Friday, March 30, 2012

RUGER IS STILL MAKING COOL NEW GUNS

Ruger introduced a number of very cool guns in the past couple of years, not the least of which is the Scout rifle and a passle of handguns. Just this week, over at THE FIREARM BLOG, I read about the newly introducted 10/22 takedown rifle that Ruger has introduced.

I got to handle a version of that over at my LGS over the lunch break. Solid. If I already didn't have several Ruger 10/22's in various flavors and a takedown Springfield Armory M6 Scout, I probably would've picked it up at the very reasonable price of $349.

Now, I hope Ruger takes this technology one step further and applies it to the Mini-14 Rifles. I would love to have a Mini-14 with takedown capability. I hate taking guns on trips and staying in hotels where you access your room via the lobby because nothing screams I HAVE A GUN YOU CAN STEAL like a traditional or tactical long gun case.

It would also be pretty cool if Ruger made some big bore rifles other than the Mini-14 in the takedown configuration, like maybe the old .44 magnum rifles.

Howsa about it, Ruger?

Sunday, March 25, 2012

WHERE IS THE FREEDOM FOR THE TUAREG?

No, I'm not talking about the Volkswagon SUV that borrowed it's name from the nomadic peoples that live in the Sahara. I'm talking about the people themselves, who have roamed and lived in one of the world's most hostile environments for thousands of years.

I've written about the Tuareg musical group, TINARIWEN before. Their history is nothing less than highly interesting, and their music is excellent.

The Tuaregs are in the news right now because of a coup (that they are not involved in directly) by the military in Mali against the ruling government there. The military contends, and apparently accurately, that the government is not giving them adequate arms and other supplies with which to do battle with the Tuaregs in the north of Mali.

The Tuaregs have lived in the Sahara for thousands of years. Until recently, when uranium and gold and other valuables were discovered beneath it's sands, no one really wanted to provide for the peoples that have long lived there. Split between several countries, the Sahara is one of the world's harshest environments in which to live, even under the best of circumstances. Massive droughts over the past 40 years have rendered the Sahara an even more difficult place to live, and in that time many Tuaregs have moved to less inhospitable places in neighboring countries.

The Tuaregs, rightly or wrongly, entered the fray last year to fight on the side of Libya and their government. Paid mercenaries basically. Now many of them have returned to their native lands, but this time they bear superior weaponry that they liberated from Libya as they left.

Uprisings and demands for autonomy are nothing new for the Tuareg peoples. They have always been warriers and have always been a tough opponent in a war or conflict. But now, it seems, the tables have turned in Mali, as the Tuareg have managed to secure parts of their native lands and run the Mali military out of the area.

The history of West Africa, like the history of many lands around the world, is full of tales of white man colonization. The Tuaregs have been the forgotten peoples in all of this. Truly, many of them have no country that will actually claim them, as the Sahara crosses the borders of Mali, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria and Burkina Faso. The south of Mali is jungle and it is a place where agriculture can be pursued. Not so for the Sahara in the north of Mali.

One of the blogs in my blog roll, This Fab Trek, tells the tale of an Austrian banker who, back in 2005 became disguisted with his life and decided to hit the road, literally, and see the world. The first several years of his on-line journal were the most interesting to me. He did lots of trekking across the Sahara and was allowed in many places that no American like me would be able to enter, for fear I was the CIA or an operative of one of the other alphabet agencies.

The writer of This Fab Trek is a lot more liberal than I on many subjects, and at the same time that he has his hand out seeking free food and water from nomadic peoples in the desert who literally have nothing, he condemns them for asking for something in return. Although he likes to criticize the "ugly American" tourists and those of other countries that are like us, he nonetheless is a beggar himself.

Although I'm sure he's doing what is necessary to stay on the road and away from the workaday existence most of his readers like me endure, I have to say I might not be as condescending of those seeking to beg from me if I'm begging from them.

Nonetheless, his descriptions of life in the desert, and the politics therein, is highly interesting and something you won't find too many other places.

Which all gets back around to the point of this essay. For well over a thousand years, the "civilized" peoples of the world sought out new lands for their peoples, with little regard for those who had lived on those lands as natives. North and South America are shining examples of how the indian populations were either destroyed or moved so that the "more civilized" could take their lands.

I've long been a fan of the underdog, and the Tuareg peoples are no exception. I wish them well in their fight to establish their own country and profit from the uranium and other valuables that lies beneath the sands they have lived on for thousands of years. Ever since Mali acheived independence, in 1960, the Tuareg have been mostly forgotten as most monies spent in Mali have been spent in the south of Mali, and not on the Tuareg. Most of this money, I might add, comes from the U.S., from various European entities and from the U.N. Mali is an extremely poor country, and what little has been made from their natural resources has failed, as it often does in such places, to trickle down to the populace who needs it most.

So I'm rooting for the Tuareg peoples. They want to start their own country. All they want for land is the land that has been their's for generations and that no one, until recently, has wanted.

I think I'll go listen to one of my Festival in the Desert CD's from the past.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

THE PERFECT FN FiveseveN HOLSTER?

Sorry for the deceptive title, but I haven't found the perfect FN 5.7 holster yet.

The Galco Concealable belt holster comes close, but no cigar. I don't understand why Galco makes several holsters for the 5.7 but they don't make the holster I like best, the Combat Master holster for the 5.7.

The Concealable and the Combat Master are very similar holsters, it's just that they ride differently. It's obviously not that they can't make the Combat Master big enough for the 5.7, because they make it for the Glock Model 17 and the Government Model 1911.

For this reason, I'm currently searching through various custom holster makers looking for a design similar to the Combat Master for the 5.7. Let me know if you know where any good holsters for the 5.7 are.

The Fobus Paddle holster fits the gun well, and works well like all Fobus products I own. I've managed to pick up on the cheap via ebay a number of Fobus Paddle and Belt loop holsters for some of the handguns I own, both revolver and automatic. I wonder why they don't expand their inventory, because I would think the major cost in making Fobus holsters is the making of the mold for the holsters to be formed. I'd like to see one for Rugar Blackhawks and various SAA revolvers.

It's too bad Fobus, and for that matter Galco, doesn't copy the  no- longer-made Bianchi Model 56 paddle holster, which features what I believe is the best designed paddle component of a holster EVER, not only in shape and size of the paddle but in the fact the paddle is covered on both sides with suede leather with the rough side out. Not only is this more comfortable to the wearer, as the suede doesn't stick to the body like the Fobus/Galco plastic paddle does, yet even though it doesn't stick to the skin the suede leather and the paddle design keep the holster in place weather wearing it or drawing the gun out of it. John Bianchi had, and still does have in his new company, many excellent holster designs. It's the company most represented in my holster drawer, followed by Galco.

Getting back to the 5.7, there is no old Model 56 paddle holster for me to troll ebay for and buy for the 5.7 because Bianchi had ceased making the suede paddle covered paddle holster by the time the 5.7 became available for regular folks to buy.

I've found that a High Noon IWB holster designed to fit the Beretta PX4 model pistol also fits the 5.7. well, but you have to remove the tension screw to ensure that perfect fit. I no longer have the PX4 Subcompact that I got the High Noon "Mr. Softy" for, but although the slide end of the gun extrudes nearly 2 inches, there are no drawing problems.

Glocks carry easy in low cut IWB holsters like the High Noon Mr. Softy. I've raved about the Mr. Softy because for a IWB holster to be effective, it must conceal. And the Mr. Softy can conceal the largest of handguns (in my case autoloaders like the Government Model 1911, the Hi- Power, a Model 21 Glock, etc). I've long ago traded the Beretta PX4 for another gun, but I had not gotten around to ebaying the High Noon holster I had for it because I thought it might fit some other pistols.

I do plan to order a Mr. Softy for the 5.7 soon, as I've been very pleased with the High Noon products I've purchased used off of ebay and new directly from High Noon. You can't beat the price, and for me who lives in a part of Texas that is often hot and humid, you can't beat the durability of the holster or it's ability to effectively conceal guns of various sizes when lightweight clothing is worn. I can effectively conceal a Glock 26 with a thin t-shirt and Ex-Officio shorts, which are also thin, with no clue I am exercising my constitutional rights and those rights that come with a CHL.

The 5.7 is as lightweight as a Glock, but with a different type of cartridge altogether. I like the 20 round capacity, and adding 10 rounds to the 20 round mags via the readily available for under $15 magazine extension adds much less bulk than a Glock 9mm with the 33 round extended magazine.

I'm constantly scoping out ebay and other auction sites for good deals on holsters. Likewise, the FB forum features a good sticky thread about holsters and magazine holders for the 5.7. Although I've owned several FN firearms in the past, namely Browning Hi-Powers, I never knew that their newer designs like the 5.7 were such fine pistols.

Now all I need is a PS90 as a companion for the 5.7. Yowzaa!

Friday, March 23, 2012

A BRIEF ODE TO THE H&K P7 PSP AND SOME GREAT HOLSTERS FOR IT

The title ought to catch those googlers looking for holsters for the HK P7 PSP and it's variants. I'll refer to them collectively as "P7"'s durng the rest of this post, to avoid so much typing.



Actually, the holsters for the P7 and it's variants are different. Different holsters are required for the PSP vs. P7M8 and P7M13 because the triggerguard and headshield of the latter two make them bulkier than the PSP. I've heard that PSP's will fit in the P7M8/13 holster but I have not experimented. Recently, I've gotten some great holsters off of ebay for this gun, and all carry the gun far better than the Bianchi Askin's Avenger holster I've used for nearly 30 years.


The Askins Avenger belt holster carries most autos better than almost any concealment holster out there, other than perhaps inside the waistband holsters. With the 1911's and Browning Hi-Power's I own and have owned, the Askins Avenger carries them at a very comfortable height and position. I've owned Askin Avenger holsters, or copies of that venerable holster by custom holster makers, for guns as diverse as the Beretta Cheetah and it's Browning cousin, the P7, the Glock 19/21/26, 1911's, a Walther PPK/S and two Browning Hi-Powers.


With the P7, the Askins Avenger is a bit top heavy, since the shape of the P7 is vastly different than other autos with the squeeze cocker mechanism and a full magazine. The weight of the P7 is definately oriented towards the grip and not the barrel end of the gun. The Askins Avenger carries the P7 a bit high for my liking, and if it carried the gun an inch or inch-and-a-half lower, it might be the perfect concealment belt holster for that weapon.




I have searched, and seriously I mean I think I have looked in every nook and cranny of gundom and holsterdom for the past 30 years this coming November. I looked for a secure belt holster for the P7, and, dare I fan the dream, a holster that perhaps might work with something that wasn't as thick and constrictive as an "off duty or plain clothes gunbelt".


Again, before today, the only holster I was moderately satisfied with was the classic Askins Avenger holster by Bianchi. Now discontinued, over the past 30 years I've carried a lot of miles with Askins Avenger holsters.


So the point of that rambling dialog above is that I've never been happy with any of the concealment holsters actually made for the P7. I've got a field holster and a shoulder holster and some kind of euro/asian flap holster for some unknown type of gun that fits the P7 with an extra mag nicely, and carries well on a web belt.


But none of that works for the office or for concealed off duty carry or just regular citizen ccw.


The other problem with the P7 is that it has some rough edges, and the PSP is the worst with the rear slide serrations. The P7 is made of SERIOUS GERMAN STEEL FROM SEVERAL DECADES AGO, in most cases, and serious steel holds it's edge. Like Sonor drums and a Mercedes Benz, the P7 is overbuilt and seriously sturdy.


So I stumbled across this holster on Ebay and immediately noticed that the holster appeared to have the P7 sitting lower on the belt line than any holster for the P7 (including high dollar, with months to years waiting times, custom holsters) I've ever seen or used. So I got it, since I'd just sold a couple of holsters on ebay and had holster money in waiting.


It got here today. What a classic holster. Classy. Goodlooking. Very well made. Good leather. Firm leather. Leather that smells good and feels good.

It's made by a private maker and the ebay seller that sells these is shootist274.  He's got about 2000 in feedback and a 100% rating. Here's a picture of the holster, and notice where the triggerguard sits in relation to the beltline. Lower = better, at least to me.

It's a very decently made holster, and it carries the odd-shaped P7 better than any holster I've ever used for that gun.

Another classic holster I recently found for the P7, and it's so unusual that I was really surprised when it came across my ebay search notification, was a old style Bianchi Model 56 paddle holster. The new paddle holsters these days all have one fatal flaw, in my opinion, and that's the use of a plastic paddle. No matter how nice the paddle holster is, such as the Galco products, it's of no use if the paddle sucks.

The old style Bianchi 56 paddle holster features a paddle made of metal BUT covered with a nice suede leather all the way around. In addition to being far more comfortable against the skin, the rough out finish on the suede aids the holster in staying in place, both in wearing and in terms of drawing. You don't wanna draw your holster when you draw your gun!


Here's a picture of one of my Model 56 holsters for a 1911, since I don't have a picture handy of the P7 Model 56.


The paddle on the Bianchi Model 56 also rides much lower than on holsters made by other makers currently. These holsters are really only concealment holsters in the winter on larger guns, but S&W J frames and Colt Detective Specials conceal well in this holster. I own several Model 56's for various revolvers and autos, and even with the Models for full size hand guns, it's a comfortable and handy holster for the field and for wearing around the home.


A third holster I recently came across was a used ebay find as well. It's made by Tex Shoemaker, and is a rough out double layer suede IWB holster with a thumbreak. The material making up the thumbreak does a great job of protecting the skin against hostile contact with the sharp edges and sights of the P7, and again the rough out suede really helps keep the holster in place.


This IWB holster is an excellent concealment holster for this gun. I'm going to order a lighter weight High Noon IWB holster known as Mr. Softy, as I like that line of holster as well for carrying large and medium sized guns comfortably and discreetly, but I can tell I'll be getting a lot of use out of this Tex Shoemaker creation. It seems like it has a spring in it which keeps it open enough to make reholstering possible, something which is often difficult with other IWB holsters.

Here's a picture of the Tex IWB:

Although I usually prefer a strong clip to a belt loop, this one
works pretty well and more importantly, it's positioned in exactly
the right spot to keep the gun from sticking up too far from the beltline.


I've owned three different HK's, with the first being a PSP (with heel magazine release) and the second being a P7M8, with a magazine release button in the usual location. I found with most holsters except for shoulder holsters, the mag release would often activate and eject just enough of the magazine to render the pistol useless. You wouldn't be aware of it until the gun was drawn and fired and the magazine either dropped out or stayed in place just far enough removed from the gun to prevent reloading.


So the third P7 I got went back to the PSP. They've all been surplus Police guns from Germany, and all were factory refurbished prior to me getting them. The first one I bought off a narc friend back in 1982 for the princely sum of $200.00. I later sold it for 3 times more than that. It was unique in that the former police owner had filed the squared triggerguard to a round shape to facilitate holsterless carry, i.e. stuck in the waistband carry. Of course, the P7 is probably the safest pistol with which to carry in this manner.


I sold it and bought the purplish refinished P7M8 because I wanted a newer model of the gun. I had that for several years before acquiring another PSP. My P7 PSP is a marvelous shooting handgun, although the finish was excellent enough it was not refinished at the factory and but it does reflect years and years of holster wear. Still, you don't have to worry about rust with these pistols because they are made of a serious steel. Years of IWB holsterless carry by the narc owner of my first P7 made not a bit of rust or even tarnish on the finish of that PSP's  ground down fingerguard. It was bare metal and shiny as could be!


Of course, the fan base is small for these guns and I don't know why. A few American police agencies went to these in the 70's and early 80's but quickly changed to other guns in a few years. More European agencies used these guns for a longer time, hence the supply of Euro police surplus guns. I don't think these guns have actually been manufactured by H&K for many years. Thankfully, spare parts and mags are available, if not semi-expensive. I'm stocked up on spare internals but no matter how many magazines I have, I could always use a few more.


The beauty part of the P7 is how it shoots. Shooting hot 9mm +P Cor Bon loads from this gun is nothing. It's by far the easiest shooting 9mm I've ever shot, and I've shot quite a few different models. It's as accurate as a Glock, which of course makes me look like an accurate shooter, but the main thing is how it's gas system absorbs recoil of super hot 9mm loads.


Like my good HPD friend Texas Ghostrider always says, a handgun is just good for protecting you until you can get to your long gun, and I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment. Old habits die hard, and when I carry a single stack gun like the P7 or the 1911, I frequently carry several extra magazines though, just in case I'm having a hard time getting to the long gun.


My P7 has also taken it's fair share of snakes over the years, using the CCI 9mm shotshells. They feed great in this gun as well. The P7 is somewhat Glock-like in it's ability to digest any ammo I've ever fed through, from cheap and dirty range reloads to high end powerful loads and everything in between. My favorite target shooting load is Winchester Black Label 9mm Nato hardball ammo, but now that I've found some Nyclad 9mm's for sale, I'll be buying a bunch of those. The Nyclad design is not only much cleaner on the barrel but I've always been impressed with how the bullet opens up.  It's nice to have at least a magazine of Cor Bon +P ammo handy, but for average self-defense situations in populated areas, I like the Nyclads.


Any other P7 fans out there?




When El Fisho Jr. was a small tyke unable to understand the concept of gun safety, this was a great gun to have around. He didn't possess the strength to work the squeeze cocker mechanism in case he accidently (he never did) stumble upon the gun. Every other gun was locked up except for the P7M8.


Prices have risen drastically since I bought my last P7 PSP. Drastically. That means I probably won't be adding either the .40 caliber variant or the 13 shot magazine capacity P7M13.


But maybe one day a good trade will come along for one of these.

Monday, March 19, 2012

SPRING BREAK TALES PART ONE

We had a great spring break in the El Fisho household. We got a friend's daughter to watch the watchdogs, so they could do their jobs and watch the homestead and not have to go to the dreaded
kennel.

We took off to the Lake of the Ozarks near Osage Beach, Missouri. Getting there from Texas involved a harrowing drive through driving rain on the first day of the trip, with the rain and attendent heavy traffic slowing our progress so that a half-days travel got us only as far as Denison, Texas, at the very cusp of the Oklahoma border.

Let me say at the outset that my mom is from Oklahoma, although brought to Texas as an infant. I have not been to or through Oklahoma since I was El Fisho Jr.'s age, and don't recall much of the roadside panaramas on that trip.

And that's good, because the second day of the getting to Missouri drive involved a good five or six hours of depressing travel through the trash laden highways of Oklahoma. The roads suck, being filled with potholes, and both the dreary roadside trash and the sad towns we passed through made us glad when we finally crossed into Missouri.

The difference between the roads, both the road condition and the trash on the side of the highway was immediately noticeable. We didn't need a sign to tell us we had left the Okie state, we knew immediately. Which led me to comment on why they call Oklahoma the Sooner state. The sooner you can leave it, the better. The wife's version of that joke is why doesn't Texas fall into the Gulf of Mexico? Because Oklahoma sucks so bad...

Once in the Show Me state, things were marvelous. We stayed at a very nice resort on the gorgeous Lake of the Ozarks, and although fishing didn't bring any big rewards, several extended rounds of trap shooting were highly enjoyable for El Fisho Jr. and myself. I did much better than I thought I would, particularly shooting with the resort guns, two very heavy Remington 870's. It made me regret not bringing an 1100 and a O/U 20 gauge for El Fisho Jr.  With the shells we were using, the guns kicked like hell, especially after the third box.

I tend not to pack lightly, particularly where fishing expeditions are involved. I want to be prepared for every contingency within the fishing realm, and frankly, didn't want to leave long guns in the hotel rooms we'd be occupying in Branson later in the trip.

I saw an interesting gun in a junk shop, er, I mean, antique store in Osage Beach. It was a rarely seen Automag III, and unfortunately it was in the wrong caliber, otherwise I would have snapped it up. It was in immaculate condition, which I surmise is due to the ammo shortage of it's chambered caliber, that being the to me previously unheard of 9mm Winchester Magnum.

The gun had a premium price tag on it, but when googling at the hotel later in the night I found several examples had recently sold for more than 3 times what that one was going for. I later visited a gun museum nearby and gave the curator/gun shop owner the heads up about the gun and it's location and I suspect he's already snapped it up to add to his museum of cool guns.

Had the gun been chambered in the more desired .22 magnum or even in one of the other sort of unusual calibers it came in like the .30 caliber cartridge, I would have hit the ATM and gotten some cash and started bargaining at $300 for the gun. But alas, I found that there is no commercial production of the 9mm Winchester Magnum cartridge, and that components for reloading for it are quite rare as well, although apparently brass can be had at a premium price.

I've been reading up on reloading and have contemplated purchasing a entry level setup for doing pistol and rifle ammo. But buying a gun in 9mm Winchester Magnum, where the only hope of obtaining rounds is to pay someone to reload them for me or to jump headfirst into a very serious endeavor myself, didn't really appeal to the level of relaxation I'd reached while on vacation.

We liked the Lake of the Ozarks, and we hit it at a good time. Had we hit it a little later in the season, all of the arcades and such that are over near the dam would have been open. As it was, there were plenty of amusements for us in the town of Osage Beach and at the resort. An indoor pool, although very nice, wasn't as necessary as we had thought because that area had a bunch of almost 80 degree days while we were there. One day of rain out of four days there wasn't bad either, and gave us time to relax after the traumatic journey through Oklahoma.

After four days, we departed our resort, which by the way was on a groupon the wife found and at a very cheap price. En route to Branson, we spent several hours at a very decent African Safari drive through deal, and for once the animals were well taken care of and had lots of land and water.

It's a very nice park, and we saw almost every species of African mammal except for Rhinos and Elephants. There were animals everywhere, segregated into different areas. The lions, tigers and other big cats were of course segregated into cages, and had that look in their eyes that makes you sad when you see a wild animal in captivity. Well taken care of, yes, but nonetheless living in a cage.

The other residents of the Safari park fare much better. Plentiful lakes and watering holes, abundant natural grasses as well as lots of hay, means they are fat and happy for the most part. The SUV was covered with saliva from various animals who flocked to the car for feeding. Mrs. El Fisho and El Fisho jr. have the Dr. Doolittle effect on all animals, meaning animals that shun humans are  drawn to them. I've seen it time and time again. Animals that won't give me the proverbial time of day RUN to be petted by Mrs. El Fisho and our son.

The only exception to this power they possess was the zebra population, although one well trained zebra had it down. He would come within about 10 feet from the truck, and then nod his head towards the ground indicating where he wanted the feed pellets thrown. It was hilarious.

A sign there said zebras had never been successfully domesticated. They are a beautiful animal, and watching the herd of them there made me wish I had one just to be able to watch it's graceful runs. 

The giraffe, on the other hand, would have followed Mrs. El Fisho and El Fisho Jr. to the truck to come home with us if it had its' way. More doglike than most giraffes I've ever seen in zoos and wildlife parks, it wanted to be petted on the head and was seeking attention and not food pellets. Again, I saw other folks approach it and it didn't act with them as it did with the wife and child. It hugged them, licked them and generally sought their affection, and this is anther animal that would be cool to have if I had the right land and the money to purchase it.

Later that day, we arrived in Branson, which had been hit by a major tornado several weeks before. Fortunately, no one died in that storm, but the damage was significant. Still, most of the town was operating and in good shape, and we had a great time there as well.

I'll talk about Branson and the beautiful trout streams and creeks I saw in northwestern Arkansas in Part II.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

RANDOM THOUGHTS ON AMERICAN HERO RAYMOND DAVIS

There's a lot going on in the world today. My friend Cowboy always asks me why I get caught up in turbulent current events, particularly the international ones. He theorizes that you can't do anything about them, so why worry about them.

It's not that I worry exactly, but I like to know what's going on in the world. Mrs. El Fisho used to travel the world in her occupation. She's on, I believe, her third passport. She's been through a revolution in South America, she's worked in such obscure places as Angola for extended periods of time, and her travels have taken her to every continent except Antarctica, but her travels and travails across and throughout South America have taken her pretty close to that one.

I myself am not so well traveled. I've stayed at home with the kids over the years, and worked my own government job. I've been to Mexico numerous times, although not in the past nearly three decades. And I've been to the Bahamas once. Unless you count Oklahoma as a foreign country, which I do, and through which I recently traveled as fast as possible on a recent vacation. I'll explain the Oklahoma reference in a later post regarding our Spring Break Vacation this year.

A great example is why I still have a google alert for Raymond Davis, the CIA employee/operative/consultant/contractor who was arrested and detained for some time last year in Pakistan for killing two attackers in a clear case of self-defense.

If you don't recall the Raymond Davis situation, I'll briefly recount my obviously biased version of the same. First, although my more liberal friends strongly disagree with me, Raymond Davis is an American Hero. He put his life on the line for our government to protect our way of life and combat terrorism at it's source. And he got jailed for a number of months after the shootout in Lahore.

Working out of the American embassy in Lahore, Pakistan, which can generously be described as a hotbed of Islamic Anti-American terrrorism, he was driving in his car performing some type of intelligence mission. From the pictures, if true, published in the various so-called Pakistan online news outlets, the equipment he had with him indicated to me he was performing some type of triangulation of cell phone calls in attempts to locate terrorists of some sort.

Perhaps he was even working on the location of Osama Bin Laden, since at the time Raymond was attacked Osama was alive and living in his Pakistani hideout, replete with a virtual marijuana plantation behind his compound and a full complement of pornography in print, digital and dvd. Old Osama was not exactly the model muslim.

Attacked by armed motorcylists, which is a standard assassination technique in places like Pakistan, Raymond being a special forces type of guy let fly with his Glock 19 and "Glocked" his erstwhile assassins. Speculations ranged from the extremes that they were islamic terrorist operatives to being operatives for the Pakistani Government Intelligence Agency. Unfortunately, the Pakistani's have shown some complicity in working with terrorists against American interests, so I can't totally discount that theory.

TO paraphrase what was best said by Robert Deniro in the recent flick  Killer Elite...Raymond's aim was true, and his would be killers went on to their virginal paradise in the great beyond. Not being a Muslim myself, I hope they went to the Pearly Gates where they were judged by old Saint Peter and placed on that red express-to-hell elevator that only heads in the down direction.

Although Raymond Davis radioed or called for help from the Embassy, his distance from it precluded a rescue team from reaching him before the local populace and so-called law enforcement took Raymond into custody. It speaks to the character of Raymond that he didn't take on these masses with the firepower the Pakistani news pictures portray him as having with him. He was only defending himself from murder and only did what he had to do in self defense, so he did not open fire on the large number of Anti-American citizens that surrounded him and assisted in his capture.

In any event, I was glad the the US did what was necessary to prevent physical harm (greater than he probably suffered) or death of Raymond while held captive. Although I didn't vote for Hillary Clinton, I have come to believe in the years since Obama's election that Hillary is responsible for solving numerous international conflicts and problems. She didn't let Raymond Davis get forgotten and she got him out, undoubtedly with the help and efforts of many other patriots.

So going back to the original focus of this post, which is that the Raymond Davis griping from the Pakistani media still continues to this day. They wrongly blame him and the other incident in which justice found Obama hiding in Pakistan in a location that at least some Pakistani government officials had to know about, given what I've read in more credible forms of media reports.

Let me say at this point that I'm doing what I as a law enforcement official frequently decry others not to do, and that is believe media reports. But some reports had to be true, and others undoubtedly had some elements of truth, even the hyperbole laden Pakistani media reports. I'm not employed in international or national intelligence, I'm just an average American who keeps up with international events and has read enough about our intelligence activities in other countries and of our battle against terrorism and terrorists that would destroy our American way of life to be able to determine what I believe to be the most reasonable explanations of events.

Surely I'm wrong on some accounts, but I believe I have a better understanding because I use the same technique to review these news reports as I do in my law enforcement duties, where I have found that the truth is often somewhere between two opposing stories and differing details.


So more than a year after Raymond was abducted by the Lahore police and elements of various intelligence agencies regarding his defense of himself, the Pakistani media still buzzes with their mostly highly propagandized versions of events that bear little if any resemblence to the truth as we know it about the events of Raymond's situation.


They scream and yell about his activities and about how Seal Team number 6 brought a heroic dose of justice to Osama Bin Laden, who had been owed a come-uppance by America since well before 911. It upsets some Pakistanisgreatly that we didn't consult their intelligence and army elements with our Osama plans, despite the fact that sheer common sense defies the fact that they didn't know he was living in their country.


I am aware than many Pakistanis welcome the American government meddling in their corrupt government. They yearn for the freedom and guarantee of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in their country. I attended college with a nice Pakistani gentlemen who feared returning to his county after completing his education in America, and this was some years ago. He had an arranged marriage waiting for his return, but fortunately they were in love with each other, and this union is not what he dreaded. He dreaded the return to a country where rhetoric and lies are used to incite an emotional populace against freedom as many in the world know it.


I often wonder what has happened to my good Pakistani friend, who was by the way of the Christian persuasion. His departure was well before the advent of email and cell phones, and thus I don't have an email or cell number for him, and although Billy Ray and I both knew this gentleman well and and worry about his current safety as a right thinking Pakistani, we have no idea what happened to him in all of these intervening years. I wish I had the resources and the capital to track him down but I don't. And I'm not likely to visit Pakistan to search for him to determine the hopeful well-being of a long gone friend as I have my own family here take care of and the ends do not justify the risk..  I've tried searching the internet for him with no success. In my heart of hearts, I hope that sometime over the past few decades he mananged to return to his beloved America with his bride and hopefully his family to live a different and better kind of life, but something tells me he was committed to his country and trying to make it a better place and stayed there. Perhaps one day I'll find out what happened to my Pakistani friends.


Many of my pro-American friends worried about the safety of Raymond Davis during his months of captivity, as did I. I couldn't help myself but I followed the event of his captivity and ultimate release with a ferver. This is one of those events that my friend Cowboy says I waste my time on. I disagree. Situations like the Raymond Davis.


The Raymond Davis situation was just one of the many efforts to help our country fight terrorism. Raymond is now, as I understand it, back in the US of A and back with his family. I hope he is happily living a great life.


When I think of Raymond Davis, I think of the exchange given in the triple XXX movies where Samuel Lee Jackson comments on the facial scars he bears, when he says something like it is a small price to pay for putting foot to ass to protect America.


Just as the Pakistani media and indeed, probably the government, uses the Raymond Davis situation as fodder to inflame it's populace through tortured version of those events, so should it remind us that we have many Americans like Raymond around the world attempted to ensure that our way of life continues. I salute Raymond Davis and have self-dubbed my Glock 19 as "The Raymond Davis Model". It's the least I can do to thank this man for defending my country and keeping my family safe.


I hope you feel the same way.