2nd Amendment

Forged in Fire

The 2nd Amendment: we mostly think about it as firearms, but in the American Revolution, swords were also important weapons. American cavalrymen carried long sabers, frequently as shock troops who charged at great speeds. Infantrymen were often armed with a short sword measuring around 25 inches in length, known as a “hanger” that served as a secondary weapon to the musket. As a result, swords were plentiful when the Constitution was written.

Today, probably no one would choose a sword over a firearm for most self-defense situations they might face, but it is incumbent that we force the opponents of our God-given right of self-defense to defend their entire foolish and naïve would-be bans or limitations on our right. We must demand to own other self-defense weapons, including swords.

You may not have contemplated swords since you were a wee tike running around with a small wooden one playing pirate, so let’s quickly look at some characteristics of today’s long blades. Swords changed over the last several millennia, primarily because the character and conduct of warfare (the type of enemy – such as mounted versus dismounted and what formations they used; tactics; metallurgy; the armor worn by your opponent, and so forth) constantly changes.

Today, the character and conduct of your fight could be combat inside your home, or outside. The guy probably trying to kill you will likely have neither a sword of his own, nor wearing armor, most-likely be a single opponent, or at most a small group, but not part of a large, packed formation such as a Greek phalanx! If outside your domicile, if he has a gun and you don’t, you have a problem – unless you can strike first, while inside the house, you know the terrain which is a huge advantage. But again, this is not an argument to trade in your Browning 12 gauge for a Renaissance-era Zweihänder (two-handed) long sword – not that a blow from the latter won’t disable an attacker, but swinging that bad boy inside and you’ll find out what collateral damage is!

So here are some general types of swords you could own, and you aren’t limited to just one! Just like with firearms, you have to practice, practice, practice: you and two other buddies just can’t saunter out in the back yard one afternoon, swinging your swords expecting to become the Three Musketeers. And these are not wood or dull; they can will cut you if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Slasher. The Japanese Katana (above; sometimes called a Samurai sword in modern culture) is one of the best, if not the best, slashing swords available due to the stability, flexibility, and precision provided by the handle and soft curvature of its single-edge blade. The downside? You’re looking at years to get good with it – which is true for many swords ! – and it’s pretty long for inside-the-house use!

Cutter/Chopper. Cutting strikes are different from slashing, as they look to sever body parts (sword-fighting is bloody; get used to it). The best cutter/choppers have broad, sturdy, blades with a forward center of gravity that focus all of their power on the single-edge blade. A Chinese Dadao (above) is a good choice.

Thruster. While it can slash, the whole point of the thruster is to bury the blade’s point deep into the chest/guts of the other guy. Nothing did that better, for a longer period of time, than the Roman Gladius, the sword of the Roman legion. Blade length is about 20 inches; inside the house is doable, because you aren’t swinging it, you’re stabbing. Remember! Since the blade can be 2.6″ in width, the wounds are often fatal.

Jack of All Trades. The above three types were designed for fighting, but a machete can serve many other purposes, cutting bushes, small trees, ropes, and even digging the ground when necessary, and be a slasher if need be. They love getting dirty.

Stealth. Cane Swords provide you with that crucial 2 seconds of getting it into the fight – because your attacker has probably never encountered one before. But laws concerning them are so nebulous, so often mis-quoted, that while I feel confident that used inside your house you might be OK, outside – well, we must push lawmakers allow them for self-defense anywhere. Cold Steel makes several economic models, while Burger Custom Canes produces ones so exquisite that your kids will fight over it in your Will, and let their siblings have the lake house and your beloved 1966 GTO.

Intimidator. Nope, not Dale Earnhardt. It’s the Khukuri. Think Gurkha. Think “Ayo Gorkhali!” (“Here come the Gorkhas!”) Yes, deterrence will not always work, but if it doesn’t, this bad mama-jama looks like it is going to hurt somebody really bad – because it will. I can’t say enough about Himalayan Imports, that makes these over in Nepal. I own a bunch. Some are 30″ long, but you want one 15-20″ as its easier to control. 5160 Straight Carbon Spring Steel leaf-springs off of large cargo trucks, preferably Mercedes or Saabs, past their operational life, are retooled into blades. The Ang Khola model is almost unbreakable; some can even serve as a prybar. Does what a machete and ax can do. When I bought mine, they provided the name/info of the smith (kami) who forged each; I hope they still do. Even if you never want it as a weapon, you should consider owning one of these.

