------------------------------------------------------------ Household Gunowners' Digest Information, Tips, and Support for the Private Gun Owner ------------------------------------------------------------ June 21, 2002 Volume II, #6 ------------------------------------------------------------ Gwen S. Patton, Editor, wendy_lyn@unforgettable.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This is a FREE newsletter! Feel free to pass it along to friends, so long as you pass it along in its entirety. You are receiving this newsletter because you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instructions are at the end of this newsletter. ------------------------------------------------------------ IN THIS ISSUE ------------------------------------------------------------ => Words from The Range Bag => Review: Springfield Champion 1911-A1 .45 ACP Pistol => Feature: Firearms Training is a Must! by Gwen Patton => News from the Home Front by Robert A. Waters => Useful Websites => Submission Guidelines => Subscribe/Unsubscribe information ------------------------------------------------------------ Words from The Range Bag by Gwen Patton ------------------------------------------------------------ Gun Culture. It's a strange sounding term, isn't it? Kind of sounds like something you'd find in a Petri dish, something infectious, some kind of germ that you grow in a lab somewhere. The anti-gun people like to think that way, that by talking about "gun culture" as though it were a disease, by getting doctors to enlist in their fight against gun ownership, they might "disinfect" us, somehow "cleanse" us of those dirty guns. There have even been scholarly attempts to "prove" that guns weren't as pervasive a part of our history as we have always thought they were, that our nation's nearly-instinctive knowledge that armed equals safe is an aberration of recent years and not something drummed into us by long experience. But gun culture is far from a disease. It is the cure. The disease lies in allowing independence to be traded for security, for the safety of other peoples' arms to be exchanged for our own. Every time a people has done this, the ones entrusted to protect have become despots and instead of protecting, they have enslaved. Eventually, the party line becomes "you are too stupid to know what is good for you", and your rights are taken from you, one by one. The ones with the guns -- the new lords in their high estates -- are now your masters. They have all of the rights, and you have none. And you know what? You let them do it. Governments don't take power -- it is given to them. It all starts with just a little bit of dough to the wrong people. Gun culture is like sourdough starter. It is a yeasty, vital brew of strong ideas and sharp opinions. And, like sourdough, it starts in homes across the country in little, unassuming jars and crocks. It isn't about militias and movements, it's about everyday folks having their own means of protection from those that seek to do them harm. It's about everyday folks having the tools to go out and hunt their own food if that is their wish. It's about everyday folks having the way to sharpen their eye, to practice their skills, to forge their resolve against the day when someone would try to take away what is theirs. It is about each and every one of us being an independent, strong person, reliant on none but themself for defense. We call the police to mop up, but we defend our homes when they are assaulted. We call the police to report crimes, but we deter the criminal at our door We call the police to report the criminal who ran away, but we strike fear into the criminal's heart by showing him we are not prey. And, like that sourdough starter, we divide the contents of that crock and give it to our children when they start their own homes. A crock of starter was a customary housewarming gift for a new home -- and teaching your children proper gun handling, safety, and usage would be like armoring their future home with steel. Buying a gun isn't enough. That's just the beginning. The "starter". If all you do is buy a gun, you've bought your sourdough starter and stuck a little crock in the back of the fridge. It will do nothing but sit and get moldy if you don't take it out and bake some bread with it from time to time. Practice with your gun. Get training. And not just a basic safety course, either! You should get all of the training you can manage. Nothing is wasted in learning to use your weapon. Your family isn't going to be burgled by a piece of paper, after all! Learn how to defend against real targets, in real circumstances. Learn the law, and how it affects you. And join with others to share knowledge, for knowledge is power. Now your starter is growing, and a you've joined the real gun culture. --- Gwen Patton The Range Bag ------------------------------------------------------------ Review: Springfield Arms Champion .45ACP by Gwen Patton ------------------------------------------------------------ It's always intriguing to see my words being quoted in other places, and my reviews are no exception. Last month's review of the Glock 19 sparked a nearly month-long debate on at least one mailing list on the relative benefits of the Glock vs. a 1911- design .45 autopistol. Sometimes the discussions were lighthearted and bantering, sometimes they were heated and serious. I realized very early on that my readers had selected for me the next weapon I would review. I decided to review a .45 ACP autopistol of the standard 1911 design for this month's newsletter. I did not choose the top- line model, such as the Kimber I have been drooling over for the past year and a half, but instead selected a make and model a more general self-defense gunowner might choose, the Springfield Arms Champion. The Champion is a compact .45, with a shorter 4" barrel and smaller frame than a full-sized weapon, making it lighter and easier to conceal. The shorter barrel does decrease accuracy at extreme range vs. a full-sized barrel, but since we're looking at self-defense weapons, ranges farther than 25 yards are not generally significant. If you are shooting at a target farther away than 25 yards, it will be hard to explain to a District Attorney how you were in imminent mortal danger. But it holds a full 7 rounds in the magazine, and if you are of the school of thought that carries a round in the chamber, cocked and locked, you can have 8 rounds available. The "cocked-and-locked" debate is one nearly as heated as Glock vs. 1911, and is largely a matter of personal comfort level and security with the weapon's safety mechanisms. It certainly is not a carrying mode for the timid, or the inadequately trained. The invention of Double Action Only firearms was in part to address the safety of carrying a single-action autopistol with a round in the chamber and the hammer cocked. The 1911-type .45 is a single-action weapon, the hammer being cocked by an intial working of the slide. After that, the hammer is recocked by the recoil of each succesive shot. The trigger only releases the already-cocked hammer. Safeties are very important on a 1911. The Champion has two, the thumb safety and the grip safety. The grip safety is located where the web of the thumb and the palm meet the grip of the weapon, and must be squeezed in for the weapon to fire. The thumb safety is located in the left side of the weapon next to the hammer, a fairly wide paddle-shaped lever. Up is safe, down is fire. The particular weapon I used had low-profile Novak night-sights. I liked these sights a great deal, much more than standard blade "iron sights", and if I purchased a Springfield, I would have it fitted with these sights as a minimum. This type had two small dots on the rear sight and a larger dot on the front sight. It made acquiring a sight picture very fast and easy. The balance of the weapon, both loaded and unloaded, is very good, resting naturally in my grip. The trigger is a full-width skeletonized trigger with a medium pull, about 5-6 pounds. A note about triggers -- the Gunsite website had a warning about a different weapon with this style of full-width trigger. It said that with some Kydex holsters with shaped inserts that snapped into the trigger guard to secure the weapon in the holster, a negligent discharge could occur if the safety was not properly engaged when holstering the weapon. The shaped insert in the holster is not designed for the full-width trigger, but instead for a standard-size trigger, and puts excessive pressure on the trigger face. The force of of holstering can cause the holster insert to fire the weapon if not on safety. You should examine any Kydex holster to make certain this will not present a problem with your trigger type. Loading the magazine for this weapon is very easy. It is a single-stack magazine, holding 7 rounds. For my accuracy test, I fired a full magazine of PMC 230 gr. FMJ ammo at 7, 15, and 25 yards at a half-size silhouhette target. My first shot at 7 yards was in the 10-ring, just touching the X-spot. The second shot was tangential to that hole in the X-spot. The rest of the shots were of similar accuracy, the entire magazine being placed within a 2.75" radius. The first magazine I have ever fired with an unfamiliar weapon, of a heavier caliber than I am used to, and the accuracy at 7 yards is beyond reproach! The second magazine, fired at 15 yards, wasn't quite as good. I had two flyers, one on each of the "arms" of the silhouette. The other five shots were all in a 4" circle within the 8-ring of the target, well within the center of mass. The two flyers were approximately 8.5" apart, and one was clearly the result of anticipating the trigger break. The third magazine, fired at 25 yards, was far worse. I missed the paper with three shots, hitting the cardboard backer instead. The other four shots weren't as bad, but were still awful, three of them missing the silhouette entirely, and only one scoring in the 8-ring. I had to tell myself that, since this was a half-size target, it was as if it were at an effective range of 50 yards... but it didn't help much. The Glock was much more accurate at that range on the first try. I suspect it is a combination of my lack of familiarity with the weapon, lack of practice with .45 caliber, and the shorter barrel that contributed to my inaccuracy. I could see improvement as my shots through the magazine progressed, but it would take significant practice before I was truly accurate at extreme self-defense range with this