cooper’s principles in defending yourself and loved ones.

After finishing the principles, I read the chapter entitled “A Final Word,” in which Jeff Cooper describes the reasons for increased risk for violent crimes in today’s society. He stresses that the police won’t be there to help you if you have an encounter with one or more of an increasing number of malicious persons. Cooper quotes General George S. Patton - “Don’t worry about your flanks. Let the enemy worry about his flanks.”

This is what I got from each of the seven principles:

• Alertness - in spite of the fact that you don’t have a first strike advantage, you can be ready for an incident through awareness and anticipation by being alert.
• Decisiveness - you must consciously and quickly make the decision to defend yourself.
• Aggressiveness - if you need to defend yourself, you must present a violent and determined offense against the perpetrator.
• Speed - this principle embodies the trite “he who hesitates is lost.” Defend yourself with rapid, but well-placed hits on the target.
• Coolness - the ability to keep your head without panic is an important factor. Direct your anger with the perpetrator to your advantage. You have the right to be good and God damned angry for having to defend yourself.
• Ruthlessness - you’re under attack; don’t worry about over-reacting. Administer the revenge that your assailant deserves for placing you in this situation.
• Surprise - thugs who are met with a sudden and violent reaction from the victim are going to be surprised. Most will not be able to cope with your defense. As a potential victim, surprise works to your advantage.

I give the book five stars. I plan to pick it up every few months and re-read the principles as a review and to keep motivated to use these if it really comes down to having to defend ourselves. If we continually practice the awareness principle, we may never find a need to defend ourselves.

A couple of years ago, I bookmarked the Crossroads of the West Gun Show website. While we were still living in California, we attended several Crossroads gun shows held in Costa Mesa, CA. I happened to click on my Crossroads bookmark a few days ago and noticed that they had a new, improved look and content on their site.

Clickable image - screen shot of the new main page

The improved presentation allows easier navigation around their site. The have all the information for both buyers and vendors in an easy to navigate format. There is a section for videos where they have sweeping panoramas of the shows and a short narrative by one of their organizers. Be sure and click the video link.

I checked their schedule and see that they will be having a show in Glendale, AZ on October 29/30, 2011. We may be able to attend it AND visit Cabela’s located a couple of blocks away from Phoenix University Stadium where the show is going to be (and is the venue of the Arizona Cardinals Football team).

I purchased “Principles of Personal Defense,” a book written by famed firearms expert Colonel Jeff Cooper ($8.50 at Amazon). I started reading it last week before the short trip to Kalifornistan. It looks to be very interesting reading and I should be finished soon, since it’s less than eighty pages in length.

Cooper presents a list of seven principles and describes each principle in detail in its own chapter. There is also a closing chapter, “A Final Word.”

The principles are:

• Alertness
• Decisiveness
• Aggressiveness
• Speed
• Coolness
• Ruthlessness
• Surprise

Cooper mentions in the introduction that this work has been received by many law enforcement agencies with only moderate enthusiasm. It seems like their public relations folks don’t like the principles of aggressiveness and ruthlessness. Heh.

This is the write-up on the back cover of the book:

This new edition of Cooper’s classic Principles of Personal Defense - with a fitting tribute by firearms expert Louis Awerbuck and all-new drawings by renowned illustrator Paul Kirchner - presents his timeless theory of individual defensive behavior clearly, concisely and practically. All free people who aspire to stay that way should read, study and share the wisdom found within these pages. Considered by many to be one of the greatest books on combat mindset and proper defensive mental conditioning ever written, it deserves a place of honor in every library.

I made a discovery today. American Handgunner and Guns Magazines both have on-line access to digital versions of several of their recent issues. I spent a couple of hours browsing through the current issues and several other recent issues.

Image - Current Issues

FMG Publications also has a digital version of American Cop, their law enforcement targeted guns and gadgets publication. American Handgunner digital issues can be found at this link. Guns digital issues can be found at this link. If you’re interested, American Cop digital is here.

I was on the computer this afternoon looking at the Maricopa County Assessor’s interactive parcel viewer. The map has an aerial map mode, so, out of curiosity, I scrolled across to Constellation Road to look for the Wickenburg Sportsmen’s Club rifle and pistol range. I captured this (clickable) image of the facilities.

Our facilities feature a 100 yard rifle range, 1- 50 yard rifle/pistol bay, 2 - 25 yard pistol bays as well as Trap and 1-5-stand. The longer ranges are near the center with the pistol bays just below. The 5 stand and trap ranges are near the bottom of the image across the clearing from the clubhouse and restrooms. The facility at the upper left is for the archery club which will soon be merging with WSC.