It’s axiomatic that we should use the right tool for the given job. We don’t hunt deer with shotguns loaded with birdshot, obviously, nor hunt ducks with deer rifles.  But once the basic parameters of need are determined, it’s worth our time to look at the fine points of design vis-à-vis the shooter’s abilities, habituations, and preferences.

For example, when I was much younger and used lever action rifles for deer in the Northeastern woods, I learned that I preferred the semi-pistol grip stock of the standard configuration Marlin 336 over the straight stock of Marlin’s Texan variation, or the Winchester 94.  The lever hand started a bit more forward, requiring a little longer range of arm movement for the lever’s throw, but it mounted better on my particular body and just shot a little better for me.

In double barrel shotguns, I developed a preference for double triggers as opposed to selective single trigger. It was easier for me to remember which trigger activated the open choked barrel for close-rising birds, and which discharged the modified choke barrel for longer shots than for my thumb to fiddle with a forward movement and a sideways one on the safety/selector apparatus.

For a deeper dive into assessing selection needs, my friend Greg Ellifritz in his excellent Weekend Knowledge Dump reminded me of an article I did a while back on short barrel revolvers for American Handgunner magazine.

The more you look at the fine points of your needs beforehand, the more satisfied you’re likely to be with the choice.  True of vehicles, true of firearms, true of lots of things.

56 COMMENTS

  1. Hello again Mr. Ayoob. As always it is a great pleasure to read your material. Always thought provoking and fact filled. I have an answer for rotation checking a hammerless revolver. While pointing the gun in a safe direction slide a business card corner first into the slot below the cylinder. As it slides to the rear this will push down the cylinder bolt and allow a safe rotation check. This can be used on any revolver if you wish. You have my full permission to call this the “Ayoob Maneuver” if it becomes popular:-)

  2. Good article on stub-nose revolvers. I often carry a S&W 640 J-Frame myself. Sometimes, I carry a Charter Arms Boomer with laser grip.

    Just a couple of point on this article.

    First, you have a type in the line “…still one of their best-selling lines is the J-frame: a small, five shot revolver generally produced with a barrel measuring 1 3/8″.”

    As you know, the standard barrel length for S&W J-frames is 1 7/8″.

    I would also add that Charter Arms sells it line of .44 Special “Bulldog” snubbies that are also available in hammer spur, shrouded hammer and spur-less hammer models. These big-bore snubbies can, potentially, pack more “wallop” than the .38 special versions and yet do not have the muzzle blast of the .357 magnum snubbies.

    • and just to be pedantic (i.e. grammar police), you have a typo (typographical) error in your correction of Mas’ typo where you typed “…First, you have a type in the line …”.

      Typo not type.

      Jus’ sayin’

      Have a Good Day!

  3. I would prefer the 4th type for shooting from inside even a fire-resistant jacket pocket. I have settled on a Ruger SP101 spur-less in .357 with powerful loads for BACKUP carry in predator country. The stock grip fits my hands perfectly. Twice I have had aggressive bears sneak up on me too close to shoot conveniently with anything but a snubby. Bears survive by being stealthy, and they can be almost inside your shirt before you realize that they are there. You can take them out quickly with head or neck shots taken at proper angles. You don’t have to worry about pressing the muzzle against them like you must with many semiautos.

    • Somewhat below I mention the James Bond Beretta, which apparently was a .25 ACP, not a .22 version. If so, my bad. I do have a very small, reliable-to-fire .25 ACP single-action semi-auto. The .25 ACP center-fire cartridge has traditionally been considered more reliable to ignite than the rim-fire .22. In my experience, .22 bullets may tend tend to penetrate certain target media farther than .25 bullets, depending on ballistic factors.

      • but if you’re just shooting your hiking partner in the knee so you can outrun him (and the bear), either a .22LR or a .25ACP will suffice.

  4. Revolvers are probably good choices for duty guns in a house, if there are household members who are not going to practice very much. Also, they require less hand strength to operate. I have a tough time loading the .45 ACP cartridges into the magazines for my Glock 30. I’m sure those springs will loosen up one of these days.

    • ” I have a tough time loading the .45 ACP cartridges into the magazines for my Glock 30.”

      Have you tried using a magazine loading tool?

      I have one of those Maglula pistol magazine loading tools. See this link:

      https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2136952670?pid=952670

      Not cheap but worth every penny IMHO. One of these tools will make quick work of loading the magazines for your Glock 30 irrespective of the stiffness of the springs. I don’t even bother using my thumb anymore since I bought the Maglula.

      • TN_MAN,

        A similar device came with the gun. For some reason it doesn’t work very well for me. It is so simple, I doubt I could be using it wrongly. Maybe the Maglula is better, even though it is similar. I know many people use them.

  5. “Tailor the Tool to the Task”

    This title brings up a question in another area. The area of school shootings.

    I just read an interesting article authored by Mr. Lott. See this link:

    https://townhall.com/columnists/johnrlottjr/2023/01/03/will-phobias-about-ar-15s-keep-schools-from-adopting-this-innovative-product-n2617808

    The idea expounded here is that school resource officers (Police Officers) should be armed with short, AR style weapons carried in backpacks that also include soft body armor. The idea being that, in the event of a school shooting, the officer could pull the AR and use the backpack as armor protection. He could then engage the school shooter on equal terms even if the shooter was armed with a semi-automatic rifle. By carrying the weapon system hidden in a backpack, the officer would not scare students or alarm parents or teachers. So goes the theory!

    Mr. Lott worries that the AR has been so maligned and tarred by the anti-gunners that schools would reject this possible life-saving option due to the negative optics of the AR.

    What do you think of this idea? Would it have worth?