weapon. I tried firing a few more magazines at long range to test this theory, and found that, as I practiced, I did in fact get better. Not as good as at closer ranges, but I could keep shots in the center of mass without struggling. I'm certain that with dilligent practice, any dedicated shooter could achieve a high degree of accuracy with this weapon, even at long range. But long-range shots may not be immediately easy unless you already have experience with .45 acp weapons. My accuracy testing done, I shot up the better part of 100 rounds just for fun. This weapon, for all the oomph of the heavy .45 round, is a pleasure to shoot. I didn't have a single malfunction, and my hand didn't feel overly abused from the recoil of the large caliber. I'm far more used to a 9mm, and expected my hand to get tired quickly, but it didn't. The Springfield Champion is a breed of 1911 that uses a barrel bushing that must be removed for disassembly, but this is easily done. The weapon field-strips into a minimum of parts for easy cleaning, and custom parts are readily available for improving accuracy or safety. Coincidentally, the June issue of American Handgunner has an article on a custom Champion accurized for match use. I would have to give this weapon very high marks. It has a suggested retail price of $870, but I found street prices on the Web of around $620, making it very affordable. This would be my #2 choice for a .45 acp weapon, and my #1 choice for a .45 on a sensible budget for the first-time buyer. --- Gwen Patton ------------------------------------------------------------ Feature: Tactical Training is a Must! by Gwen Patton ------------------------------------------------------------ In this month's Range Bag, I made a very important point: your family isn't going to be burgled by a piece of paper. And it's true -- crimes are not committed by paper targets, they are committed by people, people bent on depriving you of your property. Those people are more than willing to harm you to get your property, and you have armed yourself against that eventuality. Ostensibly, you are preparing yourself for the day when some person tries to make you the victim of crime. So...are you ready? Well, you have your gun...you took an NRA Basic Pistol course... and you go to the range every month to practice. You're a pretty good shot, too. You hold up a stack of punched paper to prove it, and, according to the targets, you're not bad. Even at fairly long range, you're a crackerjack shot. Let's say you've got the process of standing at a wooden bench in your preferred shooting stance and slow-firing at a bullseye down PAT. Can you do the same thing from a concealed draw? One handed? OFF hand? Have you ever fired at a human-shaped target, or just at bullseyes? What if the target was moving? What if the target were shooting back? What if it were only ten feet from you, approaching rapidly with a knife? What if the target were twice your size, charging at you with a baseball bat, screaming obscenities? What if you were sitting in your car and someone smashed your drivers' side window to point a knife in your face, demanding money, your keys, for you to lie down and spread your legs? Are you ready? Has your training to date prepared you for these things? If you are like the vast majority of gun owners, probably NOT. While most gun owners do practice more than the average law enforcement officer, they do not yet tend to get the variety of tactical training they should get in order to be ready for the kind of situations they are likely to meet on the street with their weapons. The reasons they don't get this training are fairly simple. The training isn't held everywhere, it is pricey, and it requires a fair amount of dedication to endure. It isn't easy. To be honest, it is much easier to stand and shoot at bullseyes once a month, and a lot cheaper. But learning to respond to a criminal may save your life...and that's what this is all about, isn't it? What *is* your life worth? The training isn't held everywhere, but where it is held, it is usually damn good. Some training courses travel the country, at sponsoring ranges. Others have home ranges where you can take courses that comprise from a weekend's study to a whole week of full-immersion effort. The best courses will consist of two parts: a lecture portion and a range portion. The lecture will consist of information necessary to prepare you for the proper and legal use of lethal force. This is not a simple subject, as the laws change from state to state, and even from municipality to municipality. There are common threads, and the instructors do their best to pull it all together into the "axioms" of applied lethal force. The concepts of strategy and tactics should also be a part of the classes that go longer than a weekend. Range work will depend on the particular course you take, and the particular group you study with. The ones with fixed facilities have put a lot of money and time into assembling complex tactical positions to train you in multiple scenarios. More complex classes will also involve cars in gunplay. Expect to learn to respond to attack in any position, even lying on your back. Most of the gun magazines have had, at one time or another, a review of classes at all