As noted by others (and here) Jeff Cooper has passed away.
I have more quotes from Cooper (147) in my collection than from any other person. Greg Hamilton comes in at a distant second with 82, Heinlein comes in at third with 61. And I stopped collecting Cooper quotes years ago when people said they were getting just a little tired of me posting the latest gem from him.
For the next week rather than trying to mix things up the QOD will be nothing but Jeff Cooper material.
Update: Due to popular demand I'm posting my entire Jeff Cooper quote collection here and now. See also the collection at Front Sight, Press.
Update2: I should have mentioned in my original post that when I teach a self defense class part of the materials I hand out are a copy of Cooper's book Principles of Self Defense. This book is tool independent. Whether you defend yourself with your bare hands or rifles and hand grenades what is most important is your state of mind. In this book Cooper points out, in hindsight, the obvious.
I also mention to my students that Cooper is the Father of IPSC. IPSC is the PC term for a game/sport that is in essence combat pistol. Cooper created the game in order to advance the state of the art in pistol craft. He succeeded in a big way. Shortly after the beginning of the sport it was considered world class if you could shoot an El Presidente in nine seconds. Today nine seconds is way below average with world class being half that. It was partly better equipment but mostly it was because of better technique. Technique that came from the creation of the sport and the competition that followed. Even if Cooper's contribution were simply this he would earn a place in history but his contributions were far, far, greater. The quotes below give only a hint of his genius and his contributions to our society.
----
Found 147 quotes.
----
At the S.C.O.P.E. Conference we attended in Buffalo, New York, as guest
speaker, a young man was honored for successfully defending himself and
family after he had been shot twice in the forehead with a 22. We saw the
pictures and the two holes were quite close together and almost centered
between the hairline and the eyebrows. The victim fell down, but was able
to pick himself up, move to another room, seize his shotgun, and dispose of
the would-be murderer. I guess the moral is, do not worry about your
condition, make your assailant worry about his condition.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 10
15 November 1993
----
Jack Furr, who was an Orange Gunsite Rangemaster, reports that one of his
Mexican students last year had a most successful engagement south of the
border. When set upon by two goblins, he precisely acquired the kneeling
position, as taught here, and put two rounds in two targets each. One was
dead on the scene, the other was dead on arrival. Though he was using only a
9mm pistol, his technique was exactly as put to him by Jack, and he came out
in complete charge of the situation. This is elegant vindication of the
technique.
On that subject of repelling boarders, we discovered recently that Ty Cobb,
the legendary baseball player and notorious curmudgeon, was once hit upon by
what today would be called a mugger in a dark alley. Cobb relieved his
assailant of his pistol and beat him up with it so badly that his face could
not be identified in the morgue. Street punks should be careful to pick on
the right people - or the wrong people, depending upon your viewpoint.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 5
May 1998
----
During our recent motor touring, we noticed on several occasions the road
sign "Gusty winds may exist." Now I find that pretty fascinating. The notice
that gusty winds may exist suggests some thought be given to the
relationship of reality to existence. Whether such winds may or may not
exist opens the door to questions about what constitutes existence.
Descartes declaimed, Cogito ergo sum (I think: therefore I am). Whether
winds may or may not really and truly exist calls for serious thought. I
almost ran off the road considering this matter.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
----
When driving in our current urban battle zones, remember that when a car
stops suddenly in front of you and two people get out simultaneously, you go
to Condition Orange. This is particularly true if you have rear-ended the
car in front of you slightly with your bumper. This is a pre-planned
car-jacking technique. Bear it in mind!
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 4
April 1998
----
The profusion of new pistols makes a detailed survey of the market too large
a job for a newsletter. We may note, however, that the Europeans retain
their preoccupation with the 9mm Parabellum cartridge. This is due primarily
to the fact that the Europeans as a group are not interested in stopping
power. As one Frenchman once told me, if in Europe you shoot a criminal, he
sits down on the curb and bursts into tears. In America he will shoot back
and kill you if he can. Different attitude.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 2
February 1998
----
The Barret single-shot 50 BMG is now selling well in the United States, and
the Germans have come up with their own version of the same sort of piece.
The item is very attractive to the eye, but I have not had the chance to
shoot it. I have reason to believe that it will shoot very well. Its price
is high and it is forbidden in the United States as a "destructive device"
by the BATmen. I cannot regard this as any more than the usual annoyance I
feel with government regulation, but I really cannot see a purpose for this
rifle. It is doubtless great fun to shoot at medium- and long-range, if you
can afford the ammunition, but the only really appropriate target I can
conceive for it is the 55 gallon oil drum, suitably decorated. (Of course,
you can hit that drum just as well with a 30-caliber rifle such as an M1 -
but to bring up that point would be to spoil the fun.)
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 2
February 1998
----
Family member Mark Terry tells us that his nephew was decisively shot up last
October with a 32 auto. Range was very short and one of the hits was in the
head, but he was conscious and pretty chipper when the paramedics arrived.
At the hospital it was discovered that he had one of those little 32 pills
inside his skull, and so, rather than mess with an operation, they left it
there. As Mark says, that miniature bullet probably won't even set off metal
detectors at airports.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 1
January 1998
----
We see now that the Russians are pushing for police pistols of very small
caliber and very high velocity, presumably to defeat the body armor they
assume will be worn by their criminals. There are a couple of things wrong
with this approach, but I am quite content to let these people pursue their
own strange gods.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 3
March 1998
----
At long last I have discovered that most shooters are not interested in
firearms as tools, but rather as toys. Such people do not acquire their
weapons because of what they will do, but rather to gratify the "Christmas
morning joy" that we largely left behind in our childhood.
For many decades I have striven to design firearms that were primarily
useful, but now I discover that only a few people care about that. Well, so
be it. Let each one enjoy himself according to his tastes.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 3
March 1998
----
And now how about this new 440 Corbon cartridge? It is supposed to be
available in a new pistol by Magnum Research Incorporated, and it is said to
start a 260-grain bullet at 1700 f/s. This is just the ticket for the power
hungry pistolero always troubled with aggressive polar bears in Svalbard. I
suspect that anyone who can fire a 308 rifle, one hand, unsupported, at arm's
length, will have no trouble managing this new item.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 3
March 1998
----
Do you know what the "Big Twenty" is? The Big Twenty is the placement of 20
shots in a 20-inch circle in 20 seconds at a 1000 yards. Old time target
shots claim that this is impossible, but then for most of the 20th century
it was held that it was impossible to run a mile in 4 minutes.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 5
April 1997
----
The following nifty anecdote from our old friend Ian McFarlane, the
professional hunter from Botswana:
"About 0:300 we received a radio message that a Bushman tracker had returned
to one of the camps with a chest shot from an AK and was brought into Runtu
Hospital by helicopter. On notification that the patient had arrived and was
in theatre, we found him standing there smoking a cigarette. He had a wound
on the left chest in front and in the back. We took x-rays and found indeed
that it was through and through. We cleaned and closed the wound, and kept
him for a week in case of infection. This did not happen, but during that
time we found out that the Bushman had been wounded early in the morning of
the previous day. He tracked his antagonist during the day for about twelve
hours. He said he could have shot his man a few times during the day, but he
wanted to shoot him in the abdomen so that he would die painfully and
slowly. Just before sundown, he got his shot properly placed, and then
walked another eight hours back to base."
The wound, of course, was delivered by the 30 caliber Russian Short cartridge
of the AK47. Presumably the bullet had an iron core and a copper jacket,
allowing no deformation. Still, getting shot through the chest with a 30
caliber Russian Short might be thought to be enough to spoil one's appetite,
but these Bushmen are great little guys. I have associated with them just
enough to appreciate their admirable qualities.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 2
February 1997
----
We have discovered a marvelous use for the laser pistol sight. It is a nifty
toy for pet dogs, who can spend many happy hours chasing that orange dot all
over the living room.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 1
January 1997
----
Anyone who studies the matter will reach the conclusion that good
marksmanship, per se, is not the key to successful gunfighting. The
marksmanship problem posed in a streetfight is ordinarily pretty elementary.
What is necessary, however, is the absolute assurance on the part of the
shooter that he can hit what he is shooting at - absolutely without fail.
Being a good shot tends to build up this confidence in the individual.
Additionally, the good shot knows what is necessary on his part to obtain
hits, and when the red flag flies, the concentration which he knows is
necessary pushes all extraneous thinking out of his mind. He cannot let side
issues such as fitness reports, political rectitude, or legal liability
enter his mind. Such considerations may be heeded before the decision to
make the shot is taken, and reconsidered after the ball is over; but at the
time, the imperative front sight, surprise break must prevail.
Thus we have the paradox that while you almost never need to be a good shot
to win a gunfight, the fact that you are a good shot may be what is
necessary for you to hold the right thoughts - to the exclusion of all
others - and save your life. This may come as a shock to a good many
marksmanship instructors, but I have studied the matter at length and in
depth, and I am satisfied with my conclusions.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 1
January 1997
----
There has never been much question about it, and it is indisputable after
decades of observation that the single-action self-loading pistol - the Colt
1911 and its clones - is the easiest, heavy-duty sidearm with which to hit.
The crunchenticker is the most difficult, and the Glock is somewhere in the
middle. Shooting a Glock is simply shooting a single-action self-loader with
no safety and a very poor trigger. If real excellence is not the objective,
this is a satisfactory system to employ.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 16
December 1996
----
Family member Norm Vroman recently went down to a cop gathering in Mesa
attended by about 400 lawmen. Norm's 1911 was one of only two in evidence on
the range, and was the object of considerable wonder, as many of these young
people did not know what it was. Norm entered the shooting, and, not
surprisingly, won his class. Then they knew.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 14
December 1996
----
Our old buddy Gene Harshbarger from Guatemala reports a recent episode with
the 25 ACP pistol cartridge. It seems that Gene's cousin was set upon by a
trio of car thieves who shot him once almost dead center with that dinky
little pistol. The bullet entered at a very flat angle, however, proceeded
laterally just inside the pectoral muscle, and exited after about 5 inches
of traverse, continuing on into the target's left arm.
The cousin hit the deck and started shooting back, whereupon the assailants
split. When he stood up the bullet slid out of his left sleeve and bounced
on the pavement. It penetrated the jacket, but not the skin of his left arm.
As we used to teach in the spook business, carry a 25 if it makes you feel
good, but do not ever load it. If you load it you may shoot it. If you shoot
it you may hit somebody, and if you hit somebody - and he finds out about it
- he may be very angry with you.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 14
December 1996
----
We hear from neighbor Colonel Bob Young that the penalty for possession of a
hollow-point bullet in the great state of New Jersey is $1,000 per bullet.
Sometimes it seems that New Jersey should be treated as suggested for
Somalia - surrounded by an impenetrable wall and allowed to stew in its own
juice.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 13
November 1996
----
Among the new 10mm pistol cartridges, the "Cor-Bon .400", as reported to us
by Dick Davis of Second Chance, is supposed to put out a 165-grain bullet at
1300 f/s. Dick comments: "If we open it up to a 45 caliber and increase the
bullet weight to, say, 230 grains, we might have a real man-stopper."
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 13
November 1996
----
From Chechnya via Time magazine:
"They are simply afraid of us. We saw it in their eyes during battle. They
have very strong weapons - but not very strong spirits."
As always, it is the man, not the gun, that wins.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 11
September 1996
----
According to our official informant from the Smallarms Development Division,
we learn that the proposed personal arm of the individual soldier will be a
two-phase, handheld weapon basically equipped with night vision. Its lower
barrel will be a semi-automatic 223 for use against individual targets up to
perhaps 200 meters. Its top barrel will be a 40-millimeter grenade launcher
utilizing laser sight setting and good for proximity hits out to 1,000
meters.
This is just one of many proposals which may be due for experimental
adoption, and all of which seem to run on batteries. Our informant, who
spent much of the Gulf War racing around trying to keep people supplied with
batteries, advises us to invest in Duracel. (Which was just recently
purchased by Gillette.)
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 11
September 1996
----
On a considerably less tragic line we may consider a case which happened not
long ago here in Arizona in which a felon undertook to engage the police
from a sixth floor balcony. The police smothered the target (with their
Glocks) who came down airborne to his death. When it was attempted to find
out how many shots the felon had taken, it was discovered that it was the
fall that killed him - no bullet wounds.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 11
September 1996
----
European designers, including Lapua and Heckler & Koch, among others, are
hard at work producing what they call oberfliegeren. These are rifle
cartridges which serve about the same purpose as hot rods, which is to gain
attention. One of the most prominent is the 9x90mm, which uses a case
somewhat similar at the head to the 50 BMG, but is necked down to a 36
caliber. But the manufacturers of these remarkable cartridges maintain that
they are designed for police snipers, but it is pretty hard to see just what
tactical niche they fill. Pushing a 280-grain missile out the muzzle at
4,400 f/s may indeed accomplish something, but I can't imagine what that
might be.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 9
August 1996
----
In a recent curious case the subject was struck in the left side of the face
by a 380. The bullet was deflected by his jawbone down through his neck and
into his torso beneath the shoulder blade. The subject did not respond to
the blow, walked to the ambulance, was treated at the hospital for infection
and sent home with a Tylenol. According to the account he was laughing and
joking with bystanders throughout the experience and did not return for
medical assistance on the following day. Moral: If you insist on using a
miniature sidearm, confine your hits to the eye sockets.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 3
February 1996
----
Up at a cop session at Bakersfield, we were treated to the usual round of
extraordinary cop stories. One such involved a goblin who unbelievably
accepted nine pellets of double 0 amidships without apparent distress. He
was annoyed, however, and called out to the shooter, "What did you do that
for?" We hunted around for a good answer to that question, and finally
settled upon, "My foot slipped."
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 12
October 1995
----
"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity."
Sigmund Freud in "General Introduction to Psychoanalysis" via John Pate
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 11
September 1995
----
We hear from our overseas agents that law enforcement and the whole judicial
system in Kenya has now broken down to the extent that the people are now
largely executing summary justice on the spot. There is a good deal to
recommend this, but it does have certain disadvantages, principally in what
may be called over-control. (Shoplifters are frequently beaten to death at
the scene.)
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 11
September 1995
----
We have a good anecdote from our neighbor and colleague, Colonel Bob Young,
who did a stint not long ago in Saudi Arabia. It seems that on this occasion
an American aircraft was parked on a runway, and being rather a sensitive
item it was given an individual sentry to keep unauthorized personnel at a
proper distance. In a demonstration of bad judgement, somebody in charge
gave this job to a girl soldier, the idea of which is extremely offensive to
a devout Muslim. In Saudi Arabia at this time the purity of the faith is
enforced by priestly types who prowl the country on the lookout for
violations of doctrine. These characters are armed with long, heavy whips.
One of them wandered onto the base and became totally scandalized at the
sight of this girl patrolling the aircraft with her M16. Shouting holy
imprecations, he endeavored to use his whip on the lass, who quite
reasonably shot him six times in the chest with her 223.
International Incident!
Bob tells us that the Air Force moved with uncharacteristic alacrity and got
the girl out of the country in a matter of minutes, and the whole incident
was immediately swept under the rug. It is hard to say who won that round,
but it recalls the principles of Hastings' Third Law, which reads
"Do not throw rocks at people with guns."
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 9
August 1995
----
War cry from darkest Connecticut: "Watch it, kid, or I will twist your head
around 'til your cap's on straight!"
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 9
August 1995
----
Herewith an interesting tactical ploy for our times. Late night shopper comes
out of supermarket to be confronted by a hostile crowd of pickaninnies asking
for money. The shopper greets hostiles in friendly fashion and raises a
question,
"Any of you brothers seen my speedloader?"
"Speedloader?"
"Yah, something like this,"
and he brings out his Detective Special, fishes around in his pockets and
says,
"A speedloader is something you use to load this piece. It's round and made
of black rubber. I swear I dropped it around here someplace. Anybody see it?"
We have often noticed that one can frequently disconcert a goblin by asking
him a question he is not prepared for. This would seem to be a good one.
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 6
25 April 1995
----
Through Randy Umbs, our man in Wisconsin, we have finally acquired a
practical explanation for golf. It turns out that dog droppings freeze
iron-hard in the Wisconsin winters, and one can make excellent practice
with his 4-iron lobbing these remnants onto adjoining property. Chipping
one down the neighbor's chimney is the equivalent of a hole-in-one.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 2
31 January 1995
----
I find it odd that the great majority of "gun writers" insist upon doing
accuracy testing of rifles at 100 yards range. You cannot find out much of
anything at 100. You can begin to get the picture at 200, but only at 300
can you derive a true accuracy assessment of rifle, ammunition and sight. Of
course in the field you will do very little shooting at 300 (despite what
the ads say), but if you are looking for an accuracy index nothing you will
find at 100 will show you very much.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 16
20 December 1994
----
Note that the goblins choose as victims only those they deem to be patsies.
Louis Awerbuck and Chris Pollack have recently gleaned the following
statement from a restroom wall:
There are no victims, only volunteers. You volunteer by looking
uncertain and afraid. You volunteer by being, as grass-eaters invariably
are, unprepared to confront the hazards of life.
As it used to be emphasized at Orange Gunsite, you are an easy mark in White,
but you are a difficult problem in Orange.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 10
11 August 1994
----
Family member and Babamtulu veteran Jack Buchmiller notes that if Nicole
Simpson had studied at Gunsite she would now be a wealthy widow.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 9
26 July 1994
----
As we have long taught, the rifle and the pistol serve two conceptually
different purposes, and while each may be called upon to perform the
function of the other, this is not a good practice and best results should
not be expected.
The essential difference is that the pistol is designed to solve totally
unexpected problems, whereas the rifle is taken in hand when the problem is
foreseeable. Thus instant readiness is the primary quality of the pistol. As
has been well said, "You cannot make an appointment for an emergency." When
you know there is going to be an emergency, you pick up your rifle. Now
there are all sorts of curious circumstances which may pose specific
exceptions to the foregoing principles, but the fact remains that the two
instruments fill different tactical niches, and training and practice
should be based upon that concept.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 4
22 March 1994
----
Indian Country, 1994
Goblin shows up late at hamburger dispensary behaving obnoxiously.
Management calls the cops. Cop shows up and challenges goblin, who begins
shooting at him. Cop sustains several hits before returning fire and goes
down with a broken femur. Goblin runs dry and, bleeding from three wounds,
commences to reload. Two Navajos are trying to get their car started on the
parking lot. Analyzing the situation, they move in on the goblin and pound
him into the pavement, leaving him for dead. They then go back to the car
and continue fiddling with it. All manner of cop cars show up, complete with
flashing lights. County deputy attorney, who arrives with the cops,
approaches the two Navajos and asks if they can use any help. The answer is,
"Well, yes. You got a flashlight?" Cops furnish flashlight.
Moral: Always carry a flashlight in Indian country.
Jeff Cooper
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 3
1 March 1994
----
I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary
Cooper.
Gary Cooper
On his decision not to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind."
----
At Whittington I was asked, quite reasonably, by family member Art Hammer if
there was not some inconsistency in my emphasizing stopping power in
handguns while favoring medium power in rifles (short of buffalo guns.) Good
question!
The answer is essentially conceptual. A pistol is a defensive instrument,
designed to stop a fight that somebody else starts. It is strictly an
emergency device called for in an unpredicted emergency. The shooter has to
respond to an action initiated by another, thus he needs all the emphasis he
can properly control.
The rifle, on the other hand, is normally an offensive instrument with which
the shooter has the initiative and is carrying the play to his prey. Hence
the rifleman can shoot with great care, placing his bullets properly. He
needs only enough power to insure proper penetration into the vitals of his
target. Blowing down trees on the far side is an extravagance.
The pistolero defends. The rifleman attacks. The problems are different.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 10
15 November 1993
----
Anyone who knows anything about marksmanship knows that it is something one
does not boast about. You may remember that Billy Dickson always attributed
his long shot on the Indian to pure luck, and this was always called mere
modesty on his part. Other examples will occur to you. However, if you would
like a conspicuous case study of how it was done, consider the famous
"Tinian shot" delivered during the occupation of Saipan and Tinian during
the Pacific War.
When we had taken Saipan, it was planned to move across the intervening
straight and land on the north end of Tinian Island, utilizing as much
supporting artillery as we could muster, in addition to aerial bombardment
and naval gunfire. To bring this off we moved all of the guns available on
Saipan to the southern tip of the island and set them into position to fire
across the straight on targets selected as appropriate. The smallest guns
were placed as far forward as possible. In the case of the 75 millimeter
pack-howitzers, this was right on the beach. Now the 75 millimeter
pack-howitzer in not much of a cannon. Its principal virtue is that it is
light and compact and can be moved around in difficult terrain with minimum
effort. It fires a 3-inch shell at high angle to a fairly modest range -
say, 2,500 yards. When all was ready, the signal was given to commence
registering across the straight, starting with the little guns first. One
battery of 75 pack-howitzers fired one round, which arched over the
separating water and came down almost vertically.
It so happened that I was present at this time, riding offshore some 3,000
yards to the east of the straight. I was looking right at the point of
impact. The result was unbelievable. The first thing I saw was a white,
hemispherical flash, perhaps 500 yards in diameter. Out of this boiled a
huge black column of smoke thrusting skyward into the traditional mushroom
cloud. There was no sound, but we could see the shock wave moving out
towards us across the water in a curved pattern. In a moment that shock wave
struck the escorting destroyers and heeled them radically over in the water.
The curve raced on towards us and we turned away and covered our ears. What
hit us then is indescribable in words, but it was a sensation one is
unlikely to forget.
What evidently happened was that first ranging shot from the 75-millimeter
battery had found its way down some sort of ventilating shaft into the main
ammunition depot on the north end of the island, and everything went up
together.
I never heard what reports were circulated around amongst the artillerymen
on Saipan, but one can guess at a number of appropriate wisecracks:
You want me to do that again?
Now you guys with the big guns can have your turn.
That was Number One gun. Now I am going to try with Number Two.
Why didn't I think of that last week?
Everybody break for chow.
And so on. That was the "Tinian shot." Anytime you feel like bragging about
something, keep that one in mind.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 9
October 1993
----
Family member Dr. Werner Weissenhofer reports from Vienna. It seems that a
felon armed with a 357 revolver robbed a bank. As he left the bank, he was
accosted by a policeman whom he murdered with one shot. Great excitement
ensued, with the felon taking hostages and racing madly around from one
store to another. When the forces of law and order had been mobilized and
surrounded the goblin, a policeman volunteered to trade himself to the
goblin for two hostages. This offer was accepted, at which time the felon
fired at the policeman and seriously wounded him. The forces of law and
order opened up with everything they had, which was mostly AUG and Glock
fire. Shortly, the goblin killed himself with one round. He had fired three
times and achieved three hits. The police, according to their official
report, fired 1,261 rounds without drawing blood.
At one time, we used to refer to an event of this sort as a "Chinese Fire
Drill." Later we came to call if "Father's Day in Harlem." After the
interment of the Ayatollah Khomeini, we began to call it "An Iranian
Funeral." Now, I guess we can call it "A Viennese Bank Robbery."
As I have often stated, if someone wants to shoot at me, I sure hope he does
it on full-auto.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 9
October 1993
----
We read in a recent news item from Britain that officers from Scotland Yard's
elite firearms team foiled an attempted armed robbery on Barclays
Westminster Bank. These highly trained specialists were armed with MP5s and
achieved conspicuous success. There was special praise for Police Constable
John Benson, who shot himself in the groin as he jumped from a Landrover to
chase two of the suspects.
"He did a great job," said Detective Superintendent Albert Patrick.
A great job indeed! One wonders how he would do a bad job.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 7
29 September 1993
----
When two opposing sides of an argument are presented, one by an honest man
and the other by a liar, the liar usually wins, simply because he is not
inhibited by the truth.
The Guru
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 7
29 September 1993
----
Recently we glimpsed a bright red Ferrari driven by a conspicuous "flash
bird" with top down. The combination of the brilliant color of the car and
the bright golden mane of the driver was set off by the personalized license
plate, which displayed the two words, "WAS HIS."
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 7
29 September 1993
----
Personally, I feel that the [International Practical Shooting] Confederation
might well consider going to the 22 rimfire cartridge since there is no
attempt at this time to relate the activity to defensive combat. The 22
would be vastly cheaper and even easier to machine-gun.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 7
21 September 1993
----
I have often preached that the proper antidote to fear is anger, and I see
no reason to change my opinion on this. However, there is another mental
condition that serves as well or possibly better, and that is concentration.
I have discussed this matter at great length with people who are in a
position to know, and I am not without experience of my own, and I can state
positively that when you find yourself facing deadly danger, your ability
to concentrate every mental faculty upon doing what needs to be done to save
yourself leaves no room for fear. If it happens that return fire is the best
solution to your danger, you are fortunate, because if you have organized
yourself properly your total preoccupation with your front sight and trigger
control will have become automatic; and therefore you cannot fear your
enemy's bullet since you are simply too busy concentrating on hitting him. I
think this truth is incontrovertible, but we certainly see that large numbers
of people who get involved in street fights, on either side of the law, have
never heard of it.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 6
2 September 1993
----
This fashionable buzz word "sensitivity" is beginning to gall. I do not see
sensitivity as the necessary attribute of a considerable man. We may search
through history for manifestations of sensitivity in the great without
particular success. Pericles, Xenophon, Socrates, Caesar, and so on down
through Washington, Napoleon, Roosevelt, and Churchill were not distinguished
for sensitivity. Thinness of the skin seems to be one of the paramount
troubles of the age.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 6
2 September 1993
----
I have never been taken with the idea of selling a gun. When you possess a
firearm, you possess something of importance. If you trade it for cash, you
have lost it - and the cash in your hand will soon be gone. Sell something
else!
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
June 11, 1993
----
This is not a world in which one can turn the other cheek. Doing
so does not avoid violence, but rather encourages it. The bad guys
threaten, but they do not seem to want to get hurt. They should
be taught that their presumed victim is more dangerous than they
are. This is not a matter of weapons, but rather of will.
Jeff Cooper
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 12 Number 12 - 2004
http://harris.dvc.org.uk/jeff/jeff12_12.html
----
For those who are proud of their lifetime shooting record, we learn of an
old geezer, aged 96, who at the end of his life in the Transvaal boasted
that he had taken 341 elephants, 187 lions, 40 kaffirs and two Englishmen.
It will take some doing to top that.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 11
September 1996
----
I am by no means sure that legalizing drugs would be a good policy, though
there are some very good thinkers in the country who hold just that view.
However, in view of the fact that the so-called drug war is used to justify
the excesses of the federal ninja, it might be proposed that if we abolish
the drug war, we could abolish the ninja too. The thing that keeps the drug
trade going is the enormous amount of money involved. We must remember that
both narcotics and stimulants were readily available over the counter during
the Victorian period. We had very few junkies, and as far as I can tell, we
had no ninja. One cannot turn the clock back, but we might give serious
thought to some feasible means of turning it forward.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
----
A recent report from Africa informs us that a Bantu hunter of our
acquaintance was recently set upon after dark by an armed robber. Our friend
cut him down neatly and went on about his business. Naturally, I am not going
to furnish any details about the nationality or locality of our friend. In
cases like this, the less the authorities know, the better. Years ago in our
Balsas expedition we were forcefully informed by our permit issuing
authorities in Mexico City that if we had occasion to knock off a bandit, we
were by no means to report the matter. Just get the body out of sight in the
bushes and get on with your business.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 4
April 1998
----
And now BATman McGaw proclaims that home schooling turns the home into a
school, and therefore makes that home off-limits to personally owned
firearms. I always thought that the BATmen were of a different species, and
this discovery confirms my suspicion.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 4
April 1998
----
... Which puts me in mind of the old aphorism to the effect that "If you're
not a socialist at 20, you have no heart. If you're still a socialist at 30,
you have no head." To that I would like to add the following: "If you do not
reach the age of 60 without becoming a card carrying curmudgeon, you have
just not been paying attention."
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 4
April 1998
----
Taking a long view of history, we may say that anyone who lays down his arms
deserves whatever he gets.
Col. Jeff Cooper
----
Further nasty news from the nasty United Nations Organization:
One Eric Kibuka, who delights in the title of "Director of the United
Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of
Offenders," has gone on record to the effect that "The international
community (sic) has decided that firearms regulation is at the core of
democracy and good government." The connection between firearms regulation
and democracy is about as obvious as the connection between traffic
regulation and quail hunting, but that is not likely to trouble a U.N.
official. As we have all noticed, the cry of the modern left seems to be
"To hell with the facts. It's the gut reaction that matters."
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 1
January 1998
----
We ran into a pleasant interlude up in Vermont which emphasized the wisdom
and social utility of the Vermont firearms laws. It seems that some
foreigner from down below was in a supermarket when he observed one of the
customers wearing a pistol openly. He got all flustered and immediately
called 911. In due course a cop showed up and located the complainer, who
pointed out the "culprit." The cop agreed that the man really was carrying a
pistol, and then he asked what the problem was. I suppose the poor fellow
rushed off out the door and went back where he came from. Obviously the
state of Vermont was too dangerous for him.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 3
March 1998
----
Way back when I was a student at Command and Staff School, the class was
treated to an all day session by a group of white-coated biology professors
who told us all about the limitations and capabilities of "biological
warfare." This session was very secret - evidently to the point where no one
learned anything from it.
The professors in this case informed us that if biological weapons were to
be used, no existing affliction would be involved - not anthrax or bubonic
plague or typhus or anything else that anyone had seen before. The agent
used would be a synthetic disease created in a laboratory and given a code
name, such as "Q27." All members of the attacking population could be
immunized against it, but the defenders would have no way of combating it
since they would not know what it was.
The professors further pointed out that the symptoms of the disease could be
manufactured to order and need not be permanently serious. The affliction
would have to last only long enough to allow ground victory by the attacking
force. These professors pointed out to the class how humane that was. Well,
maybe, but anybody who chooses to use anthrax as a weapon does not
understand biological warfare.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 6, No. 3
March 1998
----
Note that the state of Louisiana has opened the season on "car jackers" -
under proper controls, of course. The consensus of the legislature was that
if someone chooses to approach a driver, gun in hand, that is sufficient
reason to assume that he is a legitimate target. One commentator wailed that
this amounts to no less than "a license to kill." Well, sure. Car jackers
are not yet an endangered species, but it is high time that we made them so.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 10
September 1997
----
Tony Blair, the new Prime Minister of England, has announced officially that
his government's grotesque gun laws are not expected to have any effect upon
crime, but rather to eliminate what he calls "the gun culture." If he
succeeds in eliminating the gun culture in Britain, he will presumably feel
good. Isn't that sweet? Well, we ought not to jeer too loudly at the Brits.
Just look at what we have elected!
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 9
August 1997
----
We have discovered a proper use for this communication system newly termed
"ebonics." We discovered that when we asked the question, "What is Windows
95?," it sounded wrong; and when we changed that to, "What are Windows 95?,"
that also sounded wrong. By using ebonics we can say, "What be Windows 95?,"
and now we are all right. (We asked someone who knows about such things just
exactly, "What be Windows 95?," and his answer was, "Windows 95 be cooool.")
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 5
April 1997
----
As we understand it, it was the aim of Karl Marx to achieve a classless
society. What the Clintons have achieved, however, is a classless White
House.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 5
April 1997
----
We were recently treated to a bizarre exchange between a hapless Englishman
and some BATchick in some front office in Washington. Our English friend was
inquiring about bringing his arms into the United States, and was told that
he could not import a Peacemaker (Colt Single-action Army) because it had no
"legitimate sporting purpose!" Now, apart from the fact that "legitimate
sporting purpose" is a blatantly unconstitutional interpretation of the
Second Amendment, it is apparent that these poor souls who are confined to
the District of Columbia cannot keep up with the times. Clearly the girl
involved had not heard of the proliferation of "Cowboy Action Shooting." I
stuck my oar in to tell her that this sort of bureaucratic behavior gives
ignorance a bad name. I guess I can expect the black helicopters any night
now.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 5
April 1997
----
It has been suggested to me that we are very fortunate that our adversaries
have not discovered the combat efficiency of the scout rifle. I do not think
we have a problem here, because a hoplophobe can never discover the good
qualities of any firearm since he does not want to think about firearms at
all. The hoplophobe worries about buzz words like "assault-rifle" and
"automatic-weapon," and can never accept the fact that the weapon is the man
and the firearm is just the instrument in his hands. With this in mind it is
pertinent to observe that several recent army recruits have been told that
the enemy they are preparing to fight is not the English, or the Spanish, or
the Germans, or the Vietnamese, or the Chinese - but rather the good old
boys in rural America who constitute an armed militia. The question arises,
of course, as to how the unorganized militia, no matter what their politics
or determination, can stand up for an instant against the United States
Army. Well, let us hope it never comes to that, but if the army is teaching
it, we had better realize that they are. The atrocities of the ninja are
certainly beating us into an unpleasantly confrontational society, but if
worse comes to worse, I think that we can assume that the private citizen
who owns, cleans, loads and shoots his own personal weapon is a considerably
more serious antagonist than the trooper who has to turn his weapon back in
every time he uses it. This is probably the principle reason why socialists
never cease their attempts to disarm the private citizen.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 3
March 1997
----
We learn from our friends in law enforcement that the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), which we frequently refer to as the "BATmen,"
is now commonly termed "F Troop," by other members of the federal service -
presumably because of their astonishing predilection to foul things up.
Could be.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 3
March 1997
----
In observing our political scene, it is necessary to remember that in any
democracy the absolute goal of the politician is power. Not money, power.
This means that the only thing of any consequence to a politician is
re-election. He will walk on eyeballs to be re-elected, and the only time
that principle means anything to him is when it happens to coincide with
what appears to him the best course towards his own re-election. Now the
only way to get power is to take it from someone who already has it. Under
our system, the theory is that the people at large are sovereign and have
the power, but the only way the politician can achieve power is to take it
from the people who already have it - or should have it. This makes for a
permanent conflict in principle between the voter and his representative.
This is not cheerful, but it is nonetheless a fact.
Of the three systems of government enunciated by Aristotle - monarchy
(tyranny), aristocracy (oligarchy), and polity (democracy) - polity
(democracy) is the best, not because of its inherent virtue, but because of
its basic lack of efficiency. An inefficient government is best for the
people, simply because it is inherently incapable of doing anything well,
and the less it does the better.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 2
February 1997
----
We heard the Feds recently insisting that those are not black helicopters,
they are dark green. Sorry about that.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 2
February 1997
----
We read a notice from Canada to the effect that "The purpose of anti-gun
legislation is to establish criminal supremacy over the citizen by awarding
the goblins the status of being the sole armed caste of the population." The
publisher has gone on to state that the time has come to ask ourselves what
is behind all this.
Well, we know what motivates the hoplophobe. He simply envies the man who
can cope where he, the hoplophobe, cannot. A skilled, armed man lives on a
plane of security and contentment different from that of others. This is not
egalitarian! The man who cannot cut it, envies, fears and sometimes hates
the man who can. This is all very clear, it is just a pity that so many
people choose to hide their perfidious motivation behind what they claim to
be "crime control."
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 5, No. 1
January 1997
----
We have been reading "Unlimited Access," by Gary Aldrich. This work is
absolutely required reading for every responsible U.S. citizen. If we accept
the word of this veteran F.B.I. agent, as we are inclined to do, the court of
Caligula did not match the Clinton White House for iniquity.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 16
December 1996
----
A family member recently returned from Bolivia points out that they do not
seem to have a gun problem in that country. They have what may be the ideal
gun control laws - there are none. Additionally, cocaine in various forms is
available on the open market, and they do not have any trouble with drug
lords.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 16
December 1996
----
Our friend the Count Randaccio-Lodi informs us that this business of
"politically correct" communication has begun to affect the Italian language
too. The Italian word for such talk is sinistrese, indicating its origin on
the political left.
"Certain words are replaced by others giving a bad thing a nice sounding
appearance (like gay for sodomite or progressive for communist). Trouble
is that this game never ends since sooner or later the meaning catches
up with the sound and a new word must be issued."
I know this curious affliction still afflicts the English-speaking world,
despite its obvious foolishness, but I had not thought it had gone abroad
just yet. We do not hear of it in German or French, but I suppose the time
will come.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 16
December 1996
----
The antics of the sleazemaster reached a new peak just before the election.
He stated for the record that he thought Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was
included in the Constitution.
He paid special attention to the death of a police officer incurred in
the line of duty and insisted that his bullet-banning policies would
have saved the officer's life - and it turns out that the officer was
killed in an auto accident.
He paid specific honor on Veterans Day to the war dead at Arlington
Cemetery. There must have been a great rumbling noise caused by all those
dead soldiers turning over in their graves.
And yet the people went right out and elected him. As Harry Hopkins, FDR's
sidekick and exec, put it: "The people are too damn dumb to understand."
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 14
December 1996
----
Michael Howard is "Home Secretary" of the U.K., sort of a national chief of
police. In his words, "Gun ownership is a privilege, not a right, and the
use of firearms in self-defense is not acceptable for civilians in this
country" (presumably it is okay for a soldier). So much for The Land of Hope
and Glory! Die if you must but do not shoot back.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 13
November 1996
----
We hear from the British press that it is now "too late to disarm the U.S.
public." God save the mark!
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 13
November 1996
----
Napoleon may have got off to a scruffy start as a Corsican corporal, but he
did develop a good deal more class than Bill Clinton. When the Emperor wanted
a special girl in Warsaw he sent a Field Marshal to pick her up. Clinton sent
a couple of enlisted men.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 13
November 1996
----
You may remember the attributed demand from President Jefferson for "men to
match my mountains." In today's scene, the politically correct version of
that might be "Send me mole hills to match my men-and-women!"
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 11
September 1996
----
From family member Paul Kirchner of Connecticut we receive the following
anecdote:
"I recently had an interesting conversation with a Polish immigrant who was
driving a cab. I have met about a half dozen Polish immigrants in recent
years and I have been consistently impressed by them - they are better
educated and more politically sophisticated than the average American. When
I asked this fellow what surprised him most about the United States he said,
'l. Affirmative action, 2. Bad manners, 3. The fact that we are more
relentlessly propagandized by our mass media than he was in Communist
Poland.'"
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 11
September 1996
----
We are informed by presumably good authority that 90 percent of the young
men now recruited by the Marine Corps have never handled a rifle in their
lives. If I were king, the Marines would not recruit anybody until he could
shoot "expert" in a prescribed course with the service rifle.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 11
September 1996
----
We note with amazement that Bill Clinton has had the chutzpah to pose as a
devotee of Theodore Roosevelt. For a draft dodger to presume to align himself
with the hero of San Juan Hill is possibly the crowning impertinence of the
20th century.
As it has been mentioned, the Clinton administration may be quaintly
characterized as "the evil of two lessers."
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 11
September 1996
----
It has long been a principle of mine that a man cannot have too many books,
too many wines, or too much ammunition. It turns out that a number of
governments in the world manifest considerable distress at the idea of large
amounts of ammunition in private hands. They insist that any man who
stockpiles thousands of rounds must have some sinister and ulterior purpose
which should be investigated by the state. Here we have yet another example
of the thought control characteristic of the Age of the Common Man. Many on
the left seem to hold that one may be punished not for what he does, but for
what he thinks - as with what have come to be called "hate crimes." In this
age of thought-control, various sorts of busybodies, in and out of
government, feel the need to arrange your thinking for you. In this matter
of ammunition, I personally like to keep a large supply on hand, not for
any specific purpose, but simply because it makes me feel good. To have a
large supply - several thousand rounds - of 45 ACP or 30-06 or 308 is
comforting in and of itself, and by no means necessarily because one has
some conspiratorial notion about expending it. As you know, there are people
such as Senator Moynihan who feel that the subtle way to disarm the people
is to cut off the supply of ammunition. We hope that such people do not
prevail, but it does not hurt to be prepared for unpleasant eventualities -
thus we have seatbelts, crash helmets, life jackets, and pistols.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 9
August 1996
----
By now the British have fairly written into law the position that a
personally owned firearm may only be acceptable for "sporting purposes."
Teddy Kennedy used this idea in the 1968 gun law, despite the fact that we
in America are protected, at least theoretically, by the Second Amendment,
which has nothing whatever to do with sport. Various sorts of legislators
are still at it, and the BATF takes the notion of "legitimate sporting
purpose" seriously, even though this would appear to be obviated by the
supreme law of the land. This is a fight in which we all must continue to
participate. Self-defense has nearly come to be a misdemeanor on the face of
it in Britain, where the subject is conditioned with the belief that whatever
happens he (or she) must not fight back. If the wimps prevail in the next
election, you may be sure that America will then gain on Great Britain on
the road to serfdom.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 9
August 1996
----
A family member recently returned from Bolivia informs us that Bolivian gun
laws may be the best in the world. There are none, and Bolivia gets by with
a serious law against murder. Funny that no one in Britain or America has
thought of that so far!
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 9
August 1996
----
On the subject of concealed carry, it occurs to us that the occupation most
in need of this asset is that of trained nurse. A nurse goes on and off duty
at all hours. Most nurses are young, trim, reasonably attractive females.
They must necessarily make their way from the hospital door to a parked car
out on a darkened parking lot in all kinds of weather. It seems to me that a
trained nurse should be issued a concealed carry permit - and her tuition-
free application to a reputable pistol school - when she gets her RN
certificate.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 8
July 1996
----
Did any of you catch the testimony of the handwriting experts in the Vince
Foster case who established that the so-called suicide note left by the
deceased was a forgery? The New York Times did not exactly censor this item,
but placed it where it could hardly be found in the back pages of the
financial section. When quizzed about this, the editor stated that he
thought implications to the effect that Vince Foster was murdered lead to
inappropriate attitudes on the part of the reading public. I am sure that
the White House is in full accord with this policy.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 8
July 1996
----
As you know, the British subject is effectively forbidden the use of firearms
in defense of his life. So now we read in the English press of one retired
army officer who overcame this problem by repelling boarders with his sword.
When three goblins broke into his house with knives, he produced his
regimental sabre and gave battle. He ran those birds out of his house and
well down the street, though the account does not say that he damaged any of
them severely. Swordsmanship is effectively a lost art, but I doubt if the
world's miscreants are fully aware of that.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 7
June 1996
----
We learn from the Clinton administration that there is now a move afoot in
the United Nations to ban all international traffic in smallarms. This turns
out to be a Japanese idea whose time, God help us, has not yet come, but
Bill and Hillary are all for it. It can be said a fanatic is defined as one
who doubles his efforts after he has lost sight of his goals. Examples will
occur to you.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 6
May 1996
----
Have you noticed that this weird group calling itself "People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals" (PETA) is now agitating for a ban on the use of baboon
marrow transplants into people? Whether such transplants are successful or
not I cannot say, but I have observed baboons at some length and I can
assure all and sundry that ethics are not their strong point.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 6
May 1996
----
We hear that one of the men shot at Tinananmen Square was able to speak out
as follows before he died:
"Tell the American people never to lose their guns. As long as they keep
their guns in their hands what's happened here will never happen there."
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 3
February 1996
----
We discover with some gratification that a Swiss citizen, in order to
maintain his rights of citizenship, must qualify annually with his rifle,
even when he is on station overseas. We knew that the Swiss had to do this
while in Switzerland, but we find that Swiss diplomats in Washington are
experiencing some difficulty in finding a facility on which to maintain their
Swiss citizenship. Riflemaster John Pepper has been helpful in this matter by
encouraging these people to make use of the Fort Meade ranges where he
conducts his training and competition operations.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 3
February 1996
----
Note that twenty-eight states now have "right to carry" laws on the books,
and that crime is down. The notion that the state can grant such a right is
philosophically moot, but let us be glad with what we've got.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 3
February 1996
----
In view of the recent shenanigans in Washington, does it not seem that
things run better when the government is shut down? Of course, the
administration only furloughed "non-essential" workers. Just what the
government is doing hiring non-essential workers is not explained.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 3
February 1996
----
If you liked Ruby Ridge, you will love Clinton's second term.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 4, No. 3
February 1996
----
Despite the best efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, we now have
access to a photograph of Lon Horiuchi, who shot Vickie Weaver in the face
but who still has not been brought to justice. Col. Bob Brown ran it down in
a West Point yearbook and it appears on page 38 of the December issue of
Soldier of Fortune magazine. It is not very clear, and it is twenty years
old, but it is better than nothing.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 13
November 1995
----
Despite the best efforts of the hoplophobes, the U.S. remains way ahead of
most other jurisdictions in the matter of firearms freedom. Recently an
English jeweler, whose shop had been raided twenty times in twenty years,
repelled borders by seizing the firearm of one of the bandits who broke into
his shop. With the captured firearm he shot both of the bandits, though not
fatally.
This was in England, and, of course, he was immediately in a great deal of
trouble. He was fined 2,000 pounds for "illegal use of a firearm," 100 more
for possession of ammunition which was related to another weapon, plus 1,050
more pounds for prosecution costs. This whole affair is costing the jeweler
over $6,000 in American money, plus his attorney's fee.
Just how this sort of idiocy is justified in the eyes of the British courts
is unclear, but though we find a lot of domestic jurisprudence pretty bad,
such things can get worse.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 12
October 1995
----
We are informed by a good friend in Sweden that the allowance for private
ownership of ammunition in that country is 25,000 rounds per each weapon
owned. We found this hard to believe, and checked it further. The figure is
correct - 25,000 rounds. Basically, we are opposed to arbitrary limitations
on private armament, but somehow we do not find a 25,000 limit all that
oppressive.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 12
October 1995
----
I am sure you are all glad to learn that the BATmen now have their own air
force, composed of 22 OV10Ds they purchased from the Marine Corps. That is
just what those boys need in their further operations against gun owners -
close air support! Obviously the sooner we abolish the BATmen the better off
everybody will be.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 11
September 1995
----
The syndicated columnist, Walter Williams, who happens to be a college
professor, has recently finished a study of governmental murder and has
concluded that in the twentieth century far more people were killed by their
own governments than died in war. Statistics are always questionable, but
Williams' come out as follows:
Killed in Warfare: 39 million
Killed by Lenin and Stalin: 62 million
Killed by Mao Tse-tung: 35 million
Killed by Hitler: 21 million
These are the leaders, and the figures are beyond comprehension, but coming
down to more comprehensible numbers we find that 2 million were killed in
Turkey, 2 million in Cambodia, 1.5 million in Mexico, and 1 by Tito in the
Balkans. It should be noted that the time over which these atrocities were
perpetrated has a bearing on the magnitude of their atrocity. Combined
executions committed by Lenin and Stalin, for example, were spread over 70
years between 1917 and 1987. Mao's murders took place over about 37 years
between 1949 and 1987, so his intensity could have been greater. Hitler's 21
million were murdered over a much shorter period, and so the intensity
factor pretty well evens out, but the fact remains that vastly more homicide
was perpetrated in this century of slaughter by governments against their
own people than by armies against enemies. Man's inhumanity to man seems
more virulent when it is domestic.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 11
September 1995
----
Many years ago in Command and General Staff school at Quantico the class was
treated to a super secret session on biological warfare. It was impressive,
but it does not seem to have been followed up. Fifty years later the media
are still talking about infection with known diseases such as anthrax. It
was impressed upon us back at school that if the biological weapon is to be
used in any serious fashion the agent will be an unknown disease for which,
of course, there is no treatment nor cure. This disease will be created in a
laboratory and given a code name, such as "Q12" or something of the sort,
and all of our troops will be inoculated against it before it is employed.
The doctors assured us that almost any desired symptoms could be caused. The
afflicted could be knocked flat for two days, upon which they would recover.
They could go blind for two weeks and then regain their sight. They could be
either killed or totally incapacitated at the choice of the using power, but
it was impressed upon us that in a sense the biological weapon might be
considered more humane than conventional weapons because the victims do not
have to die. (Of course, some might die from heart attacks or side effects,
but not many.) So here we are closing in on the twenty-first century, and
while people still talk about biological warfare no one seems to know
anything about it. Perhaps that is just as well.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 11
September 1995
----
In Northern Europe during the Middle Ages the tradition of wergeld was
widely observed. This is, bluntly, payment for murder. If one could pay off
the victim's family, the case was closed. See how we have progressed, now
that the Justice Department, while "admitting no guilt," is either paying or
preparing to pay the Weaver family several million dollars for the life of
their wife and mother, Vicki Weaver, who was shot in the face by Lon
Horiuchi while holding her baby. Wergeld was supposed to have been abandoned
in principle a thousand years ago, but here we are reintroducing it at the
close of the twentieth century.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 11
September 1995
----
I am sure you know about Schumer by now, but just in case you have not, here
he is portrayed by Linda Bowles, who is one of our favorite columnists:
"Rep. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) exposed himself as a radical, left-wing
extremist who is phobic about guns and sees a camouflaged member of the
National Rifle Association lurking behind every bush. He is a conspiracy
theorist, outspokenly paranoid, who firmly believes that the Waco
hearings were some kind of insidious NRA plot to prevent him from
confiscating all the guns in America, except, of course, those in the
hands of the government."
Schumer constitutes a blot on the democratic process.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 10
August 1995
----
We hear that the Russian ninja engaged in the suppression of the Chechens
have now taken to wearing face masks. I guess this is a trick they learned
from the American cossacks - a sort of cultural exchange.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 9
August 1995
----
No doubt you have heard that Diane Feinstein, among others, is seeking to
abolish the Office of Civilian Marksmanship, on the grounds that civilians
ought not to know how to shoot. The leftist elite obviously fears an armed
citizenry, which is, of course, the sole barrier to tyranny.
From the opposite point of view, what ought to be abolished is the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, a rogue organization that was never needed in
the first place and which has now developed into an uncontrolled instrument
of harassment recruited from the dregs of the federal employment
establishment.
Let us by all means economize, but let us get our priorities straight.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 8
21 June 1995
----
Curious that in light of this so-called fertilizer bomb in Oklahoma City our
Glorious Leader in Washington made a point of offering the hospitality of
the White House to the leader of the Irish Republican Army, which is the
world's leading specialist in fertilizer bombs. This guy has a real talent
for ineptitude. Or should we put it more precisely, gaucherie.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 8
21 June 1995
----
More than two thousand years ago Aristotle opined that most of the human
race has essentially the soul of a slave. A recent Associated Press poll
recorded that fifty-four percent of those questioned seemed willing to trade
liberty for security. The sad fact is that one cannot trade the one for the
other. You can surrender your liberty, but what you get in turn is never a
significant increase in your security. There are those in Israel who feel
that they would like to trade "land for peace." That will not work either.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 7
16 May 1995
----
So much has been written about the Oklahoma bomb that there is little point
in adding to it. I can, however, extract the following from a recent letter
to a friend which covers my feelings on the matter:
A planted bomb is a despicable instrument, as any decent human being
will attest. One may reflect, however, that more children were killed
at Waco than at Oklahoma City. No sympathy must be shown to the
perpetrators of either atrocity.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 7
16 May 1995
----
The new concealed carry program in the State of Arizona has called for a
great deal of hastily improvised education, and that, of course, has
resulted in the publication of a number of training pamphlets with the
level of excellence one might expect under these somewhat emergent
conditions.
A friend was recently subjected to one of these training programs and was
shown a text which insists, "Do not load your pistol until you are ready to
shoot." And further, "Always unload your pistol when you have finished
shooting."
A little thought please, Professor! These injunctions are the equivalent of
saying, "Never wear a life-jacket unless you are sure your boat is going to
sink." Or, "Never put on your armored vest unless you are sure you are going
to be shot." Or, "Never fill your tank with gas until you are ready to
drive."
Until the handgun is recognized properly as a life-saving instrument, we can
expect more of this sort of administrative garbage.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 3
22 February 1995
----
Those who insist that the citizen has no chance against the army must be
pondering the situation in Chechnya. Of course the Russians will win, if
they have not done so already, but the Chechens are still there in the hills
and their efforts so far have almost upset the Russian government. When it
comes to pass that citizens must take up arms against their own government,
the results are uniformly dreadful, but the outcome is not necessarily
foregone.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 2
31 January 1995
----
Note that Finland's five million people own four million personal firearms.
Just wait till Congressman Schumer finds out about that!
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 2
31 January 1995
----
Herewith wisdom of one John Markoff, reprinted in the New York Times:
"The American people must be willing to give up a degree of personal
privacy in exchange for safety and security, the head of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation said."
Louis Freeh, meet Benjamin Franklin!
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 2
31 January 1995
----
Remember when Kennesaw, Georgia, made it mandatory for all households to be
armed, and the media viewed this with dismay? Well note further that in
Kennesaw, Georgia, where there used to be very little armed violence, there
now seems to be none.
What was it that Heinlein said about an armed society?
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 3, No. 1
13 January 1995
----
For the FBI to investigate Horiuchi is somewhat like Hitler's investigating
Himmler.
But no matter what Reno and Freeh and Rogers and Horiuchi may say, that case
is not closed. Whether Horiuchi committed a procedural error at Ruby Ridge
is not important. What he committed was a mortal sin, and that sin will find
him out. The only appropriate demise for this man now would seem to be the
traditional route of sepukku, with which he should be familiar. If he needs
a proper knife I have one, which I will provide to him upon request.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 16
20 December 1994
----
I have been criticized by referring to our federal masked men as "ninja,"
when in the view of the critic the traditional role of the ninja in Japan
was to fight against oppression and tyranny. Let us note that almost no one
ever resorts to force and violence unless he is convinced that his cause is
right, but without going into that let us reflect upon the fact that a man
who covers his face shows reason to be ashamed of what he is doing. A man
who takes it upon himself to shed blood while concealing his identity is a
revolting perversion of the warrior ethic.
It has long been my conviction that a masked man with a gun is a target. I
see no reason to change that view.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 16
20 December 1994
----
Reading in a copy of the Journal of the National Rifle Association of the
United Kingdom, sent to us by a British correspondent, we discover that for
quite a long time aimed fire on the part of soldiers was held to be
"illegal, immoral, and probably fattening." In the day of the Brown Bess the
infantryman's weapon was employed in mass with an effect rather like that of
a giant shotgun. The weapons themselves were so inaccurate that it was
almost pointless to fit them with sights at all, but they were not supposed
to be fired individually, but rather on command by the entire infantry unit.
Blasts of musketry of this sort were quite effective as long as there was a
suitable target available, preferably a similar unit of massed infantry
standing within range at close order. Victory, of course, would go to that
side which got the blast off first.
When rifles appeared the capacity of the rifleman to pick out an individual
enemy and deck him became apparent. This was considered to be a VBT (Very
Bad Thing) in many military circles. Among other things, it placed the lives
of officers in particular danger, which was considered to be an antisocial
development. During the Peninsular War, for example, the matter came to a
head:
During the Peninsular War the British employed sharpshooters where they
were used to great effect. During one seven-day period these marksman
killed 500 officers and eight generals. This resulted in the order that
rifleman were to be given no quarter if captured on the grounds that
their fire was aimed, a practice that was considered unfair.
Thus it was that for a particular set of circumstances if you set about
killing your enemy on purpose you were held to be a war criminal, at least
by the French Revolutionary Army.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 14
10 November 1994
----
Since we are informed that these black ninja helicopters do not in fact
exist, we may infer that if you shoot one down it does not count.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 13
27 October 1994
----
This from an FBI agent who must obviously remain anonymous:
I wasn't surprised when I heard that Horiuchi had killed Mrs. Weaver. We
were in the same class at Quantico. The man was a robot. He would do
anything to please his superiors.
Well, Horiuchi is still at large. One wonders how much he pleased his
superiors.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 13
27 October 1994
----
Family member and full-time California cop Gabriel Suarez, who is gradually
working up to his Ace Rating in police actions, contributes the following:
Gun control is a band-aid, feeling good approach to the nation's crime
problem. It is easier for politicians to ban something than it is to
condemn a murderer to death or a robber to life in prison. In essence,
'gun control' is the coward's way out.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 12
27 September 1994
----
The media insist that crime is the major concern of the American public
today. In this connection they generally push the point that a disarmed
society would be a crime-free society. They will not accept the truth that
if you take all the guns off the street you still will have a crime problem,
whereas if you take the criminals off the street you cannot have a gun
problem.
In the larger sense, however, the personal ownership of firearms is only
secondarily a matter of defense against the criminal. Note the following
from Thomas Jefferson:
The strongest reason for the people to keep and bear arms is, as a last
resort, to protect themselves against the tyranny of government.
That is why our masters in Washington are so anxious to disarm us. They are
not afraid of criminals. They are afraid of a populace which cannot be
subdued by tyrants.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 5
May 1994
----
Note that the infamous traitor, Aldridge Ames, had donated five thousand
dollars of his Russian payoff to the Democratic National Committee. No
comment!
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 5
May 1994
----
Now it happens that our elected government, after a fifteen year hiatus, has
resumed the destruction of 1911 45s, M1 Garands, 03s, and Springfield 22
Trainers. Note that this has nothing whatever to do with crime. This is
aimed directly at obviating the armed citizenry which is historically the
only guarantee of human liberty.
Act on this at once. If you have not got a 1911, get one. If you have not
got an 03, get one. If you have not got an Ml, get one. (If you can possibly
afford it, get two.)
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 5
May 1994
----
With all due respect and full apology to Mr. Lincoln, the following:
Now we are entering the opening engagements of a great civil war,
testing whether this nation, or any nation conceived in liberty and
dedicated to the proposition that free men bear arms, can long endure.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 4
22 March 1994
----
Rumor has it that Sarah Brady is being put forward by the Shooting Industry
Magazine as "saleswoman of the decade." It is quite obvious that Sarah has
done more to boost the sale of personal arms than any person in recent
memory, and she should be appropriately honored.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 4
22 March 1994
----
Amid all the dismal news that we acquire daily about the state of the nation
and the world, some dim but promising lights appear. For the first time
since the reign of Roosevelt II, people are beginning to notice the Tenth
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Much as liberals may laugh, that Article
is still on the books. It establishes beyond any question that powers not
granted to the U.S. government by the U.S. Constitution are specifically
unlawful and need not be obeyed.
Note this from the Sixteenth American Jurisprudence, Second Edition, Section
177:
The general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, though having
formed in nature of law, is in reality no law, but is wholly void and
ineffective for any purpose, since unconstitutionality dates from the
time of its enactment and not merely from the date of decision so
branding it. An unconstitutional law in legal contemplation is as
inoperative as if it had never been passed. Such a statute leaves the
question that it purports to settle just as it would be had the statute
not been enacted.
Since an unconstitutional law is void, the general principles follow that
it imposes no duties, confers no rights, creates no office, bestows no
power or authority on anyone, affords no protection and justifies no
acts performed under it.
No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound
to enforce it.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 4
22 March 1994
----
No, Janet, the Waco case is not closed. We have passed judgement upon the
defenders, but it now remains to bring their attackers to justice.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 3
1 March 1994
----
There is a good side to everything, it appears. The recent series of cold
snaps in Washington pretty well shut down the operation of the government
for several days at a time.
Jeff Cooper
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 3
1 March 1994
----
That curious trial of the survivors of the Waco atrocity suggests trying the
Christians for irritating the lions. ("Your honor, he just kept hitting me
on the fist with his face!")
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 2
31 January 1994
----
We hear of an unfortunate woman who, during an nighttime asthma attack,
confused the small handgun she kept under her pillow with an asthma inhaler
and proceeded to relieve her symptoms. It was not a fatal mistake, partly
because she used a 25 ACP, which everyone knows is not sufficient to clear
sinuses.
From John B. Hubbard of Bangor, Maine
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 2
31 January 1994
----
The Republic is in very bad shape - probably the worst since 1776 - but it
does us all well to remember that the principles of the Founding Fathers
stand as sound and irrefutable today as yesterday. We must bear in mind
that "they" cannot disarm us. They do not have the legal power, of course,
but neither do they have the physical power. An army may be defeated by
another army, but the people of a nation cannot be, as long as they are
aware of their principles and maintain their determination to observe them.
We hope, of course, that "they" never presume to try, because "they" simply
cannot do it. What the American people need is the viscera to tell "them"
No! God grant that we still have the courage!
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 2
31 January 1994
----
Now that the media are doing their best to cover up the Waco atrocity, they
have been able to downrate the news with the forensic pornography surrounding
the Bobbitt case. In response to this, Dan Dennehy, the renowned knife maker
who has long been one of the stalwarts of Orange Gunsite, will now offer a
special instrument to be known as the "Dan Dennehy Dick Docker," featuring a
serrated edge and a pink plastic hilt. He will have it on special order for
uppity feminists as soon as it is available.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 2
31 January 1994
----
Of course not all pundits are our enemies. Joe Sobran is a strong warrior on
our side. Consider the following, extracted from his column appearing on 12
December in the Washington Times.
Because the state can no longer protect us from crime, it wants to take
away from us the means of protecting ourselves. This is the logic of gun
control.
In short, we - or our rulers, at any rate - now make law lawlessly. Bill
Clinton wants to license all handguns in the United States. He affects
not to know that the Second Amendment forbids the federal government to
infringe our right to keep and bear arms. He doesn't ask, because he
doesn't care, where the federal government gets the lawful power to
require the licensing of guns. He thinks it has the actual political
power to do it, and for him that is all that counts.
So law-abiding citizens are left at a disadvantage - caught between a
criminal class that disdains the law and a ruling class that disdains the
Constitution.
That is beautifully put and, we hope, widely read.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 1
1 January 1994
----
From family member Bob Budz the following:
"Big Brother is now here - and look, he is retarded!"
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 1
1 January 1994
----
From our enemies in the media we learn that the passage of the Brady Bill,
while admittedly a totally ineffectual measure, was nonetheless a victory
because it diminished the power of the National Rifle Association. From our
standpoint, it is hard to believe that it did. It made Congress, not the NRA,
look silly. But mostly it made these hoplophobic news commentators look even
sillier. These people remind us of the spoiled child who threatens to hold
his breath until he turns blue if he does not get his way, whether or not
his way makes any sense - even to him.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 1
1 January 1994
----
This Russian patriot Zhirinovsky now claims that Russia should reclaim
Finland, Poland, the Baltic states, and Alaska. Much as our State Department
enjoys giving in on all points suggested by European claimants, I do not
think we should let Zhirinovsky have Alaska, which is our national game
preserve. On the other hand, in the true spirit of negotiation, maybe we
should make him an offer. Chick Hastings suggests that we offer him the
District of Columbia, New York City, and San Francisco.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 2, No. 1
1 January 1994
----
Now is the time for all good men to stock up on ammunition and deck the
halls with boughs of holly. Merry Christmas To All and To All a Good Sight!
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 11
10 December 1993
----
It was amusing, in a grim sort of way, to watch the hoplophobes accelerate
the business of their feared foes, the gun dealers. The message delivered
by the Brady Bunch was evidently, "Citizens, arm yourselves, the Clintons
are coming!
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 11
10 December 1993
----
The passage of the Brady foolishness was a foregone conclusion in Washington
- despite its blatant unconstitutionality - as soon as we lost the election
of `92, thus it comes as no surprise. What is really awful is the unblushing
profession that while the bill itself will do nothing at all, it is still
necessary to "make a statement," as if the legislators meant that they were
going to do something. You and I will not be inconvenienced by any five day
waiting period, since we already have our guns, as all proper members of the
United States Militia must have. The idea that our lawmakers-can profit from
doing something silly, and admitting that it is silly, makes one more than
ever doubtful about the merit of the democratic process. Alcibiades pointed
out that it would never work, and that was some four-hundred years before
Christ. Perhaps he was right after all.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 11
10 December 1993
----
We certainly have slid into some sort of slough, politically and
intellectually, when Winchester is coaxed into removing an expanding
bullet from its line of products. Expanding bullets have been available
since this time last century at least. Apparently, the term "Black Talon"
was unnerving to the wimps, but why in the name of common sense must we
give the time of day to the wimp establishment!
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 11
10 December 1993
----
The Federal agent who shot Vicki Weaver in the face, deliberately, while she
was unarmed and holding her child is named Lon Horiuchi. Remember that name.
He is still walking around loose. That man must eventually pay for his crime,
here or hereafter. Lon Horiuchi.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 11
10 December 1993
----
Pearl Harbor Day slipped by without much notice. I daresay a huge number of
our population has never heard of Pearl Harbor and has no idea of what it
is like to live in a nation of unified purpose.
Apparently the Nips are playing it smart by entreating us to give up our
guns. That would indeed be a proper revenge for their defeat. They could not
destroy us in battle so they are now doing their best to destroy us
politically by abrogating our constitution. They cannot accomplish this by
themselves, but they are getting a lot of help from our own wimp culture.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 11
10 December 1993
----
We encountered what may be the ultimate in chutzpah. Down at Whittington, we
were shown a BATF baseball cap crediting the wearer with attendance at "The
Waco Siege." Though we cannot believe it, it appears that at least some
people in the nefarious organization are actually proud of what took place
in Waco. One wonders if the KGB ever issued uniforms commemorating the
massacre of the Katyn Forest or if the guards at Dachau or Buchenwald were
issued commemorative T-shirts
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 10
15 November 1993
----
We pray that it will not come to shooting in South Africa, but if it does -
God forbid - consider who is likely to win between a group armed primarily
with AK47s and no skill in their use and another group armed with sporting
rifles and considerable skill in their use. Numbers would not matter
particularly in such a confrontation. Formal armies can defeat other formal
armies, and they can put down mobs of agitators, as in China. They cannot
defeat a population completely armed with simple old-fashioned rifles. What
the disarmers never recognize is that episodes like Tiananmen Square can
never occur if every citizen maintains his own rifle in his house, as in
Switzerland.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 10
15 November 1993
----
Following is a sentence passed by Judge W. Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County,
Ohio, via Mike Royko:
When you slithered out of your hole that day, and you spewed your venom
all over this defenseless 12-year-old girl, you made this court's top 10
hit list. In a way, the best sentence this court could give would be no
sentence at all, because if you left this courtroom I don't think you
would be alive 10 minutes. You are nothing but a weed, a weed among
wheat... And when we have a weed, it's my job to eradicate the weed,
because if you don't you will choke the wheat. Therefore, I'm going to
take you off the streets for just as long as I possibly can. It means
you aren't even eligible for parole until you're 92. That leaves only
one more count, aggravated robbery... You stole this little girl's bra
as a souvenir, probably to brag about it to your friends later on. Well,
I'm going to give you a souvenir of Trumbull County justice. And that
is, you will receive a maximum sentence of 10 to 25 on the aggravated
robbery for the stealing of that bra. And I hope that if you last 25
years in prison that you remember that you remember that souvenir."
Get this scum out of here!
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 9
October 1993
----
The interview with Gordon Liddy, back in D.C., was most pleasurable. He is a
man of the same stamp as Sir Thomas More and Solzhenytsin, among others. The
motto of such people is, "Do your worst, I do not coerce!" The human race is
honored by such.
"One man with courage makes a majority"
Andrew Jackson
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 9
October 1993
----
It is interesting to hear certain kinds of people insist that the citizen
cannot fight the government. This would have been news to the men of
Lexington and Concord, as well as the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan. The citizen
most certainly can fight the government, and usually wins when he tries.
Organized national armies are useful primarily for fighting against other
organized national armies. When they try to fight against the people, they
find themselves at a very serious disadvantage. If you will just look around
at the state of the world today, you will see that the guerillero has the
upper hand. Irregulars usually defeat regulars, providing they have the will.
Such fighting is horrible to contemplate, but will continue to dominate brute
strength.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 9
October 1993
----
Can anyone reading this paper come up with anything - any single act - that
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has done that needed doing?
Even if it were not suspected of committing atrocious acts against the
people of this country - as it is now - it is not apparent to me that any of
its other activities are in any way contributing to the welfare of the
Republic. And yet, even without atrocities, it is costing us money. Here,
if there ever was one, is the right place to retrench.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 7
29 September 1993
----
It would appear that the media are desperately attempting to sweep Waco under
the rug. Let us hope this takes more sweeping than they can handle. The
success or failure of the National Health Plan or of NAFTA are trivial
considerations compared to the menace of the federal ninja making war upon
American citizens on no stronger grounds than suspicion of bad behavior.
We are thankful for the policies of Colonel Bob Brown, publisher of Soldier
of Fortune, who is determined not to let the matter drop.
We simply must do something about these fat men with face masks and MP5's
who shoot down unarmed citizens. Personally, I would not think that the
American people would stand for this, but then I am a member of an older
generation which took the Declaration of Independence and the United States
Constitution with more than a grain of salt.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 7
29 September 1993
----
It was interesting to observe the Attorney General coming forth to "accept
full responsibility" for the atrocity at Waco. One wonders what that means.
When one accepts responsibility, one accepts appropriate punishment for
one's transgression. The Japanese have a long tradition of the proper means
of accepting responsibility. It is conducted by means of a short, sharp
knife. I have such a piece in my armory and I would be glad to part with it
in a good cause, such as appropriate use by the Attorney General.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 3
1 July 1993
----
... we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence, in which
it was set forth unmistakably for posterity that human rights are not
granted by man but rather by God, and that when any government or
institution threatens those rights it is the duty of the people to abolish
it. That is an idea especially pungent at this stage of America's political
devolution.
-Jeff Cooper-
Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
Vol. 1, No. 3
1 July 1993
----
Bumper sticker:
Only criminals, dictators and democrats fear armed citizens.
From Jeff Cooper's Commentaries, Vol. 1, No. 6, 2 September 1993
----