    Perhaps, to reduce the negative optics, something other than an AR should be issued. What about equipping the officers with the FN P90? It is just as short, in its law-enforcement version, as the compact AR. It’s 50 round magazine is superior to the 30 round magazine of the AR in terms of capacity. It’s optics might not set off the anti-gunners to the extent that the AR does. (It looks somewhat cute!). Also, depending upon loading, it’s round might be less inclined for over-penetration than some types of AR ammo.

    Would the P90 be a better tool to “tailor” for this task in your opinion?

    • We’ve already seen pushback on that. The good news is, having armed good guys present is more important than exactly what they are armed with. Look at how many mass murders have been shortstopped by Good Guys and Gals with Handguns.

      • “…having armed good guys present is more important than exactly what they are armed with.”

        No doubt, you are correct. As they say: “The first Rule of gun-fighting is to have a gun”. 🙂

        During a mass murder event, having any gun, even a “mouse-gun” is better than no gun at all!

        Still, what about your point to “Tailor the Tool to the Task”? When it comes to stopping a mass murder event, some firearms will naturally work better as an “equalizer” than others. If the decision has already been taken to have armed resource officers in the school, should not their armament be tailored to the task?

        It seems to me that the armored backpack with hidden weapon system might work as one approach. I certainly don’t see it as a total answer. Maybe just part of the answer.

        However, I admit that I am not an expert in this area. I am just an interested citizen who would like to see some REAL solutions put forward. Something other than stripping all American Citizens of their arms. On that path lies slavery to the State as the Leftists well know!

      • One good rule might be to carry the most effective-sized firearms that you can get away with, probably concealed. Sometimes that can be limited to one flat, small-caliber pistol. When all I feel that I can carry even under permit in certain areas of control is pepper spray, a small, reliable handgun, and a sap, I will adapt my tactics to circumstances, possibly even a la James Bond with his Beretta .22, although preferably with a compact 9mm Parabellum, or two. Striking suddenly with painful, temporary chemical blinding and appropriate accurate small caliber gunfire may be effective enough to STOP a lethal criminal. Saps can be quick and handy, especially for saving an aggravated assault victim when you are behind a vicious assaulter. Whap, and down they quickly go, hopefully “just knocked out.” No missed gunshots to worry about, anyway. Against a knife you should at least expertly wield a much longer blade, like Zorro, or be good with a stick.

    • Following Columbine the college police chief and I went down to Gunsite for some training and expert consultation. Everyone agreed that we needed a long gun. Chief wanted a combat shotgun but most of troops wanted an AR. I was inclined to the later but basically wanted a consensus that the troops would be comfortable with. Gunsite guys were pretty clear that the AR was the better choice given our layout. So we did that and used shotguns as less lethal.

      • @ Richard – “…used shotguns as less lethal.”

        I never considered a shotgun. Again, I am not an expert, but I can foresee problems with a shotgun. If loaded with buckshot, it would not be my choice to use in a school full of children. It would seem to have too much chance to cause collateral damage. If load with slugs, the danger of over-penetration causing collateral damage also seems too high.

        Also, I never considered a shotgun as “less lethal”. Not at close range anyway! Even compared to a full-size AR rifle, I don’t see that to be true.

        Maybe if loaded with specialized rounds (rubber buckshot, bean-bag rounds, etc.), it would be less lethal. However, I would not want to go up against a mass-murderer, armed with a semi-automatic rifle or pistol, with such ammo in my shotgun.

        An AR-style pistol is the weapon that appears to be considered for the proposed “Backpack System”. I have shot such a firearm before. It was a short AR style pistol (8-inch barrel) with forearm brace and red dot sight. It was chambered in the .300 AAC round rather than 5.56 NATO. I would think that the NATO round would tend to loss too much velocity out of such a short barrel. Really, it would be no better than the 5.7 mm round fired from the FN P90.

        So, why not just use a P90? The only downside is that the P90 might be a bit more expensive to purchase (guns and ammo) than the AR pistol in 5.56. Still, if the P90 is better from a public relations point-of-view, why not spring a little more for it?

        I don’t see lugging around a shotgun in a backpack. You would have to use something like a Mossberg Shockwave to make it fit! Not a precision tool by any means. I have doubts about such a tool fitting this task!

  6. TN_MAN wrote (in another thread but repeating it here in case you miss it)
    Do the people of the UK really have voice? You voted for Brexit (twice) and you can see how that turned out.’

    We voted for brexit once and left. How is that the will of the people being ignored?

    Can you tell me what would NOT prove the left is taking over? Whatever happens you claim it’s proof it is. A theory that is not theoretically disprovable is meaningless. And one that is not practically disprovable is worthless. And what are all these left policies that are being forced on people?

    • “And what are all these left policies that are being forced on people?”

      If you cannot see the Statist/Communist/Socialist policies being pushed 24/7/365 by the media, by Hollywood, by constant propaganda, and by constant indoctrination in our schools, then I doubt I could ever provide you anything that you would view as evidence. If you cannot see it even as the Left beats us over the head with it, then your own Worldview must be so left-wing that you must view extreme left doctrines as mainstream and unremarkable.

      Here is what is occurring in the U.S. right now:

      1) Thousands of propaganda pieces are being run to push an agenda to disarm the America Citizen. Here is this hour’s edition:

      https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-supreme-court-may-kick-off-2023-with-a-huge-ruling-for-gun-rights/ar-AA15Z7oY?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=7dae1791922d4859ae422852a5e45c8e

      2) Our southern border is thrown wide open so as to import non-Americans that the Left believes will support their Anti-American agenda.

      3) Covid-19 is still being used as fear-fodder to panic people into handing more power to the Left.

      4) Our economy is being deliberately collapsed so as to pave the way for “The Great Reset” and Socialist control.

      5) Our rights are being systemically undermined. Freedom of speech is being blocked with a Government/ Big Media collusion. Just look at the Twitter material released by Elon Musk. In addition, those who dare protest against the Government risk being set up and framed for prison sentences. Look what happened to the January 6th protesters.

      6) Schools constantly indoctrinate our children with left-wing ideology. Everything from Critical Race Theory to Climate Change to Socialism to the 1619 Project is being shoved down their throats every day in our schools and universities.

      I could name a thousand more items but what is the point? If you see all this and yet dare to ask, “what left polices?” then you are, clearly, incapable of seeing what is before your very eyes. Your own left-wing Worldview must be blinding you to what is happening in front of your nose.

    • nicholas kane,

      You have asked TN_MAN to prove this nation is moving to the Left. I will attempt to show you that the attitudes of the citizens of the United States of America have moved from the Right to the Left over the past few centuries. I call change in worldview, “moving from the Right to the Left.” You probably call it “progress in human values.”

      European Americans lived in North America in the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s. I will state some generalizations about what those people believed about life. You will agree that people think differently today. In my eyes, this proves that Americans have moved from the Right to the Left.

      In the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s, many Americans would consider the Bible to be the Word of God. They believed the earth was thousands of years old, not billions of years old. They believed marriage was between one man and one woman, for life. Divorce was seen as a shame to be avoided at all costs. THE HUSBAND WAS IN CHARGE OF THE WIFE, WHO WAS REQUIRED TO SUBMIT, AND HE WAS THE HEAD OF THE HOUSEHOLD. When he died, then the wife became the head of the household, and if she owned land in New Jersey, she could vote. Sex outside of marriage was a sin. Substance abuse was probably limited to alcohol. Drunkenness was a sin, to be avoided. Criminals were punished. By today’s standards, judicial punishments were harsh. When I was in elementary school, I remember learning that when George Washington was a boy, it was possible for a minor to be executed by hanging for stealing a loaf of bread.

      You know I could go on and on. Charity was seen as a private function, not a government function. I didn’t even get into education. For the most part, college was for men only, and only for a few scholarly men. Women worked inside the home, especially if they were married. I think a woman would quit working in a factory when she married, even if she remained childless. I may be wrong about that.

      My point is, that the way Americans think today has changed from what it used to be. I am sure you can see that. Thankfully, race relations have improved since 1865.

      Will you admit that the thinking of Americans has moved from the Right to the Left over the centuries? Will you admit that the thinking of Americans continues to move to the Left of the spectrum today? Maybe I should define “Right” and “Left,” but I don’t think that is necessary. The shortest definition would be, Right = Bible, Left = Karl Marx. Do you have a better, or even a different definition of Left versus Right?

      The time for dialog between Left and Right is coming to an end, but I’ll keep trying, because of inertia.

  7. TN_MAN
    Haven’t you seen what the videos of what the january 6th cop killers did?
    Immigrants don’t vote predeomiantly democrat.
    You don’t have an open border.
    Biden is improving your economy.
    The rest of what you say is against the left being allowed to put forward it’s arguments. If this
    ‘propaganda’ is so devastating why can you only point to actual events that don’t exist?
    Where are things that actually happened? Where is your socialist economy? When were elections suspended?

  8. Apropos tailor the tool. Dear Mas and friends, competition shooter from Germany here with a question: for shooting steel plates (eight inch diameter, five in a row, distance 26 yards/25 meters) I am looking for a red dot for my S&W 686. Would buy the Vortex Phenom. This is available with 3 MOA or 6 MOA dot. Any recommendation as to which MOA size is better? Thanks.

    • Depends on the shooter’s eyes and needs, too subjective for me at least to just toss off a number. On an 8″ plate either should work. The best bet is for you to try one of each. If you can’t try them on a gun, lining up the sight by itself on something on the far side of the gun shop should give you a good idea.

  9. I have to admit that 50 odd years ago, I removed the hammer spur from 2 J frames. Still got them. However, a decade plus after that, I learned keeping one can be a good idea. Revolvers do, in fact, malfunction. Being unable to pull the trigger can have several causes, most of which can be rapidly solved by a hearty yank on the hammer spur. No hammer spur, no IAD. What’s your plan C?

    Moving on. The concept of a SRO hiding armor & carbine in a back pack is idiotic. The soft armor belongs on the officer. Possibly concealing a hard plate? Maybe. But, lugging around a backpack large enough to take even a short barreled rifle is similar to waving a flag around. OK, it does prevent sensitive psyches from actually seeing the nasty device, but everyone’s gonna know somethings there.

    On selecting dot size: exactly how the various makers measure their dots appears to be very subjective. They don’t seem to publish any standard. I do know that the brighter you make any dot, the larger it appears.

    The larger dots/triangles/chevrons can hide a lot of a target. They seem to be intended for engaging large targets at (very) close range rapidly. Accuracy at a distance can suffer when the dot covers too much. An 6 MOA dot will hide an 8 inch plate at some unknown distance and that distance can change with dot intensity. Taking an 8 inch paper plate to the gun shop and see how the dot looks on the plate at 25 meters if possible. Jack up the intensity as no indoor lighting will be as bright as sunlight. FWIW, I went 3.25 MOA for handgun.

    • “The concept of a SRO hiding armor & carbine in a back pack is idiotic.”

      Yet consider the alternatives:

      1) Arm the officers with only handguns in holsters. If the mass murderer has a long gun, then the officer will be at a disadvantage and the officer will have an excuse to back off to wait for “backup”. All the while, the death count mounts.
      2) Have rifles available but lock them in a central armory and tell the officers to fetch them if needed. How many children will die while the officer gets the keys, unlocks the safe, and arms himself? Plus, how secure is the armory from theft?
      3) Have the officer carry the rifles openly slung on the shoulders. Will that not cause every hoplophobe within visual range to have the vapors? Will that not stoke a public relations backlash? What if the officer sets the rifle down to do a task and some child grabs it?

      You see. While the backpack idea may seem bad, every alternative seems even worse.

      As far as the dot size goes, it is probably a matter of preference. My own preference is to have a small dot size on long guns that may be used at ranges of 50 to 100 meters or more. By small, I mean a dot of about 2 MOA.

      However, on a handgun that is going to be used at ranges of 25 meters or less, I like a big dot. By big, I mean 6 to 8 MOA.

      • In the spirit of Tom606, I will attempt to address the issue of using those scary, black rifles in schools. My thinking began as humor, and yet, a few ideas just might work, until the political climate in schools changes.

        1. Paint the AR-15s pink, with purple trim, or do the opposite, paint them purple, with pink trim.

        2. Ask female designers to design a rifle which looks acceptable to female teachers.

        3. Hire only women as SROs. Dress them in buckskins, and cowboy hats, so they resemble Wrangler Jane. Give them lever-action rifles to use. While carrying their rifles, they must insert a long-stemmed, fake flower into the muzzle of their lever-action rifle. This will help calm the psyches of those female teachers in our schools. The SROs will have to be trained to remove the flower before shooting, of course.

        If enough women SROs cannot be hired, then hire men who will dress like Wrangle Jane, wear wigs, make-up and red lipstick, so that their toxic masculinity is hidden from view.

        If the aesthetically-correct steps outlined above are taken, even schoolmarms in the schools of blue states may slowly become accustomed to having armed security in their midst. Tell them it’s, “for the children” and give them sedatives so they don’t faint.

  10. TN_MAN
    Wikipedia on Jan 6:
    ‘Brian Sicknick, a 42-year-old responding Capitol Police officer, was pepper-sprayed during the riot and had two thromboembolic strokes the next day,[414][415] after which he was placed on life support[8] and soon died’
    ‘Morale among the Capitol Police plummeted after the riot.[425] The department responded to several incidents where officers threatened to harm themselves.[425] Four officers from various police departments who responded to the attack committed suicide in the days and months that followed’
    ‘138 police officers (73 Capitol Police and 65 Metropolitan Police) were injured,[25] of whom 15 were hospitalized, some with severe injuries.’

    The inflation is a world wide problem and the stock market is not the economy. Unemployment is falling fast under Joe.

    So fences, walls and the 20,000 strong border guards don’t actually exist?
    Thats’ good advice on looking at media from the other side. I read the fox news website regularily. Do you follow this advice yourself?
    Lets stick to things that are undeniable. Please can you list the left wing program that they are implementing. You keep talking about propaganda and election rigging. Those are ways to get in office, OK so what are they doing with this power? What socialist policies were implemented during the 10 of the last 14 years that you had a democratic president.
    Come to think of it why would anyone be trying to rig elections or let aliens who are supposed to vote democrats in. When you say the two parties are the same?

    • “Wikipedia on Jan 6”

      Reading from Wikipedia is hardly authoritative. It is open to editing and you can bet your last dollar (or shilling) that the media propagandists will write their narrative of the “January 6th Insurrection” into that platform.

      The fact of the matter is that an autopsy was performed on Brian Sicknick and it is known what killed him. I refer you to this news source:

      https://www.cbsnews.com/news/brian-sicknick-capitol-riot-died-natural-causes/

      And the fact that I link to a media source like CBS does show that I am not locked into “just my side” when I search for information.

      As far as the “Uni-Party” goes, the Establishment Republicans are designated losers. Their role is to be the “Good Losers” that give the appearance of Democracy to the U.S. Government. In return for playing their role, they receive a slice of the spoils. The Democrats are the designated winners. If it looks like they might not win, then rigging the election will correct the situation and let the play proceed as written by the Directors. That is why the rigging of the elections is so necessary. Otherwise, the play might go “off script”.

      We can’t have that! Let me quote the Bard: “the play’s the thing Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the King.”

      It is very much like Professional Wrestling here in America. There are designated “Good Guys” and designated “Bad Guys”. The matches are all scripted and choreographed. It is all done to put on a good show for the audience and, of course, to make money.

      I am cynical enough to not believe in the scripted play anymore. I don’t believe in Professional Wrestling either.

    • nicholas kane,

      Inflation is a world-wide problem because the world is attached to Federal Reserve Notes, and other forms of fiat currency. The Federal Reserve digitally “prints” more and more dollars, which increases inflation, all over the world, because much of the world uses those dollars.

      What socialist policy has been enacted in the last 10-14 years? How about ObamaCare? Capitalism argues for a free-market, pay as you go, healthcare system. Socialism/Communism wants the government to run healthcare. American is following Europe and Canada when it comes to healthcare. America is turning sharply Left. Stop trying to gaslight us. Just admit that you think socialism is better than capitalism. Actually, socialism is better than capitalism, but only on paper, not in the real world.

      I know your favorite song is “Imagine,” by John Lennon. You are a dreamer, but you are not the only one.

  11. WR Moore wrote:
    ‘ lugging around a backpack large enough to take even a short barreled rifle is similar to waving a flag around. OK, it does prevent sensitive psyches from actually seeing the nasty device, but everyone’s gonna know somethings there.’

