The false argument about defending our freedom
By John Silveira
Issue #142 • July/August, 2013
I'm tired of hearing how we should honor our veterans because they're defending our freedoms. They're not. No one in any of the Islamic countries is trying to...
“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...
Defending your lifestyle
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #60 • November/December, 1999
I was sitting in the witness box, an expert witness for the defense, in a courtroom out west not long ago. The opposing lawyer was conducting cross examination,...
The Government intimidation factor and its effect on the health of society
By Dave Duffy
Issue #142 • July/August, 2013
How do you take the temperature of a society, that is, how do you tell if a society is healthy or sick?
Several years after the Soviet Union dissolved...
The Coming American Dictatorship revisited
By John Silveira
Issue #77 • September/October, 2002
Mac's back. After a long absence our poker-playing friend from southern California, O.E. MacDougal, walked into the Oregon offices of Backwoods Home Magazine.
Poof, and there he was. No...
The unheralded roots of America’s freedoms
By John Silveira
Issue #108 • November/December, 2007
I've just finished reading a fascinating book by Charles C. Mann. It's titled, 1491, and subtitled New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. The book has turned what...
Home handgun defense — Simplicity suffices
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #54 • November/December, 1998
You can get as high-tech as you feel you might need when you select the firearm(s) you'll use to protect your family. I "do firearms" for a living,...
Can the U.N. Ban America’s Guns?
By Claire Wolfe
Website Exclusive • April, 2013
The rumor flashed across the Internet last winter: the Obama administration is going to use a United Nations arms treaty to get around the Second Amendment and ban...
Animal rights loonies save the chickens but ruin the County Fair
By Dave Duffy
Issue #84 • November/December, 2003
We had our County Fair between issues.
It was a small Fair with just a few thousand in attendance, but no one in our town of 1500 would miss...
We don’t need no steenking 2nd Amendment
By John Silveira
Issue #58 • July/August, 1999
I usually get up to the magazine from southern California in plenty of time for the bimonthly deadline. Not this issue. I was late and way behind. But...
Putting it all on the Amtrak line for Self-Reliance magazine
By Dave Duffy
Issue #163 • January/February, 2017
As publisher of Backwoods Home Magazine for 28 years, I have not had to work as hard in recent years, as younger people like Managing Editor Jessie Denning...
Getting the state out of marriage
By John Silveira
Issue #127 • January/February, 2011
There's a new TV "reality" show on TLC called Sister Wives. It's about a polygamous family: Kody Brown, his 3 wives, their 13 children, and a soon-to-be (maybe...
Concealed carry laws reduce crime
By John Silveira
Issue #143 • September/October, 2013
This year, Illinois became the 50th state to allow the carrying of concealed weapons by law-abiding citizens. That's a milestone that heralds a lot of good news for...
The current ‘Gun control’ push — A cop’s eye view
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #142 • July/August, 2013
First, a word of explanation. The reason "gun control" is in quotes in the title and in this sentence is because, for a very long time, the prohibitionists...
How do you save freedom in America?
By Dave Duffy
Issue #116 • March/April, 2009
Following is part of a letter I received from Ron Dugan of Nanty Glo, Pennsylvania:
"What is it that we can do to stop the loss of freedom in...
The parasitic nature of bureaucracy
By Dave Duffy
Issue #106 • July/August, 2007
As we go to print with this issue, my local newspaper's main page one headline reads: County tax levy soundly defeated. I applauded at my desk to the...