Throughout history, a quality-made sword spoke of the unique character of its owner; in some cultures, only the bravest could possess one. Be that protector of your own house and family. Find your Excalibur.

Forged in FireFrench MacLean2024-04-14T12:06:46-05:00

If You Are…You Need a Gun

The “typical” gun owner is often characterized by non-gun-owners as a right-wing, red-neck, beer-guzzling, low-IQ Neanderthal who is just itchin’ to unleash his trigger finger. But times have changed, and now a whole lot of those non-gun-owners – who used to be dismissive of guns — truly need a firearm, whether you are a Pabst or an Armand de Brignac Brut kind of person.

Because now, it might be a matter of life or death. Recently in Decatur, Illinois, a teen was arrested for allegedly breaking into his 60-year-old neighbor’s home and trying to kill him because that neighbor is gay. So if you identify as LGBTQ…you need a gun for protection. LGBTQ people are nearly four times more likely than non-LGBTQ people to be victims of violent crime. You may never actually have to shoot in self-defense, but then again, why take a chance?

If you identify as a woman…you need a gun for protection. 19.3 million women in the U.S. have been stalked in their lifetime. 1 in 4 have been victims of severe physical violence (e.g. beating, burning, strangling) by an intimate partner in their lifetime. 1 in 7 have been stalked by an intimate partner during their lifetime to the point in which they felt very fearful or believed that they or someone close to them would be harmed or killed. 1 in 5 have been raped in their lifetime. You may never actually have to shoot in self-defense, but then again, why take a chance?

Smith & Wesson Model 19

If you live in a rough neighborhood… you need a gun for protection. In 2021, 701 men and 90 women were murdered in the Windy City. 640 were black, 29 were white, 105 were Hispanic, and the major determinant was where they lived. The City of Chicago is installing 426 “Bleeding Control Kits” in 269 buildings across the city. Officials say the kits could help save lives in an emergency such as falls and penetrating injuries. Let’s get real; the kits are there to treat gunshot wounds, a tacit admission that the powers that be cannot prevent you from being shot; they have retreated to a position where they “hope” that you will not die from a gunshot wound.

If you live in a rich, safe neighborhood…you need a gun for protection. 875 South Bundy Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles; case closed.

If you know one or more males in your neighborhood who have violent tempers… you need a gun for protection. Almost half of all male killers are younger than 25. Less than one-third of male killers rely on firearms as their weapon of choice. That means that two-thirds of male murderers use some other means of killing – not firearms. You can defeat that attempt with a firearm. Why take a chance?

If you identify as male…you need a gun for protection. Almost 80% of all murder victims in the U.S. are male. You may never actually have to shoot in self-defense, but then again, why take a chance?

If you are an Asian-American…you need a gun for protection. Hate crimes targeting people of Asian descent in the U.S. have skyrocketed, especially in large urban areas, where the legal gun ownership process can be especially onerous. Determining motivation of a criminal – who is never apprehended – is almost impossible: did the perpetrator rob and kill a Chinese-American store owner because of race or because of the cash register? You may never actually have to shoot in self-defense, but then again, why take a chance?

If the proponents of gun control ever get their way, it will not be the rich political elites who are murdered; they talk a good game, but live in gated communities, in exclusive neighborhoods, and either have personal security details, or flaunt the law and have their own firearms on the sly. By denying the means to defend everyone else, the anti-2nd Amendment mob expose themselves as homophobes, anti-woman, racists of all stripes, and whatever fancy term applies to setting up elderly people living alone to be victimized.

A society, country and culture can be measured, in part, by how well it protects the most vulnerable among them, whether they are unborn babies, children, or people who look different, think differently, believe differently or come from different backgrounds. The right to life; the right to self-defense; are inherent rights of every human being. No government can legitimately deny you that right.

But they try to. So if you own a firearm, great. Make sure you keep it secured. And help everyone you know learn how to shoot and how to legally obtain a firearm. Because: man, woman, gay, straight, black, white, Hispanic, Asian-American, atheist, religious, young adult or senior citizen …you need a gun for protection.

If You Are…You Need a GunFrench MacLean2023-10-08T14:36:28-05:00

Defeating the Terrorists

Terrorists in Brussels airport moments before detonating their bombs

Not sure how many of these mass-casualty terrorist attacks the world in general, and the United States in particular, have to withstand, before the people rise up and demand that their leaders take effective action to stop them.

