Lessons for My Children Chapter 1
By Dave Duffy
Issue #136 • July/August, 2012
I've been working for several years on a small book for my kids called Lessons for My Children that will attempt to give them advice about how to...
Why I Hated Santa Claus
By John Silveira
December 21, 1999
Even as a little kid I didn't like Santa Claus. I liked the loot he brought; I wanted toys. With some trepidation, I even sat in his lap at the...
A Republic vs. A Democracy
By John Silveira
Issue #90 • November/December, 2004
He was in the other office when I heard his voice. But he was getting closer and closer and then he came through the door into the editorial...
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...
Guns, suicide prevention, and backwoods lifestyles
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #153 • May/June, 2015
Note to readers: I've served for going on twenty years as firearms editor of Backwoods Home Magazine. The following article is going to be somewhat different from what...
Things kids should learn before leaving high school, but don’t
By John Silveira
Issue #159 • May/June, 2016
We send generations of American children to school hoping we're preparing them for adulthood. Among the least of our expectations are that they're going to be able to...
In time of war — The Israeli answer to terrorism
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #81 • May/June, 2003
When war seems imminent, citizens think about protecting themselves. The war of the moment involves a declared enemy that has already used unconventional tactics to murder some three...
The logic behind term limits and a historical perspective
By John Silveira
Issue #35 • September/October, 1995
It was Tuesday and we were in deadline mode. Heat was seeping through the uninsulated walls of the new offices of Backwoods Home Magazine like little beasts from...
Goodbye TV, hello constructive time
By Dave Duffy
Issue #67 • January/February, 2001
About six months ago the satellite dish for my family's TV stopped working. Because we are too far from cable TV and an antenna does not bring in...
The Runaway
By John Silveira
February 9, 2006
My kids are grown. But it didn't come about without a lot of frustration, tribulations, and laughs.
Runaways: What do you do with a six-year-old who threatens to run away?
One woman...
The attack on Colin Powell prompts questions I’m not supposed to ask
By Dave Duffy
Issue #79 • January/February, 2003
What's wrong with black Americans?
Provocative question, isn't it, especially when it's being asked by a white guy like me. We white guys aren't supposed to question what blacks...
Armed and Female
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #63 • May/June, 2000
I didn't come up with the term "Armed and Female." Paxton Quigley did. She's a neat lady. I know her, trained her, taught with her, and have the...
Remembering a decade of BHM
By Dave Duffy
Issue #61 • January/February, 2000
Deadline has just ended as I sit down to write this, the last remaining page of this issue. The staff has gone home, and, except for Silveira who...
Dr. Laura tells her listeners she’s decided to pack a gun
By Dave Duffy
February 12, 2000
The showdown between the Federal government and the American people over gun rights may have tilted in favor of the people recently when the nation's third most popular radio talk...
Mousers and cat loonies
By Dave Duffy
Issue #83 • September/October, 2003
I must really be old fashioned. I live in the country and have plenty of rodents running around, just like many of you, so I need a few...
When “good” laws are bad
By John Silveira
Issue #134 • March/April, 2012
I recently read an opinion piece on CNN's website titled, Edison would've loved the new light bulb law. It's supposed to be about the new law to force...
