Senator Bernie Sanders said of his Denver, CO rally with AOC last weekend:
The video speaks for itself.
34,000 people out in Denver. Largest political rally there since 2008.
The message is clear:
NO to authoritarianism. NO to oligarchy. NO to Trumpism.
We are ready to fight back.
Now it’s on to Tucson.
Unfortunately, he was being economical with the truth - and didn't say anything about where his audience came from. Tony Seruga ran the numbers, including a GPS and cellphone analysis, and came up with this very interesting information.
GPS—Here we go again, there were 20,189 devices. Still a large crowd but not even close to the 30,000 quoted in Denver newspapers nor the 34,000 quoted by Bernie Sanders and AOC.
84% of the devices present had attended 9 or more Kamala Harris rallies, antifa/blm, pro-Hamas, pro-Palestinian protests, 31% had attended over 20.
For more insight into what data we also look at in addition to GPS location data would be demographic and psychographic data using over 6,000 different databases, i.e., like the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Pew Research Center, market research firms like YouGov, Experian, specialized tools like ESRI's Tapestry Segmentation, consumer surveys, social media platforms like 𝕏, Facebook, Linkedin.
Demographic data includes basic characteristics like age, gender, income, education level, occupation, marital status, family size, ethnicity, and where people live (e.g., city, state).
Psychographic data dives deeper into people's lifestyles, values, attitudes, interests, personality traits, social class, activities, and how they make purchasing decisions. For example, it might show if someone values sustainability, enjoys outdoor activities, participates in community activism.
While demographic data is straightforward, psychographic data can reveal sensitive personal details, like beliefs even life goals.
Additionally, by cross pollinating each device with other devices regularly within close proximity to the target device we are able to build a detailed profile for each target.
90% of those in the above 84% were likely working with one of these five groups and is the reason for their presence.
Once again, this is based a very sophisticated algorithm that looks at the behavioral metrics for each device, including the physical 1:1 proximity to leaders and paymasters from these groups in the past.
Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project, Troublemakers and the Democratic Socialists of America.
Each receives money from ActBlue and at least three, via USAID.
Disruption Project: Legal status is unclear, likely operating illegally.
Rise & Resist: 501c4 non-profit
Indivisible Project: 501c4 non-profit
Troublemakers: Legal status is for profit.
Democratic Socialists of America: 501c4 non-profit
Of course, he wasn't able to determine just how many of the attendees had been paid to be there; but judging by past Democratic Party tactics, I'm willing to bet many of them were, just as many of those in the Antifa/BLM protests of past years had been. As we saw in this morning's memes post:
From a personal security point of view, with all this paid agitation going on (including organized efforts to burn down Tesla dealerships, key or otherwise damage Tesla vehicles, and so on), we can expect urban unrest (up to and including urban terrorism) to increase. The more success President Trump and Elon Musk have in breaking down progressive-left funding avenues and misappropriation of federal funds, the more stridently the latter will protest against them, and the more violent their resistance is likely to become.
This means we should all be considering our personal security arrangements, and those for our families and loved ones, and for our homes. I've written enough in these pages about firearms and security that I don't proposed to repeat it all over again. Look in the archives, particularly the sidebar, for more information.
One thing I will emphasize, though, is that if we're out and about, our weapons should be concealed and inconspicuous. The radicals are very likely to take even the sight of a firearm as intolerable provocation, and may try to rush us and take it away from us, or scream loudly and make a fuss that we're "vigilantes" and "racists" and "troublemakers", or simply open fire on us with their own weapons and then claim we posed a threat to them. This is not a security environment in which open carry is a good idea.
Similarly, if we carry a long gun with us, it should be one that can be easily concealed or disguised so that it can't be readily identified for what it is. In an urban environment, a folding pistol-caliber carbine (PCC) is a particularly useful option for such a scenario. It can be folded and concealed in a gym bag or even a large briefcase, making it easy to carry through a hotel lobby or across the street without looking threatening, but it's nevertheless immediately available if needed. It can be unfolded, a round chambered, and put into action in only a few seconds, with practice. If you don't have one, I highly recommend that you look into getting one.
