I begin with an important disclosure: I am one of Massad Ayoob’s “Ayoob Files” survivors. Ayoob wrote about my own self-defense shooting case in the July/August 1991 issue of American Handgunner. I have considerable respect for Ayoob as a firearms tactician and trainer. My disagreement concerns something very different: his advice about what an armed citizen should say to police and 911 immediately after a defensive shooting. In my view, some of that advice can be extraordinarily dangerous. No two shootings are identical, and there is no universal script that safely fits every case. A statement that appears helpful in one investigation can become devastating evidence in another. A traumatized citizen standing over a wounded or dead person should be extraordinarily cautious about making statements before consulting counsel. The 911 Call Is Evidence A 911 call is not merely a request for help. It is recorded evidence. The caller may believe he is simply summoning assistance, but saying, ...

It is a command to government: you will not disarm the people. You will not control their arms. You will not regulate them into submission. The right was not written for hunting. It was not written for sport. It was written so citizens could defend themselves, not only from criminals, but from the very government under which they live. History is clear. Governments drift. Governments expand. Governments corrupt. The Founders studied that history. They had lived it. They refused to build a nation where the people would be helpless in the face of superior force. They did not intend for citizens to be armed with symbolic tools while the state held overwhelming power. They understood that a free people must never be reduced to inferiority in their own defense. The Second Amendment is not a suggestion. It is a structural safeguard against tyranny.

  This isn’t a tale of heroics. It’s a story about luck, timing, and the kind of science that can turn death itself on its heels. In 1968, Uncle Sam decided I should wear an Army uniform. I was soon trained as a light weapons infantryman and given orders to report to the First Air Cavalry in Vietnam. Then fate intervened. Through some bureaucratic twist, one of those “Army miracles,” I was rerouted into on-the-job training as a medical corpsman. That, I quickly learned, was the best job in the Army. I was stationed in Germany. Determined not to wind up hauling trash or scrubbing latrines, I buried myself in medical study. Soon I was assigned to the treatment and surgery room at the largest dispensary in the country, a place where everything from major trauma to childbirth emergencies rolled through the doors. Through a small comedy of errors, nobody realized I wasn’t formally trained. Had they known, they would have shipped me to an ambulance crew. Instead, I found myself stand...

I’ve watched more documentaries than I can count, some routine, some riveting, but The Tylenol Murders on Netflix stands alone. It is a haunting, brilliantly constructed deep dive into one of the most terrifying unsolved mass murders in American history. And for me, it’s not just a story. It’s personal. This horror story unfolded in a neighborhood I knew intimately. Years earlier, I lived near 1500 N. LaSalle Street in Chicago, the same building where Paula Prince, one of the victims once lived. Even after I moved downtown to Marina City, I remained closely tied to that area as the Democratic precinct captain for the neighborhood. It was my beat. I knew the streets, the shops, the people. Paula Prince was a striking, graceful flight attendant for United Airlines. I remember her clearly. She bought a bottle of Tylenol from the Walgreens at North and Wells—a store I’d frequented many times. That bottle had been tampered with and laced with cyanide. Paula was found dead in her apartment...

The clock is ticking, and the tension is mounting. Two major gun rights cases—Snope and Ocean State Tactical—have been relisted a jaw-dropping 14 times. The justices haven’t granted certiorari. They haven’t denied it either. It’s like we’re standing on the edge of a constitutional cliff… but don’t be fooled by the silence. Here’s the truth: this is not over. Not by a long shot. Granting cert would mean a full hearing—a showdown in the highest court of the land. Denial would leave the states free to keep banning so-called “assault weapons” and standard-capacity magazines. But with the conservative majority on the bench and the landmark Bruen decision of 2022 setting a bold new precedent, it’s highly unlikely the Court lets these cases drift into the black hole of legal limbo. I believe the Court is gearing up for something bold—and unprecedented. As the term closes in July, expect the unexpected: a summary decision, delivered with precision and finality, declaring that Bruen already...

Since 1968, Americans have been obediently conditioned like Pavlov’s mutts, salivating not at the sound of a bell, but at the sight of TSA gloves and metal detectors. The trigger? Fear. The trainers? Politicians, bureaucrats, and their obedient media lapdogs, who whipped up national paranoia and sold it as “safety.” And like good little subjects, the public bought it. This is the period when our courts carved out every possible exception to our Fourth Amendment.   Before this authoritarian makeover, only people entering prisons and jails were searched without a warrant. Today, your average law-abiding citizen can’t walk into a courthouse, city council meeting, or even an airport without being treated like a potential terrorist. Congratulations, America: you’re all inmates now, and every building is your warden. Fast-forward 57 years and we now live in a country where the absence of TSA gropers and rent-a-cops at doorways would terrify people. God forbid you walk into a public bui...

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” This of course was the law of the land until about 1968.  Nearly every exception below spits in the eye of the fourth amendment. The plain language of the fourth amendment does not allow for interest balancing for things like public safety. Most all of these things should not exist without properly amended constitutional provisions.  The SCUTS Bruen case talks about the interest balancing tests by courts as being absolutely unconstitutional. Interest balanced exceptions to the Fourth Amendment –  Case Law Unlawfully Balancing Public Safety vs. Individual Rights While the Fourth Amendment is foundational, courts have carved out exceptions ...

There was a time—not that long ago—when art, music, theater, and sports brought people together. These were our common escape from the insanity of politics and division. But now? Every performance risks being hijacked by some overpaid, self-obsessed narcissist using their spotlight to shout political slogans instead of doing the job they’re paid handsomely to do. Want a history lesson in how it should be done? Look no further than Jesse Owens—the ultimate class act. In 1936, he walked into Nazi Germany, stood in front of Adolf Hitler and a roaring crowd cheering for the so-called “master race,” and then systematically dismantled their propaganda by winning four Olympic gold medals. No protests. No drama. Just raw American excellence that shut down racism and fascism with a pair of track shoes. Owens didn’t need a microphone—he had greatness. He didn’t throw tantrums, kneel, or scream about injustice. He let his performance do the talking and humiliated Hitler in his own backyard. Tha...