I am also not sure that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, but I do know that it is pretty stupid and almost guarantees that your opponent — be that in a sport, or at the national security level — will probably defeat you.

A whole lot of Americans are getting pretty much tired of the political correctness that suggests that these terrorists are misunderstood; that it is our fault that they attack us; that we must not take drastic measures to defeat them, or they will have won. These pathetic attempts have not proven effective and we now have a major terrorist attack almost every month. Fort Hood, Boston, Chattanooga, San Bernardino, Paris and now Brussels have entered our lexicon as locations of mayhem and death. Before, most Americans associated Belgium with waffles; now they link it to terrorism and murder.

The Europeans may be beyond salvation in this fight, unfortunately, because their populations have ceded way too much power to their own national governments, and on top of that have tried to pound a square peg into a round hole in submitting to an “uber-government” called the European Union. If you understand that the further away from the people a government is, the less it will respond to the people’s wishes, why in the world would anyone think that a governing body higher than the federal level would be of greater assistance to the average man in the street?

It is also obvious that we have had a crop of too many military leaders who were more interested in appearing sophisticated thinkers and Georgetown party-goers than they were interested in kicking ass on the battlefield, but that is what you get when you attempt to conduct years and years of political and social experimentation with your military.

Having said that, we here in the United States may have one last opportunity to preserve our sovereignty and way of life against an enemy that has been an anathema to our ideals for over a millennium. Without getting too far into the weeds, and not hearing any coherent plan from our current crop of political hacks, let me offer the following three-tier strategy.

“Point of the Spear”: take the fight to the terrorists. Intel agencies (like the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, etc.) combine with the military, and the other elements of power for offensive operations outside the US to not just defeat but eradicate the threat. Design rules of engagement to enhance our forces’ ability to find, engage and destroy the enemy, whether that is active terrorists, or those who provide haven, logistical support, or morale support. If you support the terrorists, you may find yourself part of what is called collateral damage. Deny the enemy safe haven anywhere in the world by offensive action and my linking a foreign country’s relationship benefits with the US to the aggressiveness that country deals with terrorists inside its borders. This fight is not designed to nation-build, as that would put US forces on the ground in one area for a protracted time, when what we want is a quick re-cock and the flexibility that provides; it is aimed at dismembering the terrorist organizations and personnel of those who would attack us.

“Not in our house”: defend the actual homeland. Law Enforcement (the Federal Bureau of Investigation, state, local police) and permissible intel (intelligence agencies that are allowed by law to operate inside the US) prevent attacks, and when that is not done, responding rapidly to an attack. Homeland Security and the State Department limit the influx of potential/actual terrorists into the country by protecting the border and effectively screening who attempts to get in, by using the simple and logical rule: when in doubt, keep them out. Use effective profiling techniques unfettered by political correctness, to identify threats especially among those individuals who demonstrate an unwillingness to assimilate into American culture. And we need to come down hard, by passing laws that make a life in prison without parole sentence the most frequent outcome for anyone convicted of taking an active part in a terrorist attack (or providing material support to terrorists be that money, intelligence, sheltering, etc.) whether that is a foreign terrorist or an American citizen that perpetrates those actions abroad or here at home.

“Goal Line Stand”: harness the inherent courage and initiative of the American people as individuals, who when faced with a threat take immediate action such as the passengers in Flight 93 to eliminate or reduce the effects of that attack. Support of the 2nd Amendment, even expanding it if necessary, and the encouragement of concealed carry by law-abiding citizens. Support efforts at community policing in Arab and Muslim enclaves in the US. Reduce gun-free zones that now just invite attacks. Establish laws to indemnify citizens who respond in good faith to terrorist attacks. A good last line of defense can overcome temporary power-brokers in Washington who make bad decisions — be they incompetent or dishonest — as well as foster the key goal that we are all in this together.

Every anti-terrorism effort must fall into one of these three defensive tiers or they are a waste of time and money; that is called unity of effort. Our society needs to marginalize those who would commit national suicide by tying the nation’s hands behind its back. Terrorism is here and not going away any time soon unless we circle the wagons and unify in the effort to defeat it.

“We Are at War” headline in German magazine

Defeating the TerroristsFrench MacLean2016-03-27T10:58:53-05:00