(Until recently I only had a 9mm. PCC - a Ruger - but Smith & Wesson has just launched their new M&P FPC (Folding Pistol Carbine) series in 10mm, a much more powerful cartridge. I handled one of the first, and found it much better balanced overall than other weapons in its class that I've tried. I'll be doing a full test on one soon, and I'll let you know how I find it. It may be the best implementation of the late, great Jeff Cooper's "Thumper" carbine concept that we've yet seen, given that Cooper said on one occasion that the 10mm. round was suitable for that application.)
Peter
20 comments:
Stay away from people. Especially crazy people.
That is one sweet looking rifle.
personally I've always preferred the 10mm.
right now S&W is offering a good bargain:
the M&P FPC® WITH CTS RED - GREEN DOT OPTIC in 9mm for an extra $30, will they do the same for the 10mm?
Soft guitar case. Tennis racket case for AR pistols.
I'll be interested to see what your AAR is. And yes, we've known they were 'paid' to attend these rallies just like they were paid to protest. $15/hr or $100/day was what I've heard.
I think when, not if but when, the left starts with a new "summer of love", they are going to find a different reception from the rest of the country. A lot of the "average Joe's" have been kicked around enough so that at this point many are going to fight back. Having been blamed for everything but the death of Christ, yet, there are thousands who are just waiting for a chance to fight back. If the right tipping point is hit, all hell WILL break loose.
Ruger's PC carbine has a far heavier barrel than is needed. The charger pistol version helps cut weight but barrel is too short imo for its overall size and still heavy. Good for cross training manual of arms with 10/22 however.
The m&p is a really wide/fat gun and keltec knockoff. I believe m&p lockup is polymer and also can't fire folded. Don't like or "get" them.
If you're looking to stay away from pistol braces in 10mm, I think Roger's lc carbine is the way to go right now -- also offered in 45 acp for a lower cost round. Folding stock and fires when folded, pistol grip mags so compact, much easier disassembly especially full for cleaning (important if toting around everywhere) vs m&p, and significantly better engineered all around (m&p's are very much like sub2k with buffer tube blowback bolt and a big job to more than fieldstrip), and the ruger lcs take proven glock mags. Ruger lc is still a little heavy in the barrel, but chf so that's something (and can get copy in 5.7x28 for lower recoil for the Mrs, etc., but same manual of arms)
*definitely watch takedown vids for both m&p and ruger and night and day differences are readily apparent imo.
**for brace guns, I do really like the lc charger w/ 10" barrel and 4lbs weight. But only in 5.7 right now.
***And imo and lastly, I'd take the sub2k before m&p, and upgrade it with mcarbo, tacticool, etc., aftermarket parts. But sub2k is not available in 10mm, just 40 s&w. And parts cannon adds at least 200 to sub2k price...
Look forward to your testing.
Have you shot a sub2k? The ergonomics suck.
Forgot to mention that the fn p90 has a 10" barrel so oem length for 5.7, and the ruger lc definitely has a better trigger. And vs the bullpupish p90, ruger lc's bolt over/around bore design also keeps it super compact and nearly as much so as the p90.
I believe the lc also incorporates the pc's dead blow weight system (similar function to ar buffer weights but sprung like vltor a5 buffers), so not a basic blowback like most competitors...
By no means is the LC trigger excellent, bit it's serviceable and expect aftermarket upgrades will be coming down the pike...
The 10mm Magnum is one of the few pistol chamberings that benefits from additional barrel length. It is a brute out of a 4" barrel. It gains between 30% and 65% more kinetic energy out of a 16" barrel and is easier to "hit" with.
I've fallen in and out of lust with many regular and boutique calibers over the decades. I've settled on 9mm, G19 for handgun, edc. An AR pistol in 300BO with 9" barrel. AR pistol in 7.62x39 with 10" barrel, or AR in 5.56 pistol, with at least 10.5" barrel, 11.5" is surprisingly better. I consider those the minimum length barrel lengths, for minimum acceptable performance. They all can be effective out to 300 yards if you DOPE (Data on Previous Engagements/ranging) them adequately.
None of the pistol caliber carbines have enough horse power, compared to an AR pistol for me.
Folding stock mini14 beats any PCC. I have owned mine for 32 years.
Not living in a Free State, I'll just do my best to avoid crowds, and hope the fight is over before I've reached the capacity of my restricted magazine. (In case you missed it, the 9th Circuit En-Banc just ruled 7-4 that magazines are not covered by the 2nd Amendment)
I have a PCC in 9mm and I get the draw. I used it as a truck gun for a while. Being able to share mags between the PCC and handgun is a big plus. 10mm would be an improvement over 9mm, but it's still a pistol caliber.
I prefer a bare bones, "M4" style AR-15 as my truck gun. Harder to secure than a folding PCC but if I ever need a rifle, I want a rifle, not a long barreled pistol.
Just my opinion and I've never fired a gun at anything other than critters and range targets so take it for what it's worth...that and $7 will buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
I think it was Lawdog I was reading once when he said (paraphrasing from memory): "Once when I was open carrying I had a lady ask me if I was expecting trouble. 'No', I replied, 'If I was expecting trouble I'd have brought a rifle'.
Just a comment on the Sub2000 as I have one in .40
I don't consider it a serious weapon based on it's construction in the receiver and trigger group. I had a lot of fun putting cool after market parts on mine when I got it. Replacing, plastic sights and trigger with metal and other stuff around the edges. In the process of removing the old trigger and putting the new one in I found that the quality of the plastic that the reciever/trigger housing is made of is horrible. Also it isn't designed to be easily broken down and put back together. I thought that I might not get it back together correctly. I did but was really unhappy with the process. Where the two sides of the unit come together and hold the trigger and other components the holes drilled in the plastic were fairly soft and malleable. Not like the hardened and tough plastic a glock is made out of.
Now.. to be fair I will give an honest use report also. The rifle folds and stores in a very small area/bag. The bag I got for it looks like a very small laptop bag. It was basically a small work site bag that husky made for contractors back in the day.
Shooting it: I have in hundreds or more of rounds maybe had 1 or two FFE's and those involved long aftermarket magazines resting on the ground as I shot and being torqued in the magazine well to the back at the bottom. Still shouldn't have happened but its what it is. With standard glock magazines I have never had a single issue. One of the positives is that the magazines used to be compatible with my carry pistol so, I could use them in my pistol or the PCC. However with age and weakening wrists and arms I have started moving from .40 to 9mm and a smaller firearm. I am not happy about it. However that means the Sub2000 is no longer magazine/ammo compatible, which negates some of why I got it in the first place.
It has always fired accurately. I would expect to hit a standard man size target with very good accuracy... maybe 1.5 moa at 100 yards repetitively with a aftermarket optic and with the stock sights probably 2 or 3 moa... maybe more a me issue with eyes than a gun issue.
In the end it has always been reliable but the cheap construction, with what I consider substandard plastic and substandard design. This makes it hard to service at that level and it has always left me feeling uncomfortable to rely on it as a mission critical self defense gun. I'm very much of the school that a pistol only good for getting you to a rifle/shotgun school of thought. A PCC with it's longer barrel helps a little but not much in that regard. Hella fun to shoot though. It's just what it is.
Honestly if they had designed it with an aluminum housing and even better maybe used a AR trigger group it would have elevated it to a whole new level. Shoot even just using a quality composite like glock does would have done that.
To all those who said they'd rather rely on an AR-15-type rifle for defensive purposes, I totally agree, and I've written along those lines in the past. However, note the qualifier that I placed on the use of a PCC:
"In an urban environment, a folding pistol-caliber carbine (PCC) is a particularly useful option..."
Cities are generally not AR-15-friendly, particularly in the states where possessing such weapons is either forbidden, or hedged around with so many restrictions that they're almost impossible to carry legally. Thus, in an urban environment, a PCC is often more "legal", more convenient, and a useful range extender compared to a handgun. If I'm traveling out of state to a big city that has issues with military-style rifles, you can bet I'll have a PCC with me.
That is a good point peter. I would be careful even so from a legal standpoint. Most of the states that are non AR friendly have passed laws and regulations on which there are a bunch of guns listed, a lot you would never have thought would be on there. Just because its a non AR platform doesn't mean it's not just as illegal there. Even if it's not technically illegal, how it is stored or transported or the fact that it's folding could well affect local charging and detainment :) Just the fact that you have more than a couple of spare magazines could become a legal problem. I love the stories where the police find a guy with a 1000 rounds of ammo at home and it turns him into a wannabe terrorist. No one seems interested that that is only 3 or 4 trips to the range to practice with. (for one person) lol.. who can afford to take the whole family shooting anymore. :)
In the case of the sub2000, it and multiple magazines, hearing protection and any other small items will pack in a size that if it's an identifiable range bag most would just think it was a large pistol case. In a non identifiable bag or container it's easy to carry on a car trip and inconspicuous. More than once that has been what I have done for a multi day trip out of town to visit relatives or for other reasons. However nowadays I have come to realize that if something happens away from home and we have to try and get back without the car or other such transportation then I probably won't make it back. Me walking hundreds of miles isn't going to happen anymore. Everything changes with age and physical decline as you come to realize that very little of it is under your control or your ability to truly affect anymore. (if it was ever)
here in PA. you can have a AR pistol in your car/truck if you have a CCW. as a old grunt, I went with a 5.56 "pistol" with a 10.5 barrel.
prism sight and it is good out to 200 yards easy.
asked a state trooper about it and he said it's okay and might get one for himself !
mine is behind the seat in a case that blends in with the floor carpets. just saying.
California compliance is problematic at best. No "importing" standard capacity magazines, they must be permanently modified for 10 rounds or less. Threaded barrels are strictly forbidden. For non-pistols, no 'pistol grip', 'flash hider', front grip, or a host of other things. Some of these are allowed if the magazine is permanently installed, and the rifle receiver opened before it can be changed. No magazine-fed shotguns at all. The 9th Circuit makes certain these laws are always found Constitutional even if they have to break their own processes and give bad-faith reasoning in order to do so.
Oddly enough, a pump shotgun with more than one ammo tube is still legal here. For now.
I dislike short barrel 5.56 rifle/pistols the most. The balistics for 5.56 was calculated out of a 24 inch reference barrel. The military with the m16 which i was issued used a 20 inch barrel. A loss of 4 inches. Then the m16 a2 came out still with a 20 inch barrel when i got i@ued one. After i left in late 80's they went to a 16 in barrel with the m4 and then to a 14inch barrel that made using it in buildings easier as well as getting in and out of vehicles. This respectively left the barrel 8 inches and 10 inches shorter than the barrel length the round was designed to be shot through. Muzzle velocity for designed performance and ballistics was 3200ft per second with a kinetic energy of arround 1200 ftlbs. Also the round was designed to fragment and tumble on hitting the target. For this to reliably happen the round needs to be moving faster than 2600 to 2800 ft per second. Given that the bullet slows down over distance . It needs the 3200 ft per second to give optimal performance at 100, 200, 300, yards or more. With the advent of shorter barrel lengths the bullets are xomming out of the muzzle at 2600 to 2800 ft oer second and probably 1000 to 900 ftlbs. By the time the bullet has gone 100 yardsit is now supper stabalized and going slow enough that it likely wont fragment. Instead you get a pass through that dump relatively little kinetic energy into the target. Thus leading to reports of the enemy taking multiple hits in the battle field and still moving and fighting. Once you go down to a 10.5 inch barrel it is truly underperforming to an extreme degree. Not to say it wont hurt if you hit someone, but your in the balistic range of a full power 10mm or 44 mag etc. And they will do more damage due to the larger bullet cross section comapared to the 5.56 at that point.
I would submit two alternatives. Ar in 300 blackout or 7.62×39 ak round. I consider the 7.62x39 tobbe the better round personally due to slight edge in performance and major edge in cost. The 300 blackout is techically more accurate but i have shot steel case 7.62x39 with 2 moa accuracy out of an ar on a regular basis. Not getting half inch moa under 300 yards is irelavant to real world needs. Both 300blk and 7.62x39 as .308 caliber rounds hit like a hammer of god compared to a short barrel 5.56. The 300blk was designed for that 10.5 inch barrel and shockingly to me was that 7.62x39 in a 10 or 11 inch barrel losses very little velocity and maintains a ver respecatable kinetic energy. Also since the bullet doesnt depend on fragmenting and or tumbling to do its designed damage the it is much more effective in a short barrel. 123 grain .308 soft point is a win for me for hunting, self defense and pocket book.
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