Open for Comment: I occasionally receive inquiries as to when my second book will be published. Some of you know that I had hoped to produce a book that would be an instructional manual of the handgun techniques that I teach. Such a book, of necessity, would be extremely illustration-intensive. Suffice it to say that my source of illustration is not currently available, having been diverted by matters more directly related to the security of our nation. I am contemplating asking Paladin Press if they would be interested in doing an updated version of Defensive Use of Firearms. In it I would insert the continuum of point-shooting techniques that I have been teaching since the second half of 2005, as well as a few other additions and enhancements that have found their way into my teaching since the book was released in early 2005. The bulk of copies of DUF that Paladin sells are sold to me, for resale. While not all list members have purchased the book, it would be useful to know if people would actually purchase an updated edition. --- A List Member Replies: In response to the discussion about improvised trauma kits, a list member has shared links to an Army document on hemorrhage control and to several products. I have not reviewed the products and note that hemostatic dressings have been associated with burns and unwanted blood clots. I had not intended to initiate a discussion on trauma care and would like to emphasize that, for those who are contemplating the ability to manage trauma, there are a few physicians who offer such training in association with shooting schools, such as John Farnam's DTI (http://www.defense-training.com/). You may also want to see if Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training is offered where you live. CERT training is based on the recognition that, in a disaster, EMS will be overwhelmed and that additional resources must be in place in the community. http://www.usaisr.amedd.army.mil/ewsh/Chp6HemControl.pdf http://www.traumacure.com/index.html http://www.narescue.com/HEMORRHAGE-AND-VASCULAR-ACCESS--C3.aspx http://www.remotemedical.com/Tactical-Medicine/Hemorrhage-Control http://www.combatmedicalsystems.com/Products/List/1/CategoryID/3/Level/1.aspx http://www.bestglide.com/Emergency_Bandage.html http://www.bestglide.com/celox.htm http://www.bestglide.com/quikclotpage.htm --- Colorado Springs Weighs Sale of Confiscated Firearms: This conservative city is taking an unusual, some might say extreme, step to try to stem its fiscal woes: It's entering the gun business. The Colorado Springs City Council is expected in coming weeks to approve the final details of a program that would allow the Police Department to sell confiscated firearms to federally licensed gun dealers. Police have already stopped melting down the hundreds of guns they collect from crime scenes, drug houses or civilians who don't need them anymore. The sales are projected to bring in about $10,000 a year, only a slight dent for a city that faced a deficit of one-quarter [sic] its $200-million annual budget this year. But it still helps, said Vice Mayor Larry Small, who proposed the gun sales... (Opposition to this sort of program presumes that if "evil" firearms are destroyed, others will not be found to replace them. I suppose that if all manufacture and importation of firearms were halted, destruction of seized firearms would actually reduce the number of firearms available for all uses. This would simply drive up prices, on both the legitimate and the black markets. Absent cessation of manufacture and importation, the main thing accomplished by destruction of seized firearms is the loss of some desirable ones that are no longer manufactured.) http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gun-sales23-2009aug23,0,4831409.story --- From John Farnam: 19 Aug 09 Rifle Information: At an Urban Rifle Course in MN last weekend, we had the usual assortment of ARs in 223, plus one "AR-10" in 308. All ran fine, except the AR-10! It choked periodically during the entire weekend, but would not run at all during our close-range exercises, when the stock was not fully supported. I've yet to see a Stoner-System (pressurized receiver) rifle run well in any caliber but 223! Last weekend was no exception. When you must have a 308, both the M14 (SA/M1A) and the FAL (DSA/SA58) run just fine, and those two top the List of military rifles in that caliber. Both are battle-weary systems that have be tested and re-tested in real war! Again, there are "commercial-grade" rifles and "military-grade" rifles. No serious Operator wants anything to do with the former category! The two used to be easy to distinguish from external profile, but today there are a number of frail, commercial-grade "target" rifles masquerading as serious rifles, so that their vainglorious owners can gain an (mostly imaginary) advantage at some trivial target competition. Any time a manufacturer offers "target upgrades," like "special" triggers and barrels, turn them down! For serious purposes, you are going to need a plain-vanilla, utility, military-grade, battle-rifle, intended for serious, military purposes, not a temperamental, breakage-prone prima-donna designed only to impress the shallow and self-centered. /John (While I don't know if John is correct in his condemnation of the Stoner system, his overall point is valid. In the same year that the US adopted the bolt-action Springfield M1903 rifle, Canada adopted the straight-pull Ross rifle. It performed very well on the military target ranges but proved to be a disaster in the WWI trenches of Europe, where the fine mechanism that eliminated the need to lift the bolt handle fouled all too easily with mud and similar debris. I suspect that the Swiss were lucky that they never had to go to war with their similar Schmidt-Rubin straight-pull rifles, which also performed very well on the target ranges. We see similar issues with handguns designed or tuned for match-grade accuracy. I recall a student who brought a customized Colt Officer's ACP pistol to a course. The gun had been so tightly fitted for target-grade accuracy that one or two unburned flakes of powder on its tapered barrel prevented it from returning to battery.) -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .