Finally, the federal government is acknowledging the importance of armed citizens. In a document dated April 2018 entitled “Active Shooter Incidents in the United States in 2016 and 2017,” the FBI examined 50 crimes designated as “active shooter incidents.” The document, which has a Las Vegas scene as a cover photo, focuses only on these particular crimes.
As with past FBI active shooter-related publications, this report does not encompass all gun-related situations. Rather, it focuses on a specific type of shooting situation. The FBI defines an active shooter as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.
In a section titled “Citizen Engagement and Casualties,” we find the following:
In 10 incidents, citizens confronted the shooter. In eight of those incidents, one or more citizens safely and successfully acted to end the shooting.
In four incidents, unarmed citizens confronted or persuaded the shooter to end the shooting. In two incidents, school staff confronted and restrained the shooter. In one incident, the citizen used his car to thwart the shooter. In one incident, the citizen persuaded the shooter to surrender via telephone during a police chase; she ran up to the shooter’s car as he came to a stop and pulled him out of his seat, bringing the chase to an end.
In four incidents, citizens possessing valid firearms permits successfully stopped the shooter. In two incidents, citizens exchanged gunfire with the shooter. In two incidents, the citizens held the shooter at gunpoint until law enforcement arrived.
In one incident, a citizen possessing a valid firearms permit exchanged gunfire with the shooter, causing the shooter to flee to another scene and continue shooting.
In one incident, a citizen possessing a valid firearms permit was wounded before he could fire at the shooter.
I believe the numbers would be even higher if so-called “gun free zones” didn’t prevent law-abiding citizens from carrying guns in areas where so many of these crimes occur.
The FBI’s Conclusion:
Armed and unarmed citizens engaged the shooter in 10 incidents. They safely and successfully ended the shootings in eight of those incidents. Their selfless actions likely saved many lives.
And to further support an armed citizenry:
The enhanced threat posed by active shooters and the swiftness with which active shooter incidents unfold support the importance of preparation by law enforcement officers and citizens alike. (Emphasis added)
Clearly, armed citizens are an asset to our nation’s security, and their presence helps shorten and prevent crimes — including mass murder. Why, then, do so many citizens and politicians work so hard to disarm us?
Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started… [Learn More]
You know KnifeCenter is the largest and original catalog of cutlery, but did you also know we’ve been an educational resource since our launch in 1995? From day one, we’ve been an international hub with the latest knife news. One of our biggest goals was to not only be able to give you the largest collection of products, but also have all the information you’d ever need about knives and tools to make an informed purchase.
One thing we take very seriously is making it easier for knife newbies to enter the industry. That’s why we’ve created The Knife Guide – a series of videos that will cover a wide range of topics, from learning about knife parts to knife and tool maintenance (and everything in between).
We already have the first two installments ready and rolling on our YouTube channel!
This video will not only define an EDC, but will explain a little bit about folding knives, pocket knives, fixed blade knives, multi-tools, and some rules for choosing a knife or tool that’s the right fit for you. You can also check out all of the products that we used in the video, just in case any of them caught your eye or seemed like a good fit for a first-time knife or tool buyer.
In the second installment of the series, we dug into exactly what a folding knife is – the parts, how they work, what additions impact the cost of a folding knife, the different types of locking mechanisms and how they function, and some of the trademarks you’ll see in folding knives from well known manufacturers like Spyderco and Benchmade. We pulled out some great knives to help showcase these features, that way you’ll know our recommendations and can feel confident picking up any one of these folders.
We’ll be adding new videos weekly on YouTube and featuring the products on our website. We’re going to talk about what a fixed blade is, the best way to sharpen steel, the different blade shapes and what blade types are best for specific tasks, the different types of steel and how they compare, the best knife handle materials, and more. We’re also eager to see what type of content you’d like to see in this series – nothing is off limits! Be sure to head to our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to let us know what you think and your recommendations for what you’d like featured in this series next!
Many people associate SHTF gear with doomsday preppers, underground bunkers, and enough ammo to support a small army.
The truth is that everyone should have an emergency supply for when shit really hits the fan – not just people who like to plan hypothetical zombie apocalypse-nuclear winter scenarios.
You heard the man, the apocalypse is on hold…for now…
Speaking of zombies, if you haven’t read the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (the CDC) Zombie Apocalypse Plan you really should – no joke, it’s a great start to SHTF planning.
Setting aside some ammunition, extra weapons, and other survival gear is a great way to ensure the safety of you and your family in the event of an emergency.
Today we’re going to look at some SHTF gear essentials that every survivalist needs to have.
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The Essentials to Have on Hand
Above everything else, you want to have a self-defense handgun that’s powerful enough to neutralize any incoming threat.
This will be your primary pistol, so you want to make sure that it’s something you’re comfortable shooting; don’t go purchase that .50 Desert Eagle just yet.
This is NOT SHTF Gear!
Personally, I believe that the best SHTF gun is a 9mm – and this has nothing to do with the debate over which cartridge is better.
The truth is that the 9mm is one of the most commonly used cartridges in the world, so coming across ammo for it is going to be much easier than a 10mm or .41 mag.
Remember, even the best gun in the most powerful caliber in the world is completely useless if you run out of ammo.
I find the absolute best SHTF gun to be the Glock 17.
Some might argue that there are better guns on the market, but the G17 is built for durability and usability.
And in a survival scenario where you might not have the time to pamper your gun like you normally would, you want a dependable gun that will still shoot accurately and cycle through ammo even with some wear-and-tear.
Another good choice is the .45 ACP, as it’s an even more powerful cartridge that’s also commonly used. You can see our list of recommendations for good .45 ACP pistols and 9mm pistols.
What about Rifles?
If you’re like most modern firearms enthusiasts, you’ve probably already got an AR-15 on hand.
If not, it’s a great home-defense weapon that you should consider adding to your arsenal. You can learn more about buying your first AR-15 by checking out our AR-15 Beginner’s Guide.
Pew Pew Upgraded AR-15s
Depending on what kind of shit hits the fan, you might want to have something a little more versatile (or at least harder hitting) on hand than an AR-15 – especially if you live outside of a major metropolitan area.
Some would say that a Scout Rifle fits that role, and it did…70 years ago. While a scout rifle isn’t a bad idea, there are better options.
The AR-10 is a perfect example, get one chambered in .308 Win with a variable scope and you’ve got a great rifle for taking down game, protecting yourself from two-legged threats, and keeping the whole thing light enough to hike with and giving yourself 20 rounds on tap in case things go really sideways.
The Pew Pew Tactical Complete Buyer’s Guide to AR-10s will help you get started off right.
The Henry Survival Rifleis a 3.5-pound .22LR rifle that’s portable, accurate, and perfect for hunting squirrels, rabbits, and other small game.
Get a Compact Backup Handgun
As the saying goes, “a .380 in your hand is better than a .45 in the glovebox.”
While I recommend keeping your .45 ACP a little closer than the glovebox (or .357 Mag, 9mm, 10mm, .44 Mag, or whatever handgun you prefer), having a backup pocket pistol on hand can mean the difference between life and death in an emergency situation.
The idea is to have a compact gun available that you can easily grab in a pinch. I like the .380 ACP because it’s small and lightweight, but still powerful enough to neutralize a threat at close range.
Like most Glock models, the G42 is a functional handgun that’s designed specifically for performance.
In other words, it’s not flashy and it doesn’t come with extra features. But it is durable and extremely dependable, which happen to be the two most important things to look for in a backup handgun.
As the smallest of the Glock models, it should go without saying that the G42 is an incredibly easy gun to carry in your coat pocket or strapped to your ankle.
One more thing…Ammo is everything when it comes to the .380 ACP. Unlike some of the harder-hitting cartridges that’ll stop any threat dead in its tracks, the .380 ACP is only as effective as its ammo.
If the .380 ACP isn’t your style and you’re looking for something a bit more tried and tested in the field, you can’t go wrong with an old-fashioned .38 Special.
The Bodyguard 38 is a modern take on a law enforcement classic – the .38 snub nose.
While the Bodyguard 38 (and other .38 specials) may not be popular services pistols in today’s generation, they’ve more than proven themselves to be powerful, dependable, and more than capable of acting as a backup pistol.
Overall, the pocket pistol makes a great addition to your SHTF Kit because it’s small enough to carry on your person at all times. I recommend a .380 APC or a .38 Spl because both of them are small and lightweight, yet powerful enough to take down a threat at close range.
Ideally, the pocket pistol is something you’d only want to use as a last resort – like if your primary gun jammed or it ran out of ammo.
Storing Your Ammo Safely
The last thing you want to do is stockpile ammo for an end-of-the-world scenario, only to discover that it’s corroded and functionally obsolete when it comes time to use it.
A lot of people tend to forget that ammunition has a shelf life. However, that shelf life is completely up to you. Store it right and it will last long enough for your grandchildren to use, store it wrong and you’ll kill your stock before the next deer season.
One of the easiest ways to extend the shelf life of your ammo is by storing it in safe, secure containers where it’s protected from dirt and moisture.
Honestly, every SHTF prepper should have at least one Ammo Can lying around. They’re cheap, easy to come across, and are worth their weight in gold if you ever are in a situation where you actually needto use your ammo stockpile.
Keeping a Silica gel packet in your ammo can will help ensure that your ammo lasts almost forever, they are cheap and easy to get – keeping one in every can is SOP for me.
What’s your take on having a good ammo can and moisture stopper?
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Get a Good First Aid Kit
Ideally, every home and automobile should have a first-aid kit – especially people who’re outdoor enthusiasts. For most situations, the standard first-aid kit found in most workplaces will get the job done.
But if you’re in a situation where you really did have to use your SHTF kit, there’s a greater likelihood that you won’t have easy access to paramedics and hospitals in the event of the emergency. For this type of scenario, you’re really going to want to have a little more than a burn kit, some gauze, and antiseptic ointment.
The Grizzly Series First Aid Kitby Adventure Medical Kits is a heavy-duty kit designed specifically for the survivalist and apocalypse prepper.
It comes with everything you need to treat injuries, including QuickClot, syringes, and a tourniquet so that you can stabilize trauma victims until first responders arrive.
If you’re looking for something a little more extensive and are willing to pay more for its durable design, the Echo-Sigma Trauma Kitis also an excellent choice.
Designed to meet the needs of law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day, the Echo-Sigma kit comes with all of the tools necessary to treat sprains, fractures, and cuts, as well as stabilize people who’ve experienced serious trauma from knife and gunshot wounds.
And as a bonus, it comes in a pouch that’s easy to carry around if you have to walk for extended periods of time.
We cover how to build the ultimate Range Med Kit too if you like customizing.
Heavy Metal Equipment
You’ll be surprised how much use you can get out of a good quality knife.
Not only does your survival knife act as your last line of defense, it can also be used as an important tool – especially if you’re stuck outdoors for an extended period of times.
Food prep, shelter building, making tools, and even first aid (cauterizing wounds and cutting bandages) can all be done with the help of your survival knife.
The KA-BARis a tried-and-tested survival knife that’s been a long-time favorite among survivalists – partly because it’s also the combat knife issued to members of the US Armed Forces.
Functionally, it’s similar to the KA-BAR except that it comes with a gut hook for cleaning game, as well as a sawback – the serration on the top of the blade just past the hook. It’s made out of 1095 steel and has a 5” blade length, with an overall length of 9.26”.
And don’t forget a Whetstone for keeping your blades sharp without damaging them, like some of the other knife sharpening devices on the market.
Some other tools you might want to consider for your survivalist kit include:
If you ever find yourself away from your toolbox, each of these compact tools makes it significantly easier to set up shelter, make fires, and work on anything that needs tinkering.
Gun Equipment for Your SHTF Cache
As you already know, good gun maintenance is essential to ensuring that your gun is accurate and dependable. If you happen to find yourself in a shit-hits-the-fan moment, you want to make sure that you have all the supplies you need on hand.
After all, it’s not guaranteed that you will be able to trek to the nearest outdoors store and buy more equipment.
For this reason, I recommend keeping a few extra cleaning kits around. Preferably one for your SHTF Bag and another for the trunk of your car.
Our favorite M-Pro 7 kit from Best Gun Cleaning Kitsis perfect for handling most of you gun maintenance needs on the go, and it’s compact enough to be stowed away without taking up significant space.
I also recommend picking up a few packs of Break Free Weapon Wipes. They will go a long way in keeping your guns, knives, and tools clean, lubricated, and protected against corrosion – especially if you’re ever in a situation where you have to use your weapons and tools daily.
For a survival scenario, I recommend something lightweight and effective, without any of the frills. Concealment Express has a number of lightweight holsters for $35 that are durable and comfortable to carry around.
Food, Water, and Air
This really should be self-explanatory. You need food and water. You also need a way to get food and water after your stores have run out.
Getting food is where your firearms will come in handy, but water is a little more complex since you can’t just drink any water you find laying around – that is a quick way to get all kinds of nasty sicknesses.
For water purification, you need two options at least, one for you to get drinking water right now and one method for you to purify a lot of water.
Don’t forget – water isn’t just for drinking. You’ll also need it for cooking, cleaning, and treating injuries.
To get drinking water right away, I love my LifeStraw.
But when it comes to purifying larger amounts of drinking water you’ll need something like the Sawyer Products Mini Water Filtration System.
Before the apocalypse strikes, you should have stocked up on food and water also.
I know a basement full of MREs is the more classic prepper thing to do but…anyone that has had to eat MREs for an extended period of time can tell you that…almost any other option is preferred.
Each of these pails is a 30-day food supply for one person. That is a lot of food! Throw in the fact that each of these only weighs 23 pounds and what you have is a fairly lightweight option for long-term food supply.
Long-term water storage is a little more complex than food, you’ll need water – obviously, but you’ll also need a water preserver.
Combine these two so that your water supply will last long enough for you to get through whatever has hit the fan!
Prepping for air isn’t something that you may have thought off before – but it should be on your list. If you really want to be prepared then you’ll want to find yourself a full biological suit…
…but for more run-of-the-mill applications, a good respirator will do the trick.
Being stuck in an emergency situation means that you could be forced to pack up and move at a moment’s notice.
For this reason, you need to have a dependable backpack large enough to carry your essentials like water, knives, tools, and first aid kit.
I recommend a 60-liter backpack because it’s large enough to hold your necessary equipment but not too large that it starts getting bulky and in the way.
The Tactical Backpack by Trekking King is a popular 60-liter backpack that’s durable and comfortable enough to withstand long hikes and hunting trips.
Aside from looking cool, the Tactical Backpack has a number of extra compartments for maximizing your storage capabilities. You can load it up with survival material and store it in your trunk, garage, or closet and grab it at a moment’s notice.
Here are a few things that you want to keep in your backpack to keep you prepared for the unexpected:
This traditional Middle Eastern headdress was made popular in the western world by the British SAS. It’s a versatile cloth that can be used for a number of things including:
When you’re building an SHTF bag, your goal should be to anticipate and prepare for any situation – not just the apocalyptical, but also the more common such as an earthquake, tornado, fire, and whatever else is possible to your local area.
Choosing good survival gear isn’t always about maximizing your firepower.
It’s also about making sure that you’ve got clean water, shelter, and enough supplies in the event that you have to gather your things and leave at a moment’s notice.
Are you a prepper? Do you have a store of SHTF gear? Let us know all about it in the comments!
Brownells has announced that they are now making Ruger 10/22 receivers called BRN-22. The company offers both stripped receivers and barreled ones. Both the receivers and barrels also come in several different configurations. BRN-22 Stripped Receiver The Brownells BRN-22 receiver is machined out of a billet 6061 T6 aluminum and has a black hard coat […]
While updating my class image to Fedora 27, I noticed that it installed the Akonadi Server. The documentation on the Akonadi server lacked some straightforward documentation. It also offered a bundled set of software that limited how to approach MySQL development.
So, I removed all those packages with the following syntax:
dnf remove `rpm -qa | grep akonadi`
After removing those Akonadi packages, I installed the MySQL Community Edition from the Fedora repo with this syntax:
yum install -y community-mysql*
Having installed MySQL Community Edition, I started the service with this command:
sudo service mysql start
Then, I ran the mysql_secure_installation script to secure the installation:
mysql_secure_installation
The script set the root user’s password, remove the anonymous user, disallow remote root login, and remove the test databases. Then, I verified connecting to the MySQL database with the following syntax:
mysql -uroot -ppassword
I enabled the MySQL Service to start with each reboot of the Fedora instance. I used the following command:
Man-made disasters, ones in which human activity (or inaction) causes or indirectly leads to environmental destruction and health issues, can have devastating long-term effects. The Onion looks back at the worst man-made disasters in modern history.
Castle Bravo (1954):
This American thermonuclear hydrogen test at the Marshall Islands caused significant radiological contamination, which is why it was so smart to test it someplace that wasn’t the U.S.
Ecocide In Vietnam (1950s-1970s):
The U.S. justified its mass destruction of farmland during the Vietnam War by insisting it was vital to defeat the growing dangers posed by rice.
Shrinking Of The Aral Sea (1960s-Present):
Boo-hoo, some water disappeared, get over it already.
Thomas Jefferson Middle School (1972-Present):
Asbestos, lead paint, black mold—the whole nine yards.
Bhopal Disaster (1984):
You really don’t even want to know about this.
Chernobyl Nuclear Explosion (1986):
This catastrophic nuclear explosion was a large-scale tragedy contaminating many people, but you should totally Google it if you wanna see some real gnarly tumors.
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (1989):
This devastating incident caused the deaths of at least 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, and a bunch of other, less photogenic animals.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (2010):
The moment when oil companies discovered there is truly no limit to human indifference.
Battleship (2012):
Hasbro tried to cash in on one of its most tried-and-true board games, but even Liam Neeson and Rihanna couldn’t bring light to this disaster of a film.
Old Poland Spring Bottle Spill (2096):
Some idiot forgets to screw the cap all the way back on the bottle containing Earth’s last remaining fresh water.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with Dropbox, Google Drive, or whatever popular service you use to back files up to the cloud and keep them synchronized between your multiple desktops and laptops. However, data privacy is becoming a bigger deal, and we wouldn’t question you if you’re ready to make the leap away from these kinds of services.
The open-source utility Syncthing is a great way to get all the benefits of local file synchronization without having to give up your data to another company (no matter how much they promise they’ll never look at it). The trade-off is that Syncthing is a bit trickier to manage than a service like Dropbox, which makes it painfully easy to upload, download, and sync your files across all your devices.
Switching to Syncthing requires some setup
To get started, head on over to Syncthing’s site and look for a link to SyncTrayzor—a windows utility that allows you to use the program through a pretty GUI instead of the headache-inducing command line. Download the appropriate version for your Windows PC (32- or 64-bit), or the portable version if you feel like being different, and install (or run) the app. Repeat that process on every computer you want to incorporate into your big file-synchronization plan.
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When you launch SyncTrayzor, you’ll first want to link together all the different systems that will be sending and receiving files. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll pretend we’re linking together two Windows desktop PCs: System A and System B.
On System A, click on the “Add Remote Device” button. On System B, click on the Actions button in the upper-right corner and select “Show ID.” Copy the absurdly long device identification code from System B into the Device ID field on System A. Enter a Device Name for System B (like “Laptop.”) Click on save.
Now, repeat this process in reverse—add System A onto System B’s version of SyncTrayzor, using System A’s device ID. Think of this process as creating a friendship between your two devices. If both don’t want to be pals, they won’t trade secrets. If each recognizes the other, though, they’ll just chat and chat forever.
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Got it? Now, SyncTrayzor on one of your computers (say, System A), and click on the “Add Folder” button in the upper-left portion of the app. Pick the folder you want to synchronize across your multiple systems, give it a Folder Label (a name) you’ll recognize, and select which devices you want to share the folder to. Repeat this process for every folder you want to synchronize (or just create a new folder somewhere called “Sync” and dump all your stuff in there, Dropbox-style).
SyncTrayzor should now, in theory, start automatically dumping your synchronized folder across all the systems you selected. If it’s screwing up at all, or doesn’t appear to be working, make sure that you don’t have some kind of internal network issue that’s messing things up. You can also restart SyncTrayzor from the Actions menu, which might clear up your issue on any (or all) systems.
All my students want to become better shooters. Some aspire to being more than just proficient. They want to develop their skills to the point where they’re confident that they’re more than ready and can perform well, either in a self-defense situation or in competition. In short, they want to become and advanced shooter.
If I had to describe what it means to be an “advanced” shooter, it’s deceptively simple: mastery of the fundamentals. All of them. Then learning to execute them consistently and faster than the other guy. That’s it.
But doing things faster is one thing. Even a rank beginner can usually manage to yank a handgun out of a holster and squeeze off a few shots relatively rapidly. The goal is to do it repeatedly and with precision, and that takes training. Training in the fundamentals of stance, draw, grip, aim and control, followed by lots of practice and repetition.
The Key Is Standards
When we talk speed, the biggest challenge to getting there is achieving consistency and developing standards. When defining standards that a shooter works to attain, they must be observable, measurable and the big one…repeatable.
If you’re all over the place, the biggest mistake you can make is continuing to practice and run your drills at what feels like full speed. You might achieved some intermittent success at advanced speeds, but without mastering the fundamentals and developing consistency, you’re not truly advanced. It’s time to slow down and master the fundamentals.
You won’t truly be an advanced shooter until you can meet minimum accuracy standards, repeatedly and on command, at full speed. That’s when you’ll know you’re dialed in.
Luck Has Nothing to do with it
Early on in our classes, I ask students to only shoot as fast as they can while accurately hitting the target zone. Many mistake my instruction, thinking I want them to shoot as fast as they can, hoping that they’re lucky enough to hit the target. But luck isn’t a strategy.
Instead, I want students to hone in on perfecting good technique with minimal extraneous movement. To work on each part of the draw-and-fire sequence, with economy of motion, executing each aspect of the whole as perfectly as they can. Even if it takes them a full minute or more to complete a draw-and-fire five-shot sequence perfectly, with all five shots in the target zone, I’m happy.
The goal is to perfect the basic techniques so that they’re repeatable to the point where the shooter can’t miss at slower speeds. The light bulb truly goes on when the student recognizes speed is only a byproduct of mastering good technique, practiced until it’s truly second nature.
Only then do I have them begin to dial up the speed, gradually, in a controlled manner. As long as they’re achieving 75-80% accuracy while maintaining good form and technique, I’m happy while they work at gradually increased pace.
It’s Not That Hard
When your technique is dialed in, your mistakes become fewer and fewer. This bring about a higher level of confidence in your ability to perform on command, regardless of circumstances.
The goal is to be able to execute when you least expect it, because you’ve practiced and developed the muscle memory to perform well without thinking. I tell my students the story of a famous sculptor being asked by a student how he creates his masterpieces. The artist’s reply: it is simple, I chip away the rock until only the sculpture remains.
The principle is very similar for shooters. We try to get rid of any unnecessary or redundant movement so all we’re left with is the minimal motion necessary to accomplish the task. Over time, the byproduct of that perfected technique — developed with plenty of practice — is increased speed.
Becoming an advanced shooter is a matter of doing everything, all the essential skills involved, consistently and well. Only then can you go as fast as you can, letting it all out when it really counts.
Jeff Gonzales is a former US. Navy SEAL and preeminent weapons and tactics instructor. He brings his Naval Special Warfare mindset, operational success and lessons learned unapologetically to the world at large. Currently he is the Director of Training at The Range at Austin. Learn more about his passion and what he does at therangeuastin.com.
Every time there’s a mass shooting, gun owners routinely comment that we only wish there’d been a good guy with a gun there to stop the attack. Anti-gunners routinely scoff at such a suggestion, arguing that good guys with a gun don’t stop mass shootings.
Citizens, both armed and unarmed, successfully intervened in eight active shooter incidents over the last two years, according to a new report from the FBI.
The agency said the “selfless actions” of those who thwarted the attacks “likely saved many lives.” In total, the FBI recorded 943 casualties — 221 deaths and 722 injuries — across 50 mass shootings, including 20 in 2016 and 30 in 2017. All the shooters were male, ranging in age from 14 to 66, according to the report.
“The enhanced threat posed by active shooters and the swiftness with which active shooter incidents unfold support the importance of preparation by law enforcement officers and citizens alike,” the report concludes.
In one instance of citizen-involvement, an armed volunteer firefighter restrained a 14-year-old who opened fire at an elementary school playground in Townville, South Carolina, killing two and injuring three others. In another case, a citizen held an attacker at gunpoint inside a church in Antioch, Tennessee after he killed a person in the parking lot and wounded six others.
The most high profile was Stephen Willeford who famously stopped the shooter at Sutherland Springs last year.
However, what we see time and again is a simple statement that anti-gunners refuse to acknowledge. Guns save lives. They’ve saved an untold number of lives in just these eight incidents.
You never know when something like this is going to go down, which is why armed citizens are so important. The more places there are and the more of them there are, the greater the chance of an armed citizen being able to stop it.
The police, despite their best efforts and desires, simply can’t stop these things. They’re almost never in the right place at the right time. While I have little doubt that just about every police officer in the nation, with some exceptions, wouldn’t hesitate to rush into a such a situation, they don’t have the opportunity most of the time. By the time they get there, it’s too late for far too many people.
But an armed citizen can act. They can be there, ready to respond to the threat.
Meanwhile, anti-gun zealots spend all their time trying to disarm these people, the good people who put their lives on the line for their fellow man and fail to understand that the bad guys won’t stop. At most, they’ll shift weapons to something else. That’s only if they don’t know how to get their hands on firearms illegally, which many of them do.
It’s the armed citizen that stands against these atrocities. It’s also the armed citizen that is the one who will ultimately suffer for every policy proposed by anti-gun jihadis. Not that the anti-gunners care.
After all, in their minds, the good guy with a gun doesn’t exist, even though the FBI says otherwise.
Do you want your Mac’s function keys back? Does the Caps Lock key seem like a waste of space? Would you rather put the unused right Shift key to better use?
If you’re looking for a way to customize basic keyboard behavior, add new shortcuts, remap keystrokes, or navigate quickly without reaching for your mouse, you can do it all with a few (mostly free) apps.
1. Karabiner-Elements
Previously known as “keyremap4macbook” and just “Karabiner” before that, Karabiner-Elements has been rebuilt for scratch specifically for macOS Sierra and above.
You can use it remap your entire keyboard, whether it’s a MacBook, Magic Keyboard, or third-party USB input. It can make simple modifications, like remapping one key to behave as if it was another, or make complex modifications based on rules of your choosing. Many of these rules are available for download so you don’t have to build them yourself.
Reclaim your function keys by disabling special functions like brightness and volume control. You can assign those media keys to entirely different functions, and apply the special functions to regular old keys—like Caps Lock or right Shift.
The app lets you set up profiles, apply your changes on a per-keyboard basis, or create blanket rules that affect all input devices. It’s one of those apps that you don’t need until you realize what it can do, and how much productivity you’ve been missing out on.
Thor is a simple lightweight tool for switching to the right application with a dedicated shortcut. The app’s beauty lies in its simplicity: pick an app, click Record Shortcut, and specify a combination of keys. Thor will instantly switch to or launch the app of your choosing when you trigger the shortcut.
You can quickly disable Thor by double-tapping a modifier key of your choosing. The worst part is deciding on which shortcuts to use. I found the Control key most useful, since it doesn’t get in the way like some of the other modifiers. Plus, shortcuts like Control + S for Safari or Control + E for Evernote are easy to remember.
There are other apps that can do what Thor does, but they’re usually far more complex and built around other functions. They’re also nowhere near as lightweight; Thor clocks in with a download size of 2.8MB from the Mac App Store.
Easily one of the most powerful apps of its kind on macOS, Keyboard Maestro provides a dizzying array of customization for those who need it. The app is built around the principle of triggers and actions, and its usefulness isn’t just limited to keystroke triggers either.
, allowing you to replace a trigger phrase like myname with a longer string like John Doe.
This is just the tip of what Keyboard Maestro can do, hence its $36 price tag. For your money you’ll get:
A fully-featured clipboard manager
AppleScript and XPath support
Window and mouse cursor manipulation
An application launcher and iTunes remote
Action-based macros, like the ability to open or delete specific files with a trigger
Touch Bar manipulation on the latest MacBook Pro
MIDI control, for triggering actions with MIDI input devices
Hundreds of actions and triggers
Fortunately, you can download Keyboard Maestro and try it out for yourself before you buy. If you’re an automation nerd, or simply looking for a way to trigger scripts, macros, and other desktop events, Keyboard Maestro is the ultimate app.
Just like Thor, Fluor is a simple app with a single goal: to define function key behavior depending on the currently active application. This is particularly handy when apps have a lot of keyboard shortcuts that require use of the function keys, or when playing games.
The app simply switches the behavior of the function keys, so in order to access the special (media) key functions, you have to hold the Fn key. You can create a custom set of rules for each app. Or you can activate an app, click on the Fluor icon in the menu bar, and select a preferred behavior.
It’s a great way to set up custom rules for particular apps, without having to pay for a more complex piece of software. This works best when used sparingly, so you don’t get confused about the default behavior when you hit a key.
Another basic app with one purpose, Kawa lets you bind a keyboard shortcut to a particular language input. It was designed out of necessity by the developer who frequently switched between keyboard layouts.
macOS uses the Command + Space shortcut to switch between input sources, but adding a third complicates this. Kawa lets you record language-specific keyboard shortcuts which instantly change the input to that of your choosing.
For best results, enable Show Input menu in menu bar under System Preferences > Keyboard > Input Sources so you can quickly glance at your currently selected language. Unfortunately the app is unsigned, so you’ll need to circumvent Gatekeeper restrictions to use it.
It’s no secret that taking your fingers off the keyboard slows you down. Shortcat aims to solve that problem by removing the need to reach for your mouse and trackpad. All you need to do is activate Shortcat with the keyboard shortcut, then start typing the name of an on-screen element.
Shortcat will highlight anything that matches your typed query. You can then “click” on the right element by holding Control and the relevant shortcut displayed on screen. You can also Tab between elements and click, double-click, or hover using the relevant shortcut.
If you’re willing to put the time into learning how to use Shortcat, you’ll be navigating your Mac without a pointing device like a pro. It works system-wide and in applications like Skype, though it won’t work for every third-party app you come across (I couldn’t get it working in Slack, for example).
Brownells has announced that they are now making Ruger 10/22 receivers called BRN-22. The company offers both stripped receivers and barreled ones. Both the receivers and barrels also come in several different configurations. BRN-22 Stripped Receiver The Brownells BRN-22 receiver is machined out of a billet 6061 T6 aluminum and has a black hard coat […]
