In September, I did a few more videos for the Wilson Combat YouTube channel. They have some heavy hitters on there: Ken Hackathorn, Larry Vickers, and of course Bill Wilson himself. I feel honored to be in their company.
While in Berryville, Arkansas for the recording this year, the media crew told me the episode that has gotten the most views is one Ken and I did, explaining why semiautomatic rifles such as the AR15, with full capacity magazines, have social value for safety as well as sport.
Or you can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-qzCfmLjqs&t=4s . It runs about 13 minutes.
A lot of folks say, ”I don’t have to justify owning an AR15! It’s my right!” The problem is, gun owners are a minority (as are the most vehement gun prohibitionists) and the vast majority of people in the middle on this polarized issue need to hear all the arguments. I like to think we covered most of them.
We live in a world where the media still calls these one-shot-at-a-time guns “assault rifles,” when every small arms ordnance authority knows that the true definition of an assault rifle is one with selective fire capability, that is, can be turned into a machine gun with a flick of the lever that also doubles as a safety catch. You know…like the 600,000 select fire M4s that our current President abandoned to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Yes, the same President who has publicly stated he doesn’t want you to own one that only fires one shot at a time.
Feel free to pass it on…and, of course, to comment here. Thanks to Bill Wilson for making it possible.
I have 7 AR platform firearms.
5.56 with the .22LR CMMG conversion kit.
5.56 suppressed.
300BLK suppressed
300BLK Pistol 10.5″ (The only one with a serial number, Anderson lower)
350 Legend
308 Win/7.62X51 AR10
458 SOCOM
All but the pistol were made with 80% lowers.
And what in the day would have been called “assault rifles”.
M1 Garand 30-06, 1955 Springfield Armory unissued, to the best of my knowledge.
Lee Enfield 1918 SMLE MKIII* 303 British.
Donald Trump’s slogan was, “Make America Great Again.” Joe Biden’s slogan is, “Make the Taliban Great Again.”
The only logged “success” of the Biden Administration so far….
Mas, thank YOU, Bill, Ken, and the rest of the gang for doing all that you do in the name of EVERYTHING good and necessary about firearms, gun and self defense law, training, and so much more. I’m a fairly new NRA Instructor and I have begun reading ‘Deadly Force,’ and also a HUGE fan of the Wilson Combat Channel. I’ve been so inspired by you guys that in the spirit of educating myself and my students, I’ve started my own company called, ‘The Zen Gunfighter.’
Thank you so much once again and I’m hoping to attend an MAG40 class as soon as I can afford to 🙂
Train hard and stay safe!
Its been said before and I’ll say it again.
The 2A does not GRANT rights.
It RESTRICTS the government from INFRINGING on those RIGHTS.
When we talk about the 2A ‘granting’ us rights, we diminish the intent of the 2A which is to restrict government.
We do not have to justify owning any firearm.
We have a RIGHT to an AR15 (or any other firearm for that matter).
The 2A tells us that the government CANNOT infringe on that right.
With the understanding of that being said, it is valid to discuss WHY an AR15 (or any other firearm) is well suited for any particular purpose.
So have an article all about the value and advantages of any particular firearm, but make certain you state that it is your right and the 2A prevents the government from infringing on that right.
Why am I so vehement about this?
Well, when we ‘buy into’ the anti-gunners argument that the 2A grants rights, it subverts the meaning and intent of the amendment.
Then we start seeing textbooks in government classes mischaracterizing this right and its relationship to the 2A.
I remember in the 70’s making this argument in my high school government class.
The teacher was so upset with me refusing to back down that she told me to get out.
So I left as ordered.
Then she called my dad to complain that I left class.
His response was ‘What did you expect him to do? You told him to leave and he left!’
We must instill the proper application of what the 2A is, and not let it be redefined.
Steve, explaining why we do what we do and believe as we do is critical to winning more people to our side.
Respectfully Mas. We are not going to explain, justify, or “nice” enough people to our side to make a hill of beans worth of difference. These people will be swayed when they see it for themselves. I don’t negotiate with terrorists.
Steven, I have to respectfully disagree. I doubt that many if any of the estimated ten million new American gun owners who’ve joined our ranks in the last couple of years did so because they suddenly discovered that the Bill of Rights guarantees natural rights. I think it came from logical interest in self-protection, which is what Ken and I were driving at.
So you’d have no problem with a us alquada supporter buying 6 mini guns and 100,000 rounds, the day before george w bush’s inauguration?
Njk
Steve Shapiro:
I agree with what you wrote. Also, our enemies often say something like, “No one needs an AR-15.” You know what? There are very few “needs” in life, and a multitude of “wants.” I will list our physical needs below;
clean air to breathe
clean water to drink
food
clothing to keep warm and dry
That’s about it. If our clothing is adequate, we don’t even need shelter. Although I will admit we need some kind of protection from harsh weather. If I had adequate clothing, it was 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7.22222 degrees Celsius) out and raining, I could wrap myself in a tarp and keep dry. If I had a poncho, I wouldn’t even need the tarp.
So, we don’t need houses with electricity and toilets and showers. We don’t need horses, or bicycles, or motorcycles or cars. We don’t need phones or computers. So yes, we don’t need firearms, but using them for protection is better than using a spear.
Steve, I too long argued against the incorrect but prevailing notion of “rights”, i.e. rights are real or even somehow physical and they can be granted or “taken away” by people in power. The co-option of the meaning of rights was devised to brainwash the public into tolerating abusive government powers.
Even further exacerbating the problem, rights are about action and, as much as the concept of rights might be embraced in an attempt to facilitate discussions and considerations for what actions society should tolerate, even the correct meaning of rights is a liberty rat hole!
Several years ago, while I was attempting to spread the correct concept of “rights” myself, Paul Bonneau convinced me of the philosophical red herring called “rights.” He wrote several articles on the subject at strike-the-root.com. Here is one of my favorite Bonneau postings. Bonneu credits Jeff Snyder for getting him to question the concept of rights: “Hmmm, looks like more dogma. Time to drag it out and give it a real looking at.”
“I Don’t Have Rights; Nor Do I Want Any” by Paul Bonneau:
http://strike-the-root.com/i-dont-have-rights-nor-do-i-want-any
Bonneau provided a link to the Snyder interview and it is definitely worth a read too.
Cheers,
-Cal
Calin Brabandt,
Fully responding to what you wrote would take too much space. What you wrote is thought-provoking, and I’m glad you wrote it.
I think it was John Locke who wrote about mankind in a state of nature, and how government evolved from there. I may be wrong, and I’m too lazy to look it all up right now.
The Founding Fathers were basically saying that they were being pushed around too much by the King. Back then, everyone was taught that God wants us to obey monarchs and everyone in authority. The question then becomes, how much do we obey them? How much should a slave obey his master? Are there limits? The quick, simple answer is to say you obey until you are asked to sin against God. Then, you disobey the human authority, to obey God. That could get you whipped, fastened in the stocks, burned at the stake, or decapitated in the centuries before the Englightenment.
The Founding Fathers needed a way to stand up to the King, so they followed Locke’s idea of natural rights. This is a way of saying to the King, “You can go this far, and no farther.” Basically, having a set of rights to point to keeps tyrants in check. I mean, having a set of rights to point to, and having guns, ammo, and skill with them, keeps tyrants in check. If we give up our “rights,” the tyrants in the government will walk all over us. We will be oppressed, like the people were, who lived before The Enlightenment.
All good points, Mas – we do nothing for our cause by alienating the vast middle ground. That middle ground – especially women – is where the battle will be won.
Thank you. Enjoyed hearing Mas again. 20 years after taking Mas “lethal Force Institute” Sarah, my wife, dug into his lessons. and saved herself from 4 “gang bangers” with a 2 ” .38. No shots fired , They were afraid of Grand Ma.
Paul, tell Sarah I said congratulations! Great to hear from you after all these years.
Paul Rockhold,
Obviously, what happened to your wife shows the NEED for firearms as a protection. Even a twenty-year-old male would have a hard time defending himself against FOUR GANG BANGERS. Pepper spray? Might only affect one or two of the thugs. No, without that gun, Grand Ma would have lost that fight. And look, the fight ended without a shot being fired! No gang bangers were harmed is this episode. That ought to make the grass-eaters happy.
Alas, I am preaching to the choir, but we need every encouragement as the Leftist Media wages a battle of words against us.
AR = America’s Rifle
Great work. I’ve had it linked for a while, and already passed it on several times.
Some would like to kneecap the Bill of Rights and shove some bill of needs down our throats.
The Bill of Rights never gave citizens the right to bear arms anyway. The Bill of Rights denies government the authority to infringe on that right.
Thanks Mas
If I recall correctly, there wasn’t really much general interest in ARs or similar semi-automatic rifles before Clinton & his ilk decided they needed to ban them. Bill, Barrack & Joe have been the greatest gun salesmen of all time, with just the threat of Hillary helping too. That being said, the AR really is a great firearm-light, accurate, sufficiently powerful, good capacity & adjustable to fit shooters from youngsters to old geezers. Every law abiding free adult in this country should have one & know how to run it. Despite what F-15 & nukes Joe says, an armed & capable populace does give our enemies, both foreign & domestic, pause.
First gun ban on SA rifles was by Bush I. It was an import ban. Give “credit” where credit is due.
jojothemonkeyboy is just a figurehead and not even responsible for his own potty breaks.
I don’t know exactly who is in charge but they are getting away with murder, arson, theft, assault, battery, vandalism as well as the total undermining of the rule of law and the Constitution.
jojo is incapable of coherent speech, that much is obvious, so why would anyone think he is masterminding this (so far) very successful coup?
Friend Noah Vaile, Sleepy Joe also has too many low friends in high places. A good AR with plentiful ammo and adequate practice become more of a necessity for self defense all the time. We are just getting a taste of the possible hazardous invasions yet to come thanks to the foggy thinking that has and is taking over too much political and economic control in this country. Let us all keep cool heads, but keep them on a swivel. Furthermore, we can all spend some time daily at particularly supporting and promoting sensible organizing against leftist radicalism and all our corrupt, irrational, incompetent, paranoid leadership. Fair and honest elections state-by-state are essential to stemming the current malevolent tide.
The riots last year proved that there is a legitimate need for civilians to own so-called “high capacity assault weapons.” Against that kind of mob violence (which the Democrats condoned, allowed, and even encouraged), a 20-shot, semi-automatic, .223 rifle is little enough.
That said, I do agree that the US Constitution doesn’t grant rights to citizens. It grants certain specific powers to the government, and it acknowledges and codifies the citizens’ pre-existing rights. The first ten amendments are not The Bill of Needs.
tc,
If I remember correctly, the Constitution grants “17 enumerated powers” to the federal government. Its purpose is for the federal government to do what the states allow it to do, what the federal government can do more efficiently than the 13 original states could do on their own. All other laws and powers were retained by the states, and the people. The federal government is supposed to be limited to those “17 enumerated powers” ONLY.
The firearm prohibitionists are totalitarians. Their goal is not, and has never been, public safety or to lower crime. Rather, their goal is to disarm the American People so that their Socialist/Marxist brethren can put themselves permanently in power. Their goal is to reduce America to a single-party Marxists State along the lines of the Chinese Model. These Leftists look at China not with fear but with envy. They lust to have the same kind of control of the American People that the ChiComs have over the Chinese People.
A necessary step to reduce America to a Single-Party State is to disarm the American People. The 2nd Amendment is an impediment to their goal which is why they work night and day to undermine it.
Any tactic or argument that will facilitate disarmament will be tried. The firearm-prohibitionists throw everything against the wall to see what sticks. That is why they target AR platform weapons and other semi-automatics. Because they can sell a gullible and naive public that a semi-automatic rifle is, somehow, an assault rifle. In other words, they threw the “assault rifle” argument against the wall and it stuck. They got some traction with it. They will continue to push hard as long as they continue to get traction. Once an argument loses traction, they drop it and try something else. That is why we no longer hear about “Saturday Night Specials”. That argument lost traction.
In other words, the firearms-prohibitionists see AR style rifles as “low-hanging fruit” that they may be able to successfully pick. Their plan to to harvest one firearm type after another until they have effectively disarmed the American People by a long series of incremental measures.
Addressing the practical part of the above linked discussion, a 5.56 /.223 semi-automatic rifle has one weakness as a home defense weapon. It’s high pressure round creates excessive muzzle blast and muzzle flash for indoor, home-defense work. I would hate to fire one indoors without ear protection. However, when a home invasion occurs, there will likely not be time to put on ear protection before you react.
A suppressor is one answer but, as a Class III device, they are relatively expensive and difficult to obtain. Plus, they are not legal in some jurisdictions.
In my opinion, if one wants to use the AR platform for home defense, it would be best to obtain one in a pistol caliber. An AR chambered for 9mm Luger does not suffer from the excessive muzzle blast/flash issues that plague a 5.56/.233 AR when used indoors.
My home defense rifle is a Kel-Tec Sub-2000 in .40 S&W equipped with a red dot sight and weapon light/laser combo sighted in for 10 yards. Ammo is Speer Gold Dot 180 Gr JHP in 22 round Glock magazines.
The ideal home gun would be a similar firearm in .45 ACP with a 10″ barrel and telescoping arm brace using the Asian made 27 round magazines for the Glock models 21/30. I bought one of these magazines after much deliberation, but my example functions perfectly after hundreds of rounds through it. If you get some of these Asian made magazines, test every one thoroughly before depending on them.
Kyle Rittenhouse used an AR in self-defense. Now the State is trying to railroad him into prison because of it. See this story:
https://www.revolver.news/2021/09/kyle-rittenhouses-show-trial-thoughtcrime/
As I predicted in an earlier blog post, the prosecution in this case is going to try to undermine Rittenhouse’s self-defense claim by using character assassination to tar him as a criminal. In effect, by undercutting his “Mantle of Innocence”. As the above Revolver story shows, that is EXACTLY the strategy that the prosecution is trying to implement.
Americans of good standing need semi-auto rifles like the AR-15 like the South Koreans need land mines at the DMZ. There are lots of evil creatures lurking in our cities and towns, ready to prey on people. Victims are often outnumbered and need as much firepower as possible to defend themselves against those vicious goblins. These semi-auto rifles are especially needed by residents of large liberal controlled cities where criminals run rampant and law enforcement is prevented by community leaders to take any action because the media will portray them as racist.
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