of the major training institutes. They also have presences on the Web, and respond well to questions. You should shop around and find out which program is right for your needs. Take into account that any training program will require travel, lodging, and incidentals. Any class with range work will require a given amount of ammunition that you will need to bring with you, as well as a minimum required equipment list. You will need to check into the transportation of weapons and ammo to the class site ahead of time -- don't forget this! In these days of heightened air security, this could be a real show-stopper! You may wish to purchase your required ammo at your destination for this reason. Keep an eye out for "specials" that local organizations or groups may be doing in cooperation with the various training institutes. Sometimes, you may be able to find a local lecture or training session at a substantial savings being held by a local club. Any of these can be potentially useful, and don't turn up your nose at lecture-only seminars. Knowing *when* to use your weapon is just as important as knowing *how* to use it, and you may get a heads-up to savings on other "hands-on" training sessions at the lecture you wouldn't have heard of otherwise. Who knows? You might even befriend a qualified tactical trainer at such an event, and end up with a lot of free training! Here is a list of many of the best-known training institutes that can be found on the Web: http://www.gunsite.com -- Gunsite Academy, Paulden, Arizona http://www.frontsight.com -- Front Sight Firearms Training Institute, Las Vegas, Nevada http://www.ayoob.com -- Lethal Force Institute, Classes all over U.S. http://www.f-r-i.com -- Firearms Research & Instruction, Classes all over U.S. This is not a complete list by any stretch of the imagination. You can find many, many more by doing a simple websearch, by looking in your favorite gun magazine, or by asking at your local gun club or shooting range. Some ranges even have such training available. Ask! If they don't have it available, chances are they know who does! The point is, you should do the research and find out who in your area has the training available and go get it as soon and as often as you can. The more properly-trained and prepared persons we have out there, armed and ready to protect themselves, the easier it will be to convince the nay-sayers of the world that we know what we are doing. It is the ignorant and the inadequately trained that do the most damage, because it is they that the anti-gun people point to the most often. Don't be one of them. Most often, the ones being pointed at are dead, injured, or the victims of tragedy. We don't want you to be among them. It *is* preventable. --- Gwen Patton ------------------------------------------------------------ News from the Home Front - Home protection by Robert A. Waters ------------------------------------------------------------ On May 8, 2002, Ara and Lillian Endersbee of Pasadena, California were enjoying an evening at home when they heard a noise at their front door. 85-year-old Ara got up and went to investigate. An intruder suddenly appeared and attacked him with a hammer. After knocking Ara to the floor and pummeling him into unconsciousness, the invader also beat Lillian. He then stole cash and jewelry. In Bozeman, Montana, a 26-year-old woman was choked into unconsciousness by a violent home intruder. According to local newspapers, a sexual motive seemed to have precipitated the attack. And a home invasion in Lawrence, New Jersey left Blasco and Beatrice Scrofano traumtized. Career criminal Wayne J. Cameron burst into their home, beat the couple with a crowbar, and forced them to open a safe that contained $10,000. After going on a spending spree with the Scrofano's money, he was arrested. At his trial, the judge labeled his crime "vicious" and stated that the homeowners were lucky to be alive. Cameron was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. According to experts, home invasion in America is on the rise. While most residential burglars try to avoid confrontation, many home intruders thrive on the thrill of intimidating victims. They often come prepared with rope, tape, and weapons. They wear clothing and masks meant to frighten homeowners. They disable telephone lines. And they are quick to resort to violence. Women and the elderly are frequent targets. In other cases, invaders watch for homeowners who wear flashy jewelry or drive expensive cars. Once the invader takes control of a home, he forces the occupants to give him money, jewelry, credit cards, keys to automobiles, and other valuables. Stalkers or estranged lovers are often among the most violent home invaders. Their motives are different from those of the robber. Many have restraining orders against them, and they know that once they attack the victim, the likelihood of being re- arrested is good. Their purpose is to punish, murder, or sexually assault their victim. In many cases, they kill their victim, then commit suicide. During a home invasion, the victim usually has little time to react. But many victims do fight back. In March, a woman in Arlington, Massachusetts shot a home intruder. Brian Driscoll, a career criminal, kicked down her door, rushed into the house, and threatened her. The woman, whose name was not released, grabbed a handgun and warned him to leave. When he continued to advance on her, she shot him. Police ruled the shooting self-defense. On March 9, 2002, the Winston Salem Journal reported the shooting of a violent home invader. At 4:00 a.m., Ted Marley Baker and Kenneth Dale Church forced their way into the home of Jason Chatham. They held the homeowner at knifepoint and tied his hands in front of him. Then they began to rummage through the house. Chatham managed to get to a handgun he'd hidden and when Ted Marley Baker made a move to retrieve his own weapon, the homeowner shot him. The invader died at the scene and his accomplice was quickly arrested. On April 10, a LaPorte, Indiana woman shot and killed her estranged husband. Walter Walker had a restraining order but that didn't stop him from attacking her. He broke out a window and entered the home of Wanna Jo Walker. When she heard him, she ran into her bedroom and locked the door. Then she barricaded it with a chest of drawers. Finally, the frightened homeowner grabbed a handgun and huddled in the corner of the room. Walter Walker broke down the bedroom door, grabbed his wife, and threw her to the floor. As he assaulted her, Wanna Jo Walker fired twice, killing him. And so it goes. In Desert Hot Springs, California, a stalker entered the house of a 33-year-old woman and was shot by her boyfriend. A Bellevue, Tennessee woman was asleep with her infant daughter when two hooded intruders kicked in her front door--as they raced up the stairs toward her, the woman cut loose with a volley of gunfire which sent the invaders fleeing. In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a woman shot her former husband after he kicked in her front door and attacked her. While researching this article, I checked the websites of several home security firms. I was amazed that none recommended keeping firearms in the home for self-protection. The safety measures they recommend to safe-guard your home against invaders are peripheral to real safety. These "security experts" recommend the following: install solid doors; keep all doors locked; make sure you have a peephole in your door; use a porchlight if someone knocks on your door; and hold a family meeting to discuss home security. While the above recommendations are prudent, the one proven tool necessary to survive a home invasion isn't mentioned. Arm yourself. Learn how to use and safely store your gun. And be mentally prepared to shoot if your home is invaded. Thousands of people are alive today because they kept a gun in the home. And thousands of home invaders are dead or incarcerated because of armed homeowners. Robert A. Waters is the author of "The Best Defense: True Stories of Intended Victims Who Defended Themselves with a Firearm." His new book, "Guns Save Lives: True Stories of Americans Defending Their Lives with Firearms" is due out later this month. http://www.robertwaters.net ------------------------------------------------------------ Useful Websites ------------------------------------------------------------ The Pennsylvania Chapter of the Second Amendment Sisters are sponsoring a lecture and dinner by Massad Ayoob of the Lethal Force Institute and Walt Rauch, author of "Real-World Survival!". This event was postponed from 2002 to April 5 & 6 of 2003. http://www.2asisters.net/pa/events.htm ------------------------------------------------------------ Submission Guidelines ------------------------------------------------------------ Household Gunowners' Digest is intended for the person who owns a firearm for personal protection, or for the protection of their family or loved ones. We are always looking for feature articles that address the needs of the everyday person who owns, or is looking to own, a personal firearm. We are not looking for articles geared towards hunting, law enforcement, or military applications. For complete guidelines, please see http://www.voicenet.com/~ardrhi/hgd-submit.html ------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2001 Gwendolyn S. Patton, Jeffersonville, PA. All Rights Reserved. Newsletter may be freely shared between individuals, provided that it is shared in toto. For reprinting of individual articles, please contact the editorial staff. ------------------------------------------------------------ To subscribe, send an email to: hgd-home-subscribe@yahoogroups.com To unsubscribe, send an email to: hgd-home-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Or subscribe through our home page at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hgd-home HGD has an open discussion group. All subscribers are welcome to participate. To subscribe, send an email to: hgd-discuss-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Or subscribe through our home page at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hgd-discuss ------------------------------------------------------------ Household Gunowners' Digest is a publication of: Revolution Earth Press 163 N. Whitehall Rd Jeffersonville, PA 19403 610-630-9862 Editor-in-Chief: Gwendolyn S. Patton wendy_lyn@unforgettable.com Assistant Editor: Margaret S. Leber maggie@voicenet.com http://www.revolutionearthpress.com