Virginia Campus, An Alternate Scenario: World Net Daily looks back at how two armed students helped end a killing spree at another college in Virginia five years ago...Most news reports of the incident failed to mention the presence of two armed students and their role in subduing the shooter, saying only that he was tackled by bystanders. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55326 --- Trade Brisk At This Weekend's Gun Shows: Thousands of shoppers packed more than two dozen gun shows across the United States on Saturday, as the domestic arms trade kept up a brisk pace after the worst shooting rampage in modern American history. (Demand is up because [a] the Cho incident has shown more people the need to take responsibility for their own safety, [b] gun owners are concerned that the Cho incident may result in more restrictive legislation or [c] it's April and lots of people have income-tax refunds to spend?) http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N21223367.htm --- Alan Keyes On The Cho Incident: ...Far from suggesting that we should restrict or ban possession of firearms, the Virginia Tech killing spree illustrates two points often made by supporters of the Second Amendment: 1) Disarming the population leads to a higher death toll from violence. 2) The police cannot or will not protect people from deadly assault. They are organized mainly to enforce the law, not to protect our persons from harm... http://www.canadafreepress.com/2007/keyes042107.htm --- From John Farnam: 17 Apr 07 News from ILEETA: The 2007 ILEETA Conference in Wheeling, IL started today. Vicki and I spent most of our time at the huge vendor's area. ILEETA has grown rapidly into a major force in our industry! Some highlights: Ruger's Mini-14 LEO version now comes with a rail on top, standard. Like all manufacturers, Ruger noted a relentless demand for the ability to mount EOTechs, Aimpoints, and Trijicons. EOTech now has a separate "Magnifier." It is a 3X scope that mounts directly behind the standard EOTech sight. It cleverly swings in and out of position, as the discretion of the user. 4X is also available. Many chiefs want this optional magnification, so shooters can make out detail downrange. Aimpoint has something similar. Close eye-relief is required in both cases, which is the downside. ACOG now makes a "Mini-EOTech," similar to the DR sight. Small and rugged, with zero magnification, it fits nicely on an urban rifle, and it will run fine with nearly any eye relief. I like it! Meggit now owns both FATS and Caswell. The latest version of FATS is extremely sophisticated, incorporating just about every variable imaginable. They are already making military systems in an IMAX format, and that technology will be filtering down to law-enforcement versions before long. Savage Systems has bought out Porta-Target. Action Target is marketing a completely man-portable steel target, with integral (collapsible) stand, all for under $100.00. They'll sell lots of these! "Dummies Unlimited" is marketing "Cuff-Man!" It is a mannequin with realistically-jointed arms and hands that can be used for eidetic Mechanics-of-Arrest training. He can be cuffed over and over. Clever! SIG's new P250 will see the light of day in September of this year! Like S&W's M&P and Beretta's PX4, it will feature interchangeable grip panels (three different sizes), obviously a popular feature these days, eh? It will look like a 229 and feature the DAK trigger system. Smart move on SIG's part! More tomorrow! /John 19 Apr 07 More from ILEETA: I had the opportunity to handle the compact version of S&W's M&P Pistol. It is "just the right size" for concealed carry, about as small as it can get and still be useable. The copy I handled was in 9mm. A 45ACP version will be available by the end of the year. For those who carry concealed regularly, the M&P Compact is an excellent way to go. The current, full-sized, M&P 45ACP has an optional, two-position, ambidextrous, manual safety, similar to the one found on 1911 pistols. It is there to fulfill some cockeyed, military "requirement." While I regard it as pointless redundancy, it still would not be a deal-buster, were it not for the "ambidextrous" part. Again, safety levers, facing to the outside as the pistol is carried, are dangerous and should not be found on any pistol that is carried on the person, particularly when it is carried concealed. On a similar vein, Glock had on display their G21/SF. Slide and barrel are unchanged from the standard G21, but the frame is 1/8" shorter, in order to be more appealing to shall-handed users. However, the grip continues to be too big for many. Again, to fulfill some general's wet dream, the G21/SF features ambidextrous magazine-release buttons, one on each side, although the pistol will also be available with the a conventional, single-point magazine release button only on the left side, as many (like me!) will have no interest in a magazine-release button facing to the outside as the pistol is carried, for the same reasons noted above. In addition, the G21/SF, when equipped with ambidextrous magazine-release buttons, will NOT fit into conventional, G21 holsters. Conversely, with the single-point magazine release button, the G21/SF will fit just fine. DSA showed their "Spartan" AR-15 and FAL. Both rifles are slick, smooth, and devoid of superfluous junk! All internal parts are NP3'ed by friend and colleague, Robbie Barrkman at ROBAR. Polymer coating (ROGUARD) on external parts. They will run and run! Nice package. Safe Direction is making a full-function gun/range bag, with an integral, fold-out Safe-Direction, Kevlar pad. Now, you can always have your Safe-Direction pad with you for safe loading and unloading no matter where you find yourself. Everybody should have a copy! First Light's (1) hands-free, (2) hand-optional, (3) hand-directed flashlights now feature multiple levels of light and a strobe. First Light is re-educating us all with regard to what flashlights should look like and the way the should function and serve their user. All LEOs should have a copy! Ka-Bar had on display their new "LDK" (Last Ditch Knife). It is an amazingly small and flat neck knife that can be worn, undetected by nearly anyone, dressed in nearly any kind of shirt. I immediately acquired several copies, so that all my children can have one! More later! /John (I remain in disagreement with John on the matter of ambidextrous safety levers on pistols. I have generally not found ambidextrous magazine release to be necessary on pistols but can see where they might be very useful on a rifle.) 19 Apr 07 More on VA Incident: Truth with regard to the shooting incident in VA are hard to come by, since the media only interviews those long on hollow emotion and leftist political agendas, but, as always, short on facts! The media can't seem to find anyone who actually knows anything. However, since we know that the historical fatality percentage from handgun wounds is relatively low, why is it so high in this incident? The answer is unescapable: The majority of wounds were at contact distance and to the head. The conclusion is also unescapable: Most victims lined up neatly and waited patiently for their turn to be executed! The goal of leftist politicians, to make all Americans (1) helpless, (2) defenseless, (3) frightened, and (4) utterly dependant if obviously succeeding! Being a "good victim" is now conspicuously considered one's ultimate civic duty. The "solution," offered up by the "usual idiots," who are the only ones the media ever wants to interview, is predictably more of what has perpetually failed in the past and failed miserably here: More cameras, more criminal-empowerment zones, more unarmed campus police, less individual self-reliance, and the elimination of all privately-owned guns. These are the same people who, not surprisingly, believe Communism really works. It's just that the wrong people have been in change so far! What has failed in the past will continue to fail! The only thing that will prevent these kinds of crimes are good people, armed. The one thing leftists are always too scared to try! /John (For the last few decades, the lethality rate of gunshot wounds in the US has usually hovered between 20 and 25%. This probably reflects improvements in the emergency medical system and surgery procedures on the one hand, versus any improvements in ammunition on the other.) -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .