Building a Budget Home 

Defense Shotgun

Many experts rightly contend that a simple 12 gauge pump action shotgun is the best home security firearm for most home owners. 

Depending upon local laws and circumstances, a shotgun is very often the best solution. Some localities make it difficult to obtain a pistol permit. Some homes are better suited to a shotgun. Rifles present other issues, such as greater risk of penetrating through multiple walls and endangering family or even neighbors. Shotguns can be loaded to minimize that risk, although at reduced effectiveness and lethality. Many experts, and I agree with those, feel that a handgun is the least effective tool for defending one's family and home. I consider it the firearm I would use until I can get to my shotgun.

Should a homeowner elect to purchase a home security firearm, most would be best served by a shotgun. 

It is reasonable that cost will be a factor in the type of firearm you might consider. Handguns are usually more expensive than basic pump action shotguns. At the low end of cost are several quality shotguns. These include Mossberg's Maverick 88, Savage-Stevens 320, and various other imported shotguns. There are many to choose from, and most are of good quality and adequate reliability.

Nonetheless, I am going to recommend the Maverick 88 with an 18.5" barrel and 5+1 capacity.

Why the Maverick? It is a Mossberg, very similar to the more expensive Mossberg 500 and 590 series. Several changes were made to keep the cost low. The foregrip is pinned to the action tube, and cannot be easily replaced with an aftermarket foregrip. This should not matter as the foregrip provided is excellent. Unlike the higher grade Mossberg shotguns, the Maverick does not have the tang-mounted safety. Rather, it uses a simple crossbolt safety at the front of the trigger guard. This the most common type in the industry and it works just fine and is easy to use. Unlike the more expensive Mossbergs, which usually have a Parkerized, phosphate finish, the Maverick 88 has a blued finish. Not as durable as Parkerization, it is perfectly serviceable. Maverick shotguns do not have drilled and tapped receivers. So, adding optics requires specialized accessories. However, spending more money negates the advantage of cost.

Maverick 88 shotguns can use Mossberg 500 barrels and many of the same accessories. You really don't need much in the line of accessories.

A basic Maverick 88 as described previously has a base price of under $200. I paid $189.

So, this becomes the baseline. As purchased, the 88 is a perfectly useable shotgun. But, for home security, a few optional items are best added.

Sling: A sling is to a shotgun what a holster is to a handgun. Should you need to use both hands for some purpose, it is far better to sling the shotgun on your shoulder or back than to put it down. An adequate sling will cost under $10.

A sling should be attached with quality sling swivels. There are several brands that cost under $10.

It is a simple fact that most folks who use a shotgun for home defense, do so with only the ammunition in or on the gun. Thus, being able to carry additional ammunition on the gun is vital. There are several options for this. An Allen $6 elastic sleeve that fits on the butt stock is the least expensive way to carry more ammo. However, these are often awkward to use. I recommend the NcStar self-adhering side saddle. This is the simplest and least expensive side saddle option, and it has proven to secure and reliable. The kit typically costs about $14 and is very easy to install, requiring only a pair of sharp scissors. No other hand tools are needed.

Finally, I get to sights. The stock Maverick 88 is fitted with a simple gold bead front sight. As simplistic as it is, it works well. Except, that is, in low light conditions. I recommend a TruGlow snap-on fiber optic front sight. Cost is about $15 and no tools are required to install it. This sight fits the Maverick perfectly and stays in place no matter how many rounds are fired through the shotgun. 

Now that you have built yourself a first rate home defense shotgun, you will need ammunition. As discussed before, the ammo selected will determine effectiveness and over-penetration risk. This is something you will have to assess yourself. If you don't have children and live in a house, you can buy more powerful ammunition. If you have a genuine issue with kids or neighbors on the other side of interior walls, then you must consider a less powerful ammo selection. I recommend that you use nothing smaller than #6 shot in that case. #7 1/2 and smaller may not be adequate for several reasons. If you don't have concerns about over-penetration, than you should consider #4 or 00 buckshot. You also have the option of several self-defense loads like Winchester PDX-1, which is 00 buckshot over a 1 oz rifled slug. You can mix your ammo, combining various types. I do not recommend mixing these in the magazine. If you want to carry another type of ammunition, carry it on the side saddle. A box of typical #6 shot costs no more than $8 for 25 rounds. Your local Walmart carries Suprema brand 00 buckshot. This is Spanish made ammo of very high quality. A box of 25 rounds costs just under $10. It is reliable and very effective ammo on a budget. Among specialized self-defense ammunition, I recommend the aforementioned PDX-1 or PDX segmented slug ammo. Both types are outstanding. I load 5 in the shotgun and store 6 more on the gun.

So let's add up the cost for a ready to use, quality home security shotgun

Maverick 88 18.5" barrel: $189

                                 Sling:     $9

                             Swivels:   $10

        NCStar Side Saddle:   $14

 TruGlow fiberoptic Sight:   $15              

    Ammo 25 rds #6 Shot:     $8  or

25 rds Suprema 00 Buck:   $10  and

                    12 rds PDX-1:   $13

                        Total Cost: $245 to $260 depending on ammo.

This is about the least expensive home security firearm system you can buy for the level of effectiveness offered.

I strongly suggest getting some training. There are excellent and free online training videos available as well as inexpensive DVDs with full instruction courses. I like Clint Smith. He cuts through the myth and nonsense to present clear and concise instruction. See below for a link. Most of all, practice with your shotgun often. Practice live fire at the range and simulated fire at home. You can find snap-cap dummy shotshells available from several sellers. Become proficient in shooting and loading under various conditions, including low light. Typically, you can get 10 for about $10. As before, see below for a link.

Accessories links:

TruGlo fiberoptic front sight

NcStar Side Saddle

12 Gauge Snap Caps

Sling

Swivel kit for Maverick 88

Clint Smith: Pistol vs Shotgun for home defense

Clint Smith: Defensive Shotgun

Shotgun for Personal Defense: Knowing Distance vs. Pattern

Defensive Shotgun DVD. 2 hours of Instruction

Subtle Lesson Learned From Baptist Church Massacre

 

There is a lesson to be learned about preparation from Stephen Willeford's heroism in the Sutherland Springs shooting.

Willeford engaged Kelly with his AR-15 without a full magazine, and in his bare feet.

His rifle was stored in a gun safe. However, his magazines were unloaded. What this means is that he had to take time to partially load a magazine. This can be incredibly frustrating if time is critical. In this case, time may have been critical. Willeford decided to go with what he had, because every shot he heard meant someone getting killed or wounded. He's an incredibly courageous man.

Another factor; because loading a magazine sucked up time, he elected to leave the house in bare feet. 

When Willeford and Johnnie Langendorff caught up to Kelly after a 10 mile chase, Willeford had just two rounds remaining in his rifle, and no additional ammo. As a result, had Kelly been capable of continuing the fight, Willeford's options were very limited. God and his angels were watching over Stephan Willeford Sunday morning...

Here's the lesson. If your firearms are in a safe with boxed ammo, keep several magazines loaded on the safe's shelf. In a home defense situation, time is your most precious commodity in reacting to a threat. Unloaded magazines means expending that valuable time. In my safe, you will find stacked and loaded magazines, ready to go. 

Another minor lesson... I keep a pair of moccasin type loafer shoes near the front door of the house. These are there if I need to put out trash or go outside for some purpose. I can simply step into them and go.

There's no honor too great to bestow on Willeford. Under the most trying of circumstances, he performed as well or better than anyone else could have, including highly trained persons. Despite being scared, he overcame the fear and functioned with wisdom and great precision. His actions will be studied by experts for years to come.

I fully expect Willeford and Langendorff to receive the highest award for civilians, personally presented by the President. They surely deserve it. Two civilians as courageous as any men who ever fought on a battlefield. Both utterly selfless.

 

 

My Next Shotgun Build:

Winchester SXP Defender

or Mossberg 500 Tactical?

While I prefer Mossberg shotguns for ease of reloading in combat situations, there are some factors that can partially offset the greater difficulty of reloading low shell lifter type shotguns with one's weak hand.

In this case, the Winchester SXP brings inertia unlocking to the table. This allows for faster cycling of the action, but its greatest benefit is that it greatly aids in shooting single handed.

I must also add that this is a first rate, exceptionally well made pump shotgun. Contract manufactured in Turkey, where fine shotguns have been made for many years. Quality and workmanship are excellent for the price point of this gun.

Home defense upgrades would be limited to just those things necessary to optimize it for home security. It has a fiber optic front sight, which does a great job of gathering ambient light. I would not change this as it is more than adequate. Extended magazine adapters are available and I'd have to consider one. However, 5 + 1 is adequate if you are fully proficient in running the shotgun. Still, eight rounds in the Mossberg is nothing to ignore.

I have an LED flashlight and mounting bracket, but in general terms, I don't need a flashlight in our home. We can light up the place without having to leave the bedroom entrance. An LED light would be useful if one was hunting bad guys outside, except there's seldom any reason to be outside. Don't be exploring outside... Call the police. Hunting your property for criminals will only increase your legal liability and place you at greater physical risk. Don't do it.

Mossberg's 500 Tactical shotgun is an excellent piece, with a 7+1 capacity. It has excellent ergonomics and superb reliability. It is a first rate pump shotgun, with few if any equals. This one is fitted with very good ghost ring sights, with a red insert on the front blade. It is fitted with a barrel heat shield from the factory. For home security purposes, the heat shield is unnecessary. If you've fired enough rounds, fast enough to get the barrel so hot as to burn one's hand, you're in a war rather than a home defense fight...

Home security shotguns can be loaded down with all sorts of tactical hardware. Lasers, P-rails, pistol grips, ghost ring sights, red dot sights, sling bandoleers, folding stocks, telescoping sights, Side saddle shotshell carriers, speed loader stock, fore end straps, breaching muzzle and many other pieces.

All add weight and complexity of use and function. This is the same mindset that plagues many owners of AR type rifles. They build a firearm that has every optional component they can find room for. For home defense use, most of these add-ons are not only unneeded, they often diminish your ability to defend your home and family.

What you need is often different that what you may want. Get only what you need. Here's all you need.

Basic shotgun: A pump gun is best, but a semi-auto can work if you take the time to practice clearing the potential reliability issues associated with semi-auto shotguns. Jams, stovepipes and various failures to feed, extract and eject. Select the wrong ammo and these can be issues. Side by sides and single shot guns can be used, but your continuity of fire is reduced and you will need a usable method of carrying reloads. I suggest investing the $200 for a budget pump shotgun.

Accessories: All you'll really need is an easy to use carrier for spare ammo. Enough for at least one complete reload. Sling with swivels. A sling is to a shotgun or rifle what a holster is to a pistol. It helps you safely retain the gun if you have to do something that requires both hands. Flashlight. If you don't have to means to illuminate your house from a safe place, you will need a flashlight, preferably mounted along the axis of the barrel. LED flashlights are brighter, smaller and more reliable. A quality 300 lumen light, with batteries and re-charger costs less than $10. Mounts can cost from $10 to $50. They do what is required over the whole price range.

Optional: You may not have the eyesight needed to use the factory sights (usually a simple bead near the muzzle). In that case, the ability to install a P-rail and optical sight is necessary. This will steer you towards certain shotguns and away from others. A mid priced reflex sight will serve you best, and I recommend a mounting that allows the original sights to be used should the optic fail.

Anything beyond what I have discussed is unneeded and probably more of a liability than benefit in a home defense situation. Keep it light and keep it simple.

Ammunition: This depends on several factors. These include your level of training, your ability to manage recoil and home configuration. Many dwell on the issue of "over-penetration". That means missing your target and endangering people or children in rooms or apartments behind the target. Most of those who expound on over-penetration ignore simple reality. Any firearm capable of killing a human will absolutely penetrate common drywall construction. More powerful rounds will penetrate lots of drywall construction. The key here is to double back to the basic safety rules. Always know what is behind the target. If it's a high risk shot, don't take it! Moreover, if you have practiced adequately with your firearm, you should not miss a shot at the distances inside a typical house or apartment. Shotguns do need to be aimed. A typical shot spread at 7 yards is no bigger than your hand. You can't simply point in the general direction and expect to hit the target. Reality is not like the cinema...

Training and proficiency: Here's the thing everyone needs to understand... Irrespective of what firearm you own and regardless of how much tactical stuff you have hanging on it, it is of limited value if you are not proficient in its safe and proper use. Far too many people buy a firearm, take it to the range a few times and consider themselves ready to take on anything that comes their way. The truth is that they are anything but ready... There are people who train for hundreds of hours who find that they were barely able to function under the stress and circumstances of home intruders at 3 o'clock in the morning. How do you think you're going to manage with no training whatsoever?

You hear a noise and low voices coming from somewhere in your house. Unfamiliar voices. You are trying to gather your wits, startled and afraid. Thoughts race. What to do. Call the police? Get your gun? Wake your spouse? Turn on a light? What about the kids or grand kids? What to do? What to do?

In that state of sleep induced half-groggy mental disorder, you are going to have to make decisions. Potential life and death decisions. Will you make the right decisions? Will you make any decisions at all?

Mental preparation is part of the training needed to function in the situation described above. Do you need specialized training for this? You can spend money and get good training. But, you can train yourself as well. I've spend a lifetime training my brain for various things. Carrier aviation, in-flight emergencies, and many other possible events. It's something I do. Most people don't. Most people are not mentally prepared for unexpected events. That's quite typical. If you want to be ready for a situation you have to plan for it. You have to train for it. You'll need a plan. When you have a practiced plan, you are far more apt to do exactly that. Remember that the goal is always to prevail, no matter what.

Training encompasses proficiency with your firearm (no small task if you want to be really good AND safe), and practice with your home security plan. Whatever your weapon and plan, you will likely fight with whatever is in or on your firearm. In you PJs, with a blood pressure spiked, heart rate at 200 and a bowel movement threatening any second... Under those circumstances, you will have to manipulate your firearm, carry out defensive tactics, converse with a 911 operator and communicate with family and intruder(s). You must communicate with the intruder(s). Tell him to leave. Tell him you are armed. Tell him the police are on the way. Tell him that you are in fear of your life and will act accordingly. You will have do all of this at stress levels you could not have imagined. The only way you will do all of this is if you have made the effort to train and prepare for it.

In your house, never shoot in the dark. Always identify your target. Above all, if the intruder is attempting to leave, let him do so. Do not shoot a retreating burglar unless he's shooting at you. The legal hassle is not something you want. If he advances to you, warn him once if time permits, then shoot and keep shooting until the threat ends, irrespective of what that outcome is for the intruder. Never shoot to wound. Shoot to eliminate the threat. If a 12 gauge load to the chest doesn't stop him in his tracks, shoot him in the groin (some burglars have been found to be wearing 3A body armor, readily available on the internet). A shot to the groin would stop King Kong in his tracks. There is an instinct to immediately take inventory of what was there a minute ago.... When you call 911, do not hang up. Leave the line open. Everything is being recorded. The operator will be able to better inform responding police and it will be evidence to any shooting that occurs. If must shoot an intruder, describe to police exactly what you did to defend yourself and family. Then, shut up... Discuss nothing other than the facts of the actual event from the time you discovered the intruder. Respectfully decline to discuss anything more than that in the absence of your attorney. DO NOT SURRENDER YOUR RIGHTS.

What are the odds that you will have to deal with home intruders? That very much depends upon where you live. However, FBI statistics point to the chances being about 1 in 3,000 over one's lifetime, on average. It is probable that you'll never need to deal with that kind of situation. The question is, if by chance, it should occur, what then? Even in daytime, there's always some level of risk of a residential burglary. How many folks have heard a knock at the front door or the doorbell ring and elected not to answer? How many then had someone kick in the back door two minutes later? It's more common than you may think... We carry spare tires because a flat is possible. Unlikely, but possible. We buy homeowner's insurance and for the most part, never need to file a claim. Millions buy firearms for protection. If you get a flat tire, you have lots of time to figure out how to change the tire and you're not in immediate danger.  When operating a firearm during a home defense situation, you cannot afford to take the time to read the owner's manual. You must know everything required to know beforehand. If you buy a gun for home defense, learn to operate it in a competent manner, rather than just being familiar with it. Learn and practice gun safety. Prepare for the most likely potential situations. Train your brain....

I'll let everyone know which shotgun I choose within a few weeks. 

(I bought the Mossberg... Upgraded it to suit my needs.)

 

The Great Debate As To Which
Pump Action Home Defense
Shotgun Is Best, Is Over

The internet is loaded with comparisons between the Remington 870 and the Mossberg 500. I own a gun safe partially filled with pump shotguns.

There are differences between the above mentioned guns. Most, except the Mossbergs, have shell lifters that stay down and must be pushed up to feed in rounds to the magazine. Under range conditions, this is not any issue whatsoever...

However, for a home defense combat shotgun, this is the single greatest issue for me.

Let me state that while so many like to talk about the fact that the Mossberg 500/590 safety is ambidextrous, this is an utterly meaningless factor in a combat shotgun. It is convenient feature for left handed sport shooters, but provides no advantage in a combat shotgun. How so?

Because, if you train with any shotgun, the operation of the safety becomes habit. Be it a tang safety or located at the front or back of the trigger guard, it doesn't much matter. When a fight is imminent, you are going to load a round and move the safety to FIRE. That's the last time you will touch it until the fight is, without doubt, over. Until then, your trigger finger is your safety. Off the trigger unless you have a target. Trigger and muzzle discipline are your safeties in combat. I don't care if the safety is two inches up your rectum, you won't be needing it as long as lead is flying, or at least the threat of it flying, is present.

Thus, to me, the tang safety is meaningless for combat shotguns in combat situations.

How about the dual extractors of the Mossbergs? Again, in combat, who cares. One or two, as long as it extracts. Ditto for the easy to replace ejector. If it breaks, regardless of brand, you have an issue to overcome. How it is replaced later doesn't matter while you fight for your life, does it?

What about the slide release location? Again, who cares? I'm not opening the action unless I have a malfunction. The action will remain closed and shotgun hot until it no longer needs to be. Later, when the time comes to clear the shotgun, I'll unlock the action and empty the chamber. This is another thing expounded upon by those who have never been in combat or run realistic combat drills. Thus, they don't grasp what matters and what doesn't. Slide release location, like safety location, falls into the "doesn't matter" category under combat or simulated combat conditions.

We've run many drills, with snap caps and live fire. In daylight and darkness. Strong and weak handed. Single handed as well. There is one thing that has consistently reared up as an issue, and that is reloading the magazine while keeping the gun trained towards your enemy.

If you need to reload the tube, in addition to dropping a round into the receiver and closing the action, getting rounds into the tube while still instantly ready to shoot can be a real challenge.

Let's face the reality that if it's 2AM and you're in your skivvies, with blood pressure spiking, heart rate at 200, and resisting a spontaneous bowel movement, your fine motor skills will in the shitter. Anything tactile (not tactical, boys; tactile) that makes it easier and simpler to run your gun is a very good thing.

First, you will need a supply of ammo to load. Since it's unlikely that you have a half dozen 00 buckshot rounds stashed in your undershorts, you will be fighting with whatever is in and on your shotgun. That means something between five and nine rounds if you don't have ammo ON the gun. Extra ammo is never a bad thing, and might just save your ass. You can carry it on a side saddle or even an elastic butt stock sleeve. The latter is awkward at best. Whichever type you prefer, you are better served to have additional ammo on the gun.

Should you find yourself having shot all or most of the ammo in your gun, you will need to reload. Grab a round, drop it into the receiver and close the action. The gun is hot and you can shoot if need be. Where it gets troublesome is refilling the magazine. Taking the gun down from the ready position to reload it is usually a bad idea unless someone else can provide overwatch for you. Not usually the case in a home defense fight. So, reloading it means using your weak hand. You will have to pull a round from where it is stored, find the reloading port in the bottom of the receiver and push rounds in by feel alone. It is in this respect where the Mossbergs shine.

I have taken an H&R Pardner Protector, which is an 870 clone, and built it into a first rate combat shotgun. Some gentle stone work has resulted in a butter-smooth action (far slicker than any Mossberg I've used). Slicker than any current Remington being made today. The trigger has about a millimeter of take-up and then breaks exceptionally clean at just over four pounds. It feeds, extracts and ejects anything I feed it, from #8 birdshot to magnum slugs. It has a cast aluminum trigger guard and is fitted with outstanding Hogue furniture. Being drilled and tapped, I have a "sight under" P-rail with a reflex sight installed (which has endured many hundreds of rounds without any issue whatsoever). I've machined and installed a taller brass bead to restore proper sight picture when sighting under the reflex sight. It's fitted with sling swivels and a padded two-point sling, reversed for muzzle down carry. This gun runs like a Rolex. All of that said, it is NOT my primary defensive shotgun. Why not? Because, like any shotgun with a flush-to-the-receiver shell lifter, it is a genuine bitch to reload by feel.

Here's the drill. snatch a round from the side saddle. Feel around for the shell lifter. It's not easy to find the front edge of it. Depress it and shove the round into the tube. Since the shell lifter is nearly flush with the bottom of the receiver, finding the front edge is time consuming and distracting. It is common to drop a round or two. When you have limited ammo, dropping rounds is not good. With any defensive firearm, it's usually a good idea to have additional ammo in some fall-back location that is readily accessible (bedroom drawer, etc).

How about the Mossbergs? With a retracted shell lifter, the loading port is extremely easy to find. Just shove the round forward from the trigger guard and it simply pops into the void. Now, just push. It is rare to drop a round. The Mossbergs load easier and faster because you don't have to search for and concentrate on finding the loading port.

What is the most important weapon factor in a home defense gun fight? Keeping your gun in action with the least effort and distraction that promotes continuity of fire. In that regard, the Mossbergs are superior as pump action combat shotguns, because they can be reloaded by feel far easier.

My primary home defense shotgun is a modified Mossberg Maverick 88. Aside from not having a reflex sight (receiver is not drilled and tapped), it is set-up exactly as is the backup gun. I made this determination after many drills... You may have a differing opinion, but this works for me.

H&R 870 type on left, Mossberg Maverick 88 on right

Side Saddle arrangement I prefer

The Battle That Never Was:

Surprising NRA Stance on Bump Stocks

Within hours of the crime, it was determined that mass murderer Stephen Paddock had used Bump Stocks to make his semi-auto AR-15 rifles shoot as fast as fully automatic weapons. 

The anti-gun lobby fully expected the NRA to oppose any law or regulation banning or limiting access to these accessory stocks.

Except, the NRA didn't. Instead, the organization issued this statement:

"In Las Vegas, reports indicate that certain devices were used to modify the firearms involved. Despite the fact that the Obama administration approved the sale of bump fire stocks on at least two occasions, the National Rifle Association is calling on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to immediately review whether these devices comply with federal law.

The NRA believes that devices designed to allow semi-automatic rifles to function like fully-automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations."

Just like that, the NRA threw an unhittable curveball at anti-gun advocates. They didn't even attempt to swing at it... They just stood there with their bat on their shoulder. That wasn't the pitch they were looking for.

It was simply brilliant politics... It stalled any kneejerk bills. Let BATFE review the bump stocks and determine if they, a) Have the authority to regulate them, and b) How to regulate them. 

It will take weeks, maybe months for this monolithic agency to study this and make any determinations.

In the meantime, momentum needed by anti-gun politicians and advocates will rapidly decrease as short attention span America moves on to something else. Meanwhile, the NRA has several other, far more important legislative efforts on the front burners.

Besides, why waste effort and influence on these foolish "range toys"? Fight battles worth fighting.

I’m a firm believer in fire and maneuver…. Digging in gives up the ability to maneuver. Give ground in the valley if you can take the overseeing hill.

Fire and maneuver isn’t retreating. It’s repositioning to gain the enemy’s flank. Once on their flank, the enemy must withdraw and reposition or risk the whole line collapsing.

Anti-gun politicians expected the NRA to dig in. Instead, they yielded ground while out-maneuvering the anti-gun mob. Except for the usual anti-gun zealots, most politicians will have tempered their emotional zeal with the reality of American gun politics.

Consider what some 2A advocates are digging in for. A bump stock is not a firearm. It’s not an essential component, such as a magazine or sight. It is, at best, an accessory. A range toy for most who own or want one. How much of their limited political capital should the NRA expend on defending an accessory that very few gun owners want and none actually require? Consider that there are bigger fights that can be won with that capital.

Dig in or fire and maneuver. You can’t do both, and you must do one or the other… What would YOU do? 

Three students and members of the People's Workers Party (communist), 

who destroyed a Confederate Soldier memorial in Durham, North Carolina. 

Four students, including these, were each charged with two felonies and 

two misdemeanors. The new faces of subversive communism in America.

If you had been a college student in the 1960s and early 1970s, there’s a pretty good chance that you had a few liberal professors. I did. I liked most of them, because they were fair-minded and open to debate the merits of their beliefs. That open forum give and take went a long way towards teaching critical thinking and presenting vistas you would not otherwise get to view. You didn’t always agree, but that was okay. It was a time of free thinking and diverse values finding common ground.

Sure, there were a few who did not accept being challenged by students. If you antagonized them, you might find your grade adjusted. Because I questioned their views openly, I was usually penalized for it. One political science professor gave me a C on a paper I had worked very hard to write. I asked another professor to review a copy. He told me that the paper was excellent, and he would grade it an A. I showed him the original graded paper and he shook his head.

“Professor BlahBlah?, he asked.

I nodded up and down.

He lowered his voice.

“That guy is a pompous ass. Don’t let him discourage you.”

Bingo… That professor already had a reputation for being closed minded and anti-critical thinking.

Educators like that professor fail miserably when it comes to grooming young minds to function in society and careers. When no other opinion but yours can be entertained, it reveals a frailty of mind and confidence. No one with those disabling limitations should be in a position to mold young minds, unless the goal is to produce human worker bees. Automatons, pre-programmed to a way of thinking, truly devoid of reasoning skills and critical thinking.

I despise educators like professor BlahBlah.

Fifty years ago, Professor BlahBlah was the more the exception than the rule. Today, he IS the rule…

In 2017, a majority of our schools and universities are administered by social and political progressives. Most educators are products of this same environment.

I like to think of it as social inbreeding.

Progressives begat progressives, and those progressives begat progressives. This cycle goes on and on, with each new generation suffering mutation. 

The gene pool of ideas has deteriorated to the point that logic and reasoning has been bred out of the progressive species. 

What we have now are the traits of H.G. Wells' Eloi and Morlock rolled into a single human mutation. Serene and oblivious to reality, yet vicious when triggered.

How did things get this bad? America allowed the intellectual left to infiltrate our educational system. Over fifty years, they have taken over the schools and universities.

No longer is the free exchange of ideas permitted. Students must align themselves with the prevailing group-think. Deviate from the program and you are shunned or censured. Black groups exclude anyone who isn’t black. Whites have no free speech, this, the progressives have declared, is only for the oppressed. Whites are told that they should feel guilt for what they have. The fact that you and your ancestors worked for generations to obtain these things, doesn’t matter.

These are just some of the declarations of the socially inbred mutations produced by the so-called education system. 

How do we restore the gene pool of ideas?

We, perhaps the last generation retaining the genes of logic and reason, must correct the root cause through reverse social and intellectual genetic engineering. Carefully insert genes into the defective DNA that is the leadership of national education. 

Root out the weak, cowardly and ineffective leadership. Demand, at the risk of their careers, that educators return to curriculums that provide for actual education and the free expression of ideas without penalty or impedance.

Weed out professors who politicize their classes. If they teach a physics class, they teach physics only. Courses that involve the study of politics and social sciences shall be taught with great emphasis on the free exchange of ideas. Students will conduct themselves with decorum and good order.

Eliminate so called "safe zones" anywhere on campus. If students cannot cope with the reality of life, let them go home or to their dorms.

Make grading competitive again. No participation trophies. Make them cope with the reality that 2nd place is really just the first-place loser.

Mandatory community service for all students. 4 Hours monthly. Fail to fulfill and you don't graduate. Just think, on a campus with 5,000 students, the local community benefits from 20,000 hours of service every month.

Freedom doesn't include the right to destroy freedom. Students are in universities to learn for a future career. They are not there to be brainwashed to any political point of view.

Folks, if we don't purge our education system of those who hate this nation, we will have yet another generation of deranged, drug and phone addicted, confused young people. 

It is standard practice of tyrannical political theology to begin with brainwashing the children. One need not look very far to see that this has been in action for some time. It is time to put an end to it before we lose what we and our ancestors sacrificed to keep. Liberty, freedom of thought and speech.

John McCain: Hero or Nero?

John McCain. War Hero? Many Navy veterans don't think so. They believe that he threw that away in 1967. How so? Well let me begin a bit earlier in his naval service, and consider that attempts to subject McCain to a Courts Martial was squelched by high brass because his father had recently been promoted to Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe. Wait, there's more. His grandfather commanded Task Force 38, Halsey's primary weapon in fight against Imperial Japan. 

McCain was believed to have had at least one affair with the wife of a deployed Naval Officer, and he flaunted it openly. The charge? Conduct unbecoming a Naval Officer. Any other officer would have been disgraced and forced out. Throughout his Naval service, McCain used his family reputation to avoid consequences of reckless and bad behavior. He was widely disliked among his fellow officers and pilots. He was considered to be a marginally skilled pilot and was usually dead last on his squadron's greenie board (rating for carrier landing proficiency).

McCain in 1964. It is amusing to note that his

 combination cap is at least two sizes too small.

McCain was a central figure in the disaster aboard USS Forrestal, where 134 sailors died. Quickly transferred to another squadron and carrier, McCain was not generally welcomed.

His story after being shot down has been polished up considerably. To this day, more than a few of his fellow POWs despise McCain for collaborating with his captors in exchange for medical care and better treatment. Surely, this was not out of character for McCain. He made multiple radio broadcasts for the North Vietnamese, some of which were recorded and are available to listen to on the web. McCain's book on his war experiences contains more bullshit than the Chicago stock yards. Contrary to McCain's claim, no POW ever saw him tortured, and the former Vietnamese commander of the prison says that he was never tortured. McCain is reported to have cooperated.

Let's just skip ahead to recent history. His loss to Obama in the 2008 election was devastating to his massive ego. His choice of Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate is widely thought to have been a crushing blunder. McCain's support for the rebels in Libya and Syria were huge errors in judgement, when one considers that most of the groups he supported morphed into what we call ISIS. His bad decision making cost him dearly. Although many thought that he should have been indicted, McCain escaped the Keating Affair with a rebuke for his very "poor judgment". 

McCain's open hatred for Trump has been his motivation for a number of vile things he has done and said since Trump announced his campaign. He's a very angry man and a leading "never Trump" politician.

Last evening's healthcare vote was his latest back stab to the President, his party and the American people. I suppose that treasonous behavior comes easy to McCain.

I hope, sincerely, that his career goes away as soon as possible. His sell-by date has long since passed. His brain cancer is, I believe, just karma... Reaping what he has sown. At his core, he is a mean-spirited and vengeful troll. I won't miss him for a second.

Bitter McCain Will Say Or Do Anything To Undermine The President

McCain, the "Hanoi songbird", is a bitter, very angry man. He cannot understand how Trump was elected while he tanked in his bid in 2008. It galls him no end. What he doesn't understand is that America didn't want another long career, barn sour politician who was as appealing as burnt toast.

McCain's judgment has been questionable at best, with him being duped into supporting what was the core of what became ISIS being among his most recent errors in reasoning.

When McCain was a naval aviator, he rode the coattails of his famous father, and managed to wiggle out of situations that would have ended the career of any officer without that influence. He has milked his captivity during the Vietnam war for every drop. This, despite some fellow prisoners doubting his claims. Indeed, there is a very concerning recording of McCain being rather complicit in a radio Hanoi interview during that captivity. I simply cannot place any trust in the man. He has always placed himself ahead of his comrades in arms and his constituents.

McCain has stayed on the political shelf far past his sale date. He has no future beyond his current position. His influence has waned and it's unlikely he will get another term, barely surviving a primary challenge last year.

So now, with his career headed down faster than Chris Christie on a greased pole, he wants to be "someone important" again. Thus, in his bitterness he has done anything and everything he can to undermine the man who was successful where he failed.

Trump clearly views McCain in the light of "the friend of my enemy is my enemy". McCain is living up to that opinion as a dedicated "never Trump" Republican. Defenders of the status quo. He has joined forces with the press which is trying desperately to destroy the President. For the first time in this nation's history, the press is actively working to squelch the electorate. Don't misunderstand, the main stream press IS acting like an enemy of the People. McCain is, once again, complicit with those who oppose freedom, hiding behind the Constitution in order to subvert the Constitution.

Arizona has a provision in the State Constitution to allow a recall petition for any elected official, including those in Congress. Since there has never been a recall of a member of Congress or the Senate, this has never been tested in Federal courts, much less SCOTUS. Perhaps the time has come to test it...

False Outrage at Trump's Order to Block Travel to USA From Seven Mostly Muslim Countries

Is it just me, or is the typical left wing American losing his or her mind? Surely, the mainstream media is deliberately distorting facts. I'm sure everyone reading this has seen the outrage over Trump's Muslim ban... Hollywood, the single greatest concentration of dumbass in America, is going off the edge.

I have to ask a simple question.. What Muslim ban?

There's no ban on Muslims coming to the U.S. whatsoever. There is a 90 day immigration ban from seven nations that are avowed enemies or involved in civil wars or where ISIS has a major presence. All seven countries are majority Islam, but the order is not religion specific. No one from these countries, regardless of religion, will be permitted to enter the United States for 90 days, while an adequate vetting methodology is established.

Muslims may enter the U.S. from Tunisia, from Morocco, from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Lebanon and a many other nations where Islam is the major religion. Anyone calling this a Muslim Ban is lying to you.

What drives me to distraction, is that liberals ignore Pew polls of Muslims in Middle Eastern nations where 85% of mainstream Muslim men want Sharia law enacted everywhere. They support death to those who leave Islam. They support death for being a homosexual. They support subjugating women. They support beating wives as punishment. They support death for anyone insulting their prophet, or even drawing a picture of Mohammed.

Liberals refer to those who don't want this in America as "fascists" and "Nazis". They don't understand that the real fascism is theocratic Islam, which would strip them of their freedoms and in some cases, their very lives. Europe is learning the hard way, with massive increases in crimes against women and homosexuals since allowing unrestricted Muslim refugee immigration. Whole sections of cities are now no-go areas for non-Muslims. Hungary refused to accept any refugees and they are not suffering this wave of crime nor enclaves of Islamist lunacy, where "infidels" go at their peril. They rightfully refer to the refugee issue as a mass exodus. An invasion.

We don't have a land bridge to the Middle East, but we don't have to accept people who may pose a threat of terror. ISIS has stated that they plan to infiltrate the refugees with terrorists. What Trump is doing is initiating a temporary halt to immigration from where ISIS operates.

There is no Muslim ban... It's a lie, and if you believe it, you do so in spite of the truth.

NY Times Reporter Tweets Fake News

New York Times reporter, Binyamin Appelbaum, tweeted a photo of Obama's 2009 Inauguration crowd alongside a photo of the gathering 10 AM crowd assembling for Trump's Inauguration.

It was a deliberate attempt to deceive by comparing Obama's crowd at the swearing in to the hours earlier crowd gathering for the Trump inauguration. 

Genuine, unabashed, unapologetic, fake news. 

This tweet inspired additional tweets by the Washington Post, showing a park feed image from yet earlier in the morning, which was immediately presented as the true inauguration crowd by dishonest Twitter posters. 

Worse, some National Parks Service official with control of the NPS Twitter account, re-tweeted the Appelbaum post. The NPS tweet was discovered and the NPS account was quickly purged. You can bet that the left wing NPS official responsible for the re-tweet will be applying for unemployment benefits on Monday. This goes to show how deep the progressives have penetrated all levels of government over the past eight years.

So, what is the truth as to the size of the crowd that attended the Trump Inaugural? You can judge for yourself by viewing the composite photo below. I cannot determine if the 2009 inauguration drew a larger crowd than President Trump. However, it is very clear than the Mall was equally full of Trump supporters. 

This type of left wing, progressive propaganda is exactly why we can not place a shred of faith in the mainstream media and liberal press. Their goal is to deceive the public and, whether or not they admit this truth, they want to destroy the values and principles of the Founding Fathers of our republic. They are, in the truest sense, enemies of the Constitution.

Progressive Philosophy in a Single Paragraph

Buzzfeed's take on the film Patriot's Day reveals the left wing mindset, with all of it's anti-American values and massively distorted logic. I still wait to meet a left winger capable of critical analysis and thought...

"Patriots Day crystallizes the ethos of Trump’s America: the normalization of totalitarianism and anti-intellectualism, a return to the delineation of global politics into camps of right and wrong, patriot and terrorist, winners and losers, and an impulse to flatten and otherwise ignore reality in the name of feeling good and guiltless."

According to Buzzfeed writer Anne Helen Petersen, because of my values, I am "anti-intellectual". I would argue that this evening when I have a Warsteiner pilsener with my dinner, that 330 ml of beer will kill more brain cells than Petersen devotes to critical thinking. Why is the left's definition of "intellectual" so utterly devoid of intellect?

She comments about American values including "winners and losers", as if that was somehow morally wrong. A product of participation trophy mindset. In the real world, 2nd place really is the first place loser. Sorry, if that disturbs some, you need to learn that there are people who can accomplish more and better things than you. That's reality and it's the reality of nature.

Then we get to “right and wrong”. Petersen seems to think that these two things are relative. They’re not. A known indication of sociopathic tendency is the inability to separate right from wrong. No moral compass, which invariably leads to justifying virtually anything. Which seems to indicate why the left doesn’t grasp the evil of Islamic Jihad.

The entirety of the quoted paragraph reveals the warped reasoning and fascist bent of Progressive politics. She unwittingly describes the depraved state of those of her ilk in one paragraph. A lesson to those who struggle to tolerate people like Petersen. Somehow, mainstream America has become accepting of progressive, anti-American attitudes. Many just shrug them off, rather than push them to explain their reasoning and their motives. By enabling the enemies of freedom, the Progressive movement has become complicit in the evil.

This absence of a moral compass is directly related to decline of Judeo-Christian values. Rebellion against right, perhaps because wrong is often easier and provides immediate gratification.

This is why Trump resonated. He defined a clear, unambiguous line between what he believed was right and wrong. Professional politicians loath setting clear lines, because they need the ability to straddle or change sides of the fence as required to get reelected. Trump took a stand, a clear and easy to understand demarcation from politics as usual.

Thus, his presence is a direct threat to progressives, who have relied on ambiguous Republican politics to make inroads in society at the cost of civility and kindness. This is why a substantial portion of Americans have joined Trump in drawing a line against the fascism of left wing politics. Perhaps, these folks will develop the courage to take back the nation from those who hate it and its values that made it the greatest bastion of liberty on earth.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/annehelenpetersen/patriots-day?bftw&utm_term=.cqDJXEjVZ#.pc0PxNZVd