The Wandering Minstrel

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.

The Better Half and I had to go to the pharmacy today to pick up some medication today. There is a magazine rack adjacent to the pharmacy I spotted this September/October edition of American Handgunner Magazine. On an impulse, I tossed it in the shopping cart and took it home.

I enjoyed reading several interesting articles about firearms and shooting. This just happened to be the 35th anniversary edition of their magazine and, as a matter of fact, this was only the first time I read their magazine. The publishers of Guns Magazine publish this one on a bi-monthly basis.

There is one article in this issue that interested me in particular. It is called The Ayoob Files - The Tucson Atrocity: Joe Zamudio’s Story. Of course, the author is Massad Ayoob, known to most firearms enthusiasts and the topic - the terrible shooting in Tuscon earlier this year.

Here’s a couple of excerpts:

Situation: A loser with a gun initiates mass murder … and you, with your concealed carry pistol, are nearby.

Lessons: Citizens who stand up and fight can stop the killing … but anti-gun media may still spin their heroism 180 degrees from the truth.

. . .

Joe was prepared to stop the killer with gunfire if he had to. He says today, “I was just truly blessed I didn’t have to pull my firearm. I didn’t have to go to that place. The guy who had the gun was the wrong guy, and I’m glad I didn’t pull a gun on him. I’m glad the people took him down when they did. He was heading in my direction, toward the Walgreen’s, coming my way; when I stepped out the door I might have been the next victim, or would have had to shoot him.”

. . .

No good deed goes unpunished. The gun-banners were out in force as soon as the story hit the newswires, dancing in the blood of the victims. Some in the media turned their sights on the Glock 19 pistol used by the killer, ignoring the fact that Representative Giffords herself owned one and was known to carry it, and the fact the Tucson police responded with drawn Glock 22 .40 calibers, their issue sidearm. Because three of Loughner’s five magazines, including the one in his gun when he opened fire, were extended to 33-round capacity, a ban on magazines holding more than ten rounds became a cause célèbre once again among the antigunners.

. . .

When others fled and played dead, Zamudio literally ran to the sound of the gunfire. He was ready to shoot if he had to, hand on Ruger and safety off, but was careful not to add to the panic. He superbly controlled what could have degenerated into a mistaken identity shooting. In grueling interviews since, some with reporters who had anti-gun agendas, Joe proved himself a powerful spokesman for the right of responsible people to carry guns for the protection of themselves and others. He was one among many heroes that terrible day in Tucson … but Joe Zamudio was our hero.

There is an on-line digital copy of this issue if you care to browse it.

We missed last year’s GBR but we’re looking at options for attending this year. You can see from the 2009 GVR-IV slideshow that we had a great time there. Read about this year’s event at the GBR Blog.

We received the email announcing the event this morning - here’s an excerpt:

It’s that time of year, and the Gun Blogger rendezvous is only a couple
of months away. I really need a big promo effort to help get the word
out about the Rendezvous this year. Pre-registrations are coming in, but
we need to encourage a lot more folks to attend to make it all worth the
effort and to be able to continue to attract sponsors, and in the end,
raise money for Project Valour-IT.

We will have at least three guns to give away in the raffle, and
possibly four, plus other cool stuff too. The NRA is buying us Breakfast
on Friday morning, GunUp is going to buy us dinner on Friday Night, and
NSSF is buying us pizza on Saturday night. Registration is still only
$30 per person, so you make that back just in free food, even before the
door prizes!

Be sure to visit the GBR Blog to see all the cool stuff they’re giving away.

The Better Half and I have been members of the California Rifle and Pistol Association for several years. Now that we are residing in Arizona, we’re going to let our memberships lapse in favor of joining up with the ASRPA. We would like to be able to continue supporting CRPA, but the realities of being on a limited budget dictate otherwise. We wish the CRPA and it’s membership good luck in swaying the gun grabbers out there back toward the second amendment.

During the coming week, I will sign us up for membership. It appears that ASRPA, like CRPA, is a NRA-affiliated organization. We look forward to participating in ASRPA’s activities when we can.