    Take a look at these packs. I’m sure this fellow is really Dr Who. These ‘tardis’ packs don’t seem big enough to take the guns!

  12. Hardening the perimeters of the schools would be a major step in the right direction. However, that costs money and is inconvenient. While many/most schools have gone to locked doors with those seeking admission having to contact the office, the rigor of the programs is lacking. We’ve had obvious demonstrations of that. There needs to be “vigor” in the programs.

    While it might not be the ideal answer, arming the SRO with something similar to the HK PDW might be an answer. I don’t expect it’s still in production, but it was a MP5K with a spring loaded folding stock that fit into what amounted to a thigh holster. I doubt most would notice the difference and while it’s not an M4 would provide improved accuracy. It also minimizes the chance someone will take off the backpack and forget it or have it swiped.

    • “While it might not be the ideal answer, arming the SRO with something similar to the HK PDW might be an answer.”

      What about a pistol caliber carbine? The Kel-Tec Sub2000 can be folded into a compact package that is only a little over 16 inches long. One could develop a shoulder bag that is about the size of a large laptop case. It could be made bullet resistant by using Kevlar materials with a small hard plate. It could contain a compartment that holds a folded Sub2000 plus a couple of loaded extended magazines. (Maybe use 33 round 9mm Glock magazines?).

      It could also hold some medical supplies (bandages, tourniquets, etc.). The bag could be marked with a big exterior RED CROSS symbol leading people to think that it just held emergency medical supplies. The hoplophobes would never have to know that it also holds a folded Sub2000 in 9mm Luger.

      The strap could be so arranged that the bag could be shifted to cover the chest so that it would act as armor in the event of a need to respond to a mass murderer invasion.

      Sub2000’s and Glock magazines are fairly inexpensive. Therefore, this could be a cost-effective option especially if purchased in large numbers.

    • WR Moore,

      You are correct about hardening the school perimeters. As Mas pointed out a few months ago, Israel solved the school shooting problem in 1974. The Israeli method has worked for 49 years.

  13. Today, as I write this, is January 6th. No doubt, the Anti-American Media will be full of stories about how “democracy was saved” by putting down the Trump-inspired “Insurrection”. They boldly prevailed by seizing Grandma and throwing her into solitary confinement for the crime of taking a selfie on the Capitol Grounds!

    I wonder how long it will be before the American Left declares January 6th (Insurrection Day) a National Holiday? They can use it to replace the old, disfavored holiday of July 4th (Independence Day).

    Mr. Kane, in his comments above, has (repeatedly) asked me to point to one single, “Big Thing” that denotes the Left’s takeover of America. Of course, I cannot do that because there is no “Single Thing”. America is not dying quickly as if from a single stab in the heart. Rather, it is dying slowly and painfully. It is the slow death of a “Thousand Cuts” for America. I have tried to point out some of these cuts but, each time, Mr. Kane rejects my points as not meeting his criteria for that “Single Thing”. He has set the bar like that knowing that it cannot be met.

    However, I can try again. The linked opinion piece, below, does a fairly good job of listing at least some of the “Thousand Cuts” that we have suffered and continue to suffer:

    https://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/2023/01/05/did-someone-or-something-seize-control-of-the-united-states-n1658786

    This brings up a question. When did America begin its decline?

    There is a rule in nature. Once something stops growing, then it starts dying. This is true for people and other life forms. It is also true for empires.

    Consider the Roman Empire. It grew all the while it was the Roman Republic. Then, it became the Roman Empire. Some of the Emperors made sporadic attempts to continue to grow the empire. However, somewhere in the 1st or 2nd Centuries AD (one could argue exactly when), the Roman Empire stopped growing. Immediately, thereafter, it started dying. It ran for a few centuries more, under capable emperors and despots, but the decline accelerated until the final fall.

    The same thing for the British Empire. It expanded all throughout the 19th Century. Its final expansion was probably in 1894 when it took over Uganda as a Protectorate. So, we can place 1895 as the year the British Empire began to die. World War I hastened its decline with WW II pretty much finishing it.

    The same thing with the USSR. It grew and expanded in Europe after WW II and funded communist movements around the World. It’s last effort to expand was when it invaded Afghanistan in December 1979. This expansion effort failed, the USSR drew back, and it soon broke up thereafter. The fall of the USSR preceded rather quickly, as these things go.

    So, what about America? Our last expansion was in 1959 when Alaska and Hawaii were made States and added to the Union. America has not added a single State or Territory since then. Therefore, we can fix 1960 as the year that America began her decline toward failure. As with the other Empires, once the decline begins, it accelerates at an ever-increasing rate. Our fall is being hastened by Left-Wing enemies without and Left-Wing traitors to America within.

    I find the above concept ironic. I was born in 1960. It is just my luck to live my life witnessing the Decline and Fall of the United States of America. To watch Reagan’s image of a “Shining City on a Hill” flicker, dim, and then be snuffed out like a candle.

    Happy Insurrection Day!

  14. Roger Wilco wrote
    What socialist policy has been enacted in the last 10-14 years? How about ObamaCare?’

    Yes giving everyone free healthcare is the lash of tyranny! It’s about $15 for a prescription here in the UK. Free if one is unemployed, under 16, over 59, or too sick to pay.
    Absolutely everything else is completely free. That’s the best example you can come up with of leftish tyranny?

    • nicholas kane,

      Nothing is “free.” Someone is paying for all the “free” stuff. As Margaret Thatcher said, “The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other peoples’ money.”

      I agree that healthcare cannot be capitalist-only. Because then you would get to select from the deluxe heart operation, or the standard heart operation, or the budget heart operation. If you had no money, you would be able to purchase zero healthcare, and I am not in favor of that.

      What I am in favor of, is a system where costs are paid for, healthcare workers earn good, and even great, livings, and the system pays for itself without going into massive debt. The healthcare in Europe (and America) will be wonderful until it goes bankrupt. America is already the most bankrupt nation in history, but we don’t feel our poverty yet. Maybe there is a way to avoid the pain. I am no economic expert. People like Peter Schiff keep forecasting Doomsday, but it never gets here.

      Anyway, thank you for your thought-provoking arguments.

      Here is another definition of Right versus Left; The Right prefers small (or limited) government, while the Left prefers big government.

      When comparing capitalism versus communism, I like to point out the differences between West Germany and East Germany, North Korea and South Korea, Hong Kong + Taiwan and Red China, which only prospered when it turned to state capitalism. Also, look at Cuba and Venezuela. Look at Detroit, and all American cities versus the suburbs and rural areas. Yeah, the money is in the cities, but who wants to live there? Who wants to live in a communist country? People vote with their feet. More people strive to enter the United States than strive to leave it.

      Why did most of the slaves remain in the United States, and even in the Confederacy, when they were freed in 1865? Why didn’t more of them return to Africa?

      I must congratulate Great Britain on how it handled slavery. William Wilberforce did a lot to get slavery made illegal in 1833. No civil war was needed.

      It is instructive to see the reaction of Native Americans and African Americans to rule by European {a.k.a. white} Americans. Native Americans do not want to live with the white man, but African Americans do want to live with the white man.

      I’m thinking of creating a custom T-shirt that reads, “Without white men, you would live in a wigwam.” The bashing of white men is a communist tactic to make citizens unhappy with their country, so they will be open to changing it. Advertisers use the same technique to sell us new things. “Look, your old product has this defect. Buy our new product because it is better.” Many times new products are better, but not always. Also, there is no product without some defects. The curse on this world is lessened, but never removed entirely. We live better lives than those who went before us, but the curse [a.k.a. entropy, or The Second Law of Thermodynamics] remains. All roads lead to the graveyard. (There’s another good message for a T-shirt.)

  15. TN_MAN
    You know full well there is never going to be an ‘insurrection day’. Don’t be so silly.
    You wrote:
    Mr. Kane, in his comments above, has (repeatedly) asked me to point to one single, “Big Thing” that denotes the Left’s takeover of America.’
    What I wrote is there for everyone to see. I never said that.
    I notice you can’t give a single socialist policy that the dems enacted. So the borders are destroyed. The economy tanked. Schools infiltrated. The population brainwashed. Covid exagerrated….
    and all to get the opportunity to enact policies, they then never actually do anything about. Seems a lot of trouble to achieve nothing.
    So once again: please list these hard left policies that they go to all this trouble for and say when they were enacted.

    • “You know full well there is never going to be an ‘insurrection day…”

      Are you so sure? The Biden regime celebrated January 6th today with an awards ceremony. The day is not only being celebrated but people are being singled out to be “honored” too. How long before the statues go up and the legislation to set the holiday gets purposed? See this link to behold the celebration:

      https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/the-january-6-attack-is-not-over/ar-AA163ArG

      “So once again: please list these hard left policies that they go to all this trouble for and say when they were enacted.”

      As I have tried to convey, the Left plays a long game. It is the “Death of a Thousand Cuts” rather than a single stab in the heart. The subversion of the American Left has been slowly building for more than a century. It is not something that has happened within the last decade or two.

      Anything that has been done to take power away from the American People and centralize it to grow the Government has been a step in the Statist plans of the Left. They especially love to use (or manufacture) a crisis that they can then exploit to centralize more power.

      If you want specifics, then here are a few mileposts:

      1) The passage of the 16th Amendment to the US Constitution. This established the power of the government to tax incomes. It also provided a nearly unlimited source of funding to grow the central government.
      2) The Left exploited the Great Depression to pass its “New Deal” programs. Every part of the “New Deal” either grew the government or restricted the rights of the people. For example, the National Firearms Act of 1934 which began the long attack on the 2nd Amendment.
      3) The “Great Society Programs of LBJ and the Civil Rights Movement. These all established the Welfare State to ensure that there will always be an “Underclass” in America. Having an underclass, to exploit and use, is a fundamental necessity for the Left.
      4) The establishment of a Federal Department of Education under President Carter. The usurpation of the power of education, from the States to the Federal Government, was another fundamental step. It established the tools for the left’s indoctrination programs that infest our schools and universities today.
      5) The exploitation of the 911 crisis to weaponize the US intelligence services, via the so-called Patriot Act, so as to turn them into a Secret Police that oppresses the American People. One can see that, as a result, the FBI might as well call itself the KGB today. The Twitter Files show how the intelligences services worked, hand in glove, with Big Tech to suppress free speech in America and as a tool to help control elections.
      6) The passage of the various “Hate Crimes” Acts. The acts established the power of the government to suppress resistance by the American People. As per George Orwell, they established a framework for “Thought Crimes”.
      7) As was mentioned above, the various efforts to Nationalize Health Care. If the government can control your health, then it can (ultimately) control you.
      8) All the many efforts to control the money system. The ultimate goal will be to establish digital currencies that allow the government to control every single dollar of every single American Citizen. As above, if the government can control your finances, it can control you.
      9) All the efforts to use Covid-19 to increase central government power under the guise of responding to the crisis.
      10) The expansion of regulatory power. In many ways, congress no longer set US policy. It is, increasingly, being set by bureaucrats in D.C. A lot of the legislation, that is passed, is now written by interest groups. Increasingly, the role of congress is to just “Rubber Stamp” whatever legislation the Deep State writes.

      Just a few of the “Thousand Cut” that have occurred and continue to occur. Power to run this country has been steadily removed from the American People and concentrated in the central government. It is classic Statism. Just as classic as if it was a straight up socialist or communist program that was imposed by force. It is a soft Statism rather than the hard Statism of, say, a Communist Revolution.

  16. TN_MAN
    Thanks for returning largely to facts not silly claims like; there are no fences, walls or patrols on the border.
    Though the ‘insurrection day’ is still a fantasy. And no the only person there wasn’t some granny. A lot of cops got hurt and four commited suicide soon after. The videos are there for all to see.
    And the facts you present are wobbly. No bureaucrat can pass a law. You really see the constant battles in congress as ‘rubber stamps’.
    You are completely free to buy any health care you want. Just now a lot of people can still get it if they don’t have the money.
    BUT
    Why is strengtening the state a leftist plot? The Nazis could hardly be called soft government could they?
    I think this discussion has come to a natural end. We don’t seem to be convincing each other.
    Thanks for the debate. 🙂

    • “And no the only person there wasn’t some granny.”

      The Fed’s swept up a lot of people in their efforts to suppress the First Amendment Right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. They did not want to hear any grievances over the their misconduct of the 2020 election. They just wanted the American People to shut up and obey and get over it. Shut up or else you get the gulag, buster!

      That is the real message of January 6th (Insurrection Day).

      I never said that all the hundreds arrested were grandmothers. However, several (indeed) were grandmothers. See this link:

      https://www.dailywire.com/news/unarmed-grandmother-first-to-be-sentenced-in-january-6-capitol-breach-says-shes-reading-about-americas-race-relations

      This grandma did not want to spend the rest of her remaining life in the Left’s prisons. So, she gave them what they wanted and pleaded out. Therefore, her crime of walking at the Capitol was not punished as severely as others such as “Bison Man”. See this link:

      https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/17/politics/jacob-chansley-qanon-shaman-january-6-sentencing/index.html

      “I think this discussion has come to a natural end. We don’t seem to be convincing each other.”

      You are probably correct.

      I have a theory that the Right/Left Worldview is set at the subconscious level by a combination of genetics and early childhood experiences. This happens subconsciously in much the same way that the choice of language is subconsciously controlled by whatever language the adults around a young child speak.

      There is a saying, sometimes attributed to Winston Churchill, that goes:

      “If you are not a liberal at the age of 20, you have no heart. If you are not a conservative at the age of 40, you have no brain.”

      However, I don’t believe this saying to be true at all. In my view, the political worldview is largely set by the time a child reaches their teenage years. By the time they reach adulthood, it hardens like concrete and seldom changes no matter what life experiences they endure or what reasoned arguments are made to them.

      The choice is not conscious. It is set at the subconscious level and, for the most part, is beyond the control of any adult to consciously change.

      Therefore, when a person with a left-wing worldview begins a debate with someone like me (who’s view is distinctly right-wing), nobody’s mind gets changed. Both sides end up talking past each other.

      I well know this to be true. However, I (nevertheless) will engage with someone on the other side. Not because I know that I can reason you over to my viewpoint. Rather, I do it because it gives me a chance to air my political views for others to read. Also, I will admit, I simply like the back-and-forth of a debate. Even if I know that debate is futile.

    • One final point:

      “Why is strengtening the state a leftist plot? The Nazis could hardly be called soft government could they?”

      I don’t see your point here.

      The word NAZI is an German acronym. It stand for “National Socialist German Workers’ Party”

      As a Socialist movement, Nazism is (clearly) a variant of left-wing ideology.

      I admit that it differs from classic Socialism and, also, from classic Communism. The two standard pillar of left-wing ideology. However, being a victim based worldview, left-wing ideology can mutate, like some dangerous disease virus, into many different forms.

      Indeed, this ability to mutate is one of the most dangerous aspects to left-wing ideology.

      Thus, we have:

      1) In Western Europe, we have the soft form of European Socialism as practiced in the UK and other Northern European Countries (Sweden, etc.)
      2) In the USSR, we had the hard variant of Soviet Style Communism.
      3) In China, the hard variant of Mao style Communism mutated, after Mao’s death, into the Communist controlled/State Crony Capitalism that it is today.
      4) In a similar way, in Cuba, the hard Communism of Castro has mutated into a softer form after his death.

      In Pre-WW II Germany and Italy, we had the hard, Nationalistic form of Socialism known, today, as fascism.

      However, by whatever name, left-wing ideology is (at its core) all about Statism. It is about concentrating power in the State at the expense of the Rights of the Individual.

      So, of course, Nazism was not about soft government. It was a mutated form of left-wing ideology that concentrated power in the German State. It was the opposite of a right-wing or libertarian ideology.

      Some people try to sell the false idea that Nazism was a right-wing movement. The Nazis opposed the Communists and, this fact, is used to justify that falsehood. The idea being that, since the Communists are clearly left-wing, and the Nazis clearly opposed them, then this MUST mark the Nazis as right-wing.

      Wrong! The WW II fight between Nazi Germany and Communist USSR was an intramural fight between two poisonous variants of left-wing ideology.

  17. WELL SAID SIR!
    We all think we made our decisions based on facts and logic but I notice everyone in the office is left wing if they are from the north of england like me and right wing if they are from the south!
    As you say it’s more for the undecided to read. Those not obsessed with politics, you know; they have a life instead.
    And since on a conservative web site you are in effect encouraging people not to vote because there’s no difference between the parties.
    Keep up the good work 🙂

    • nicholas kane,

      “And since on a conservative web site you are in effect encouraging people not to vote because there’s no difference between the parties.”

      I should get a custom T-shirt which reads, “Democrats do evil, Republicans do nothing.”

  18. Roger Wilco
    What amazes me about the ‘white people need to pay for slavery’ argument is that no one ever mentioned who did the enslaving.
    Hardly any slaves were captured by white men,as the myth portrays.
    Africa wasn’t called ‘the white mans graveyard’ for nothing. To leave the coastal trading stations was to die of disease.
    They traded british manufactured goods to buy them off other africans. So when is west africa paying reparations?
    I’ve been told ‘we owe the blacks because we enslaved them’. Well I have no problem with that and am personally wiling to pay reparations to every person I ever bought from Africa before it was banned or kept on a plantation after that until 1865′ 🙂
    Thanks for the debate to you too.

    • nicholas kane,

      You are correct about slavery. The Arab Muslims enslaved Africans in the distant past, and they still enslave them today. African kings enslaved Africans from other tribes, and sold them to slave traders. So, the people who were brought to the New World as slaves were not free people in Africa. They were already slaves in Africa. They were doomed to spend their lives as slaves in Africa or slaves in the Americas.

      Because the population of the world is so large now, 8 billion, there are more slaves on earth today than at any time in the past. Slavery is normal, but ugly. Freedom is abnormal, but beautiful, if free people use their freedom to make healthy decisions.

      Like you, I think those American slave owners who freed their slaves in 1865 should pay reparations to those former slaves. That would be fair and just. Since both slaves and masters are long dead, I don’t think it is very practical. However, calling for reparations for dark brown people (no one is black or white, everyone is some shade of brown) serves communist interests by dividing Americans. An ancient tactic of warfare is, “Divide and conquer.”

      One of the most jaw-dropping facts of American history is when you learn that not all African Americans were slaves. Some were free men, AND SOME OF THOSE FREE AFRICAN AMERICANS OWNED AFRICAN AMERICAN SLAVES!!!

      As Stefan Molyneux said at the end of his “The Truth About Slavery” video, (which was taken down several years ago by YT because they “canceled” Stefan), “WHITE PEOPLE ENDED SLAVERY.”

      Cheers.

  20. When people tell me the Nazis were socialist because the word is in their name (I know you are not saying that)
    I’m always delighted. One of the Mavericks was called ‘Nicholas Kane’. So that must mean I can play the guitar! 🙂

    • “…people tell me the Nazis were socialist because the word is in their name…”

      I see your point. If I could quote the Bard again: “”What’s in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.”

      The questions are, did the Nazis lie when they named themselves “Socialist”? What is meant by “Socialist”?

      If one narrows the definition down to an ideology that is only about Nationalizing certain means of production, narrows it down to just economic theory, then under that narrow definition, maybe the Nazis were not true Socialists.

      However, fixing upon economic models, only, to define Communist, Socialist, Capitalists, etc. misses the boat IMHO.

      In my view, the true dividing line between the left and right worldviews revolves around the relationship of government to the individual. Under this view, any form of government that is Statist. That favors centralizing power in the government at the expense of the individual, is left-wing. Any government that favors the rights of the individual over the rights of the government, is right-wing.

      Thus, the United States was established as a right-wing Republic. Our Constitution clearly sets the individual over the State in many ways. By “Balance of Power” to limit government power. By designing it as a divided government with separate branches. By including a “Bill of Rights” to supports the Rights of the Individual against government suppression.

      Unfortunately, as I pointed out above, Over the last century or so, the United States has been transformed from a right-wing Republic into a left-wing Oligarchy.

      The real question to ask (above) is, were the Nazis Statists? Clearly, they were. Hitler, and the Nazi party, worked hard to concentration power in the German State. Therefore, whether the Nazis met the textbook definition of “Socialists” or not, the were (in my book ) a left-wing movement.

      As I noted above, left-wing ideology can mutate like a disease virus. It is like a prostitute who will change her dress, makeup, hair style and color, do role playing, etc. all to please her client.

      It is like in the movie “Pretty Woman”. The leading man picks up the leading woman, who is a prostitute, and is driving her in his car. He asks her “What is your name?

      How does she reply? She responds, in a sexy voice, “What do you want it to be?”

      That, in a nutshell, is left-wing ideology. It can be the hard communism of worker against capitalist. That was the form that appealed to the Russian people after the death of the Czar.

      It can be communism styled as ancient wisdom as per Mao and China. Remember Mao’s book of Sayings.

      It can be soft socialism to be sold in Western Europe.

      It can be hard socialism (fascism) as sold in Germany and Italy. Hitler tailored Nazism to appeal to the mood and prejudices of the German People after their defeat in WW I.

      In today’s World, it wears a “Woke” face an is all about BLM, climate change, gender identification, etc. All tailored to appeal to mood and prejudices of Generation Z here in the 21st Century.

      Left-wing ideology is not just classic Socialism or classic Marxist communism. She is a prostitute that can be dressed-up in an infinite number of costumes, hair styles and make-up. All to appeal to her current client.

      As I said before, this ability to mutate is what makes left-wing ideology so dangerous.

      So, what is left-wing ideology?

      (Say in a sexy voice): What do your want it to be?

  21. nicholas kane,

    Socialists, Communists, Nazis, Fascists, Theocrats, Monarchists, Dictatorships and modern American Democrats are all for big government. The Founding Fathers, who created the American Constitution, were for small government. Because, their writings, and the founding documents, put restraints on the federal government. If an American is patriotic, he cannot be a socialist, because the founding documents created a small government. A socialist wants a big government, and does not love America the way it was created.

    Any citizen or resident alien who wants a big government is a domestic enemy of the Constitution.

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