Anyone who has internet access has a cornucopia of firearms related forums to visit for information as well as the magazine based articles on the internet, plus a few gurus hawking their books and/or coursework. Knowing that evokes the question, "Who needs another source, especially in the form of a blog"?
The problem with much of the information floating around on the internet is that much of it is either inaccurate or incomplete. Many of the firearms forums are populated with self-appointed experts who love to be 'helpful" because it is an ego boost for them to see their screen names in print. Unfortunately, most of the posters have little or no real world experience on what they write about and much of what they post is simply regurgitated material they have read elsewhere. I once read a series of posts from a poster on what is the best handgun for self-defense who turned out to be 19 years old and who had owned a changing series of handguns in the two years he had been shooting.
I believe that people should not be posting as knowledgeable, let alone expert, specific advice unless they have actual real world experience sufficient to allow them acquire knowledge and expertise.
To do so is doing a disservice to those seeking knowledge, and that is especially true when it comes to self defense with a weapon. Thus, I will never write about swords, because all I know is that they are both dangerous and deadly when they are well made and handled by an expert. I also don't consider the one fencing class I took years ago in college to qualify me as an expert even if I did get an A for the semester. Bouncing around with a face shield, and a canvas tunic using foils with button tips would not qualify me to enter into potentially deadly combat nor to advise someone on the subject. Anyone who has not been involved in real life combat situations where they have shot at another human being, or been shot at or even wounded, should seriously consider what qualifications they have as an expert on this type of self defense. I'll go even further. If a writer was in the military and never saw combat, their qualifications are not sufficient. The grunt whose whole experience revolved around squad combat with M-16s and related weapons is qualified on certain subjects but not others, especially those relating to the use of handguns one on one in a non military setting.
When it comes to writers for gun magazines, the whole angst changes. Most of the gun writers of the past were in fact highly experienced and very knowledgeable people. Jack O' Connor was unquestionably one of the leading hunting experts in the world and Outdoor Life knew it. Bill Jordan, who authored many books (many of which I own) wrote for Guns N Ammo but had a long career in the Marines and as a member of the US Border Patrol. He saw plenty of combat in WW II and Korea, and plenty of action situations in his 30 years in the Border Patrol. Charles Askins also served in the Border Patrol as well as the US Army. According to him, he was in at least one gunfight for every week he was with the Border Patrol and was officially credited with 27 kills. The actual count is widely believe to be much higher that the official tally. He knew what he was talking about. Skeeter Skelton, a prolific writer for Shooting Times, was a Marine Corp veteran, and also a veteran of the Border Patrol, the DEA, and sheriff of a county in Texas. These were all experts whose comments you could trust because they knew what they wrote. George Nonte who wrote numerous books and for both Guns n Ammo and Shooting Times had a more shadowed background with constant rumors of contract work with the FBI and CIA, was one of the best technical experts on handguns, especially handguns designed for combat or self defense work of the 20th Century, and a personal friend until his death in 1978.
Here is the problem with gun magazines and writers both then and now. Gun writers need to make a living just like most of the population. To do that, they need to write books that people buy. To get people to buy their books, they need the publicity that comes from writing for gun magazines. They need the financial help that comes from good relationships with the gun manufacturers and the ammunition manufacturers because evaluating and reviewing guns is expensive if they actually have to buy rather than try. The magazines they hope will publish their articles make their living selling advertising to the various manufacturers. As a consequence, their articles must make the products they are reviewing look as good as they can either by omission or by careful wordsmithing.
If a writer was supplied with a 4" barrel Ruger Security Six to review, he might have concluded that it was a well build and very substantial revolver offering a "practically accurate" choice that was both inexpensive and worry free piece especially in .357 Magnum. All of that would have been true, but it would have left many important considerations out of the conclusions. ( I know, since I wrote that article for a gun magazine I will not name years ago.) What was left out were how hard it was to rapidly acquire a site picture given the tiny sights, or how awful the trigger pull was, or the horrible recoil from that small gun and the lousy factory grips when shooting Super Vel .357 Magnums through it.
Gun writers, in print or online must write carefully if they expect to be welcome at the table. Now experienced gun owners and shooters can often read the code and between the lines, but the new gun owner usually cannot. So, even if the gun writer is a real expert, even their material must be taken with some consideration.
The point to this blog is to offer an alternative to those other sources that is free of manufacturer considerations and is actually authoritative and accurate in nature. Not every piece will be a gun review, but will range on a variety of topics related to the use of firearms in a number of situations. Never will I write that only crazy people would own or cary a small semi auto chambered for .25 ACP, or that the 1911 style .45 ACP is the only handgun one needs. Instead, I will try to explain when and how a baby Browning in .25 ACP is the right choice, and when and how a 1911 style .45 ACP is the right choice for certain people and not for others.
I will also write about rifles and shotguns and the differences between self-training and attending group training classes, and how to choose the right training from the right instructors. I hope you as the readers enjoy and learn from this blog. Your responses and your traffic will either prove the need for this blog or not.
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