“Gun control” for dummies
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #141 • May/June, 2013
Barack Obama, outspokenly anti-gun for his entire political career, fooled an amazing number of gun owners by keeping a "hands off" attitude toward Second Amendment issues until his...
Thoughts on ammunition
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #108 • November/December, 2007
Ammunition is to firearms as gasoline is to automobiles. However, with guns and ammo, the fit isn't quite so generic as just getting the right octane rating. Recent...
The subtleties of safe firearms handling
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #103 • January/February, 2007
There are so many makes and models of firearms in existence that no one has ever counted them all. Each variation may have subtly different handling requirements. It's...
Cheap guns are good enough
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #62 • March/April, 2000
More than 10 years ago, my friend Mark Seiden called me in on a murder case in Miami that Janet Reno, then State's Attorney for the county in...
Choose your ammo… police style
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #93 • May/June, 2005
One of our greatest modern gun experts, Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper, USMC, Ret., once made the observation that the bullet is more important than the gun. The gun,...
Use the right ammunition!
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #130 • July/August, 2011
The purpose of the gun is to fire ammunition. It follows that the ammunition should be the correct ammunition.
This is simple. It is not hard to understand. But...
The Appleseed Project
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #123 • May/June, 2010
There is nothing else in the shooting world quite like the Appleseed Project, which combines American Revolutionary War history with rifle marksmanship and firearms safety, and in so...
Firearms handling refresher Part II: Shotguns
By Massad Ayoob
Website Exclusive • December, 2003
In Part I, we began a series of refreshers on safety and proper handling of firearms. This time, we'll examine what may be the most common firearm in...
Body language and threat recognition
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #87 • May/June, 2004
Reader mail indicates that while some Backwoods Home readers turn to this column for advice on putting wild game on the table or keeping four-footed poachers out of...
Here are some answers to often-asked questions of anti-gunners
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #45 • May/June, 1997
It has become increasingly politically incorrect to be a firearms owner. This is because trends tend to be set by the fashionable and the media-connected in metropolitan environments....
How to shoot a handgun accurately
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #85 • January/February, 2004
"I want you to do an article on how to shoot a handgun accurately," Dave Duffy told me. "Make it 2,500 or 3,000 words."
Long ago, I would have...
Savage Model 110 — A proven economical backwoods rifle
By Massad Ayoob
Website Exclusive • July, 2008
Fifty years ago, Savage Arms introduced a new bolt-action sporting rifle. In the gun world, this was news. Savage was most famous for its sleek lever action Model...
Frontier style handguns for the modern backwoods home
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #101 • September/October, 2006
The year was 1873. Samuel Colt had invented the revolveror at least introduced it to Americain 1836. The Colt Navy .36 and Army .44 cap-n'-ball revolvers had been...
Military surplus and military “clone” rifles
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #116 • March/April, 2009
One reader writes to ask if military surplus rifles are still a good idea for hunting, recreational shooting, and all around backwoods use.
The answer is more complicated than...
Of kids and guns
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #68 • March/April, 2001
In the almost two years since the Columbine tragedy, American police have coined the term "active shooter." It means, in essence, a crazed gunman who is at the...
How big a gun do you need?
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #99 • May/June, 2006
We Americans like to do things in a big way. Big houses. Big cars. Big boats. And, yes, big guns.
There are good arguments for all this, of course....
