Monday, November 28, 2005

The strange suicide of Col. Westhusing

Bush the Younger scores another triumph.

From the article:
[A]bout 1 p.m., a USIS manager went looking for Westhusing because he was scheduled for a ride back to the Green Zone. After getting no answer, the manager returned about 15 minutes later. Another USIS employee peeked through a window. He saw Westhusing lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

The manager rushed into the trailer and tried to revive Westhusing. The manager told investigators that he picked up the pistol at Westhusing's feet and tossed it onto the bed.

"I knew people would show up," that manager said later in attempting to explain why he had handled the weapon. "With 30 years from [sic] military and law enforcement training, I did not want the weapon to get bumped and go off."

30 years military and law enforcement training? Anyone with enough law enforcement training to have graduated from police academy knows you don't tamper with a possible crime scene. Anyone with enough knowledge to handle a weapon profesionally knows that a modern pitol is not going to "go off" if "bumped." And, if that truly was his concern, why did he risk "bumping" the pistol by "tossing it onto the bed?"

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Glock 17

I bought my first Glock yesterday. Glock 17, factory night sights.

I caught the Glock bug mostly for professional reasons. As a LEFI and armorer, I really need to know the Glock system. 9mm practice ammo is cheap, and modern defensive ammo renders the Great Caliber Controversy moot. The G17 seems the best, all-around choice for teaching, practice and self-defense.

The armorer in me really appreciates the simplicity of the Glock mechanism. Unfortunately, off-white contact paper applied to the grip area seems as close as one can get to ivory stocks for the Glocks.

I tried the 10mm Glock 20 and really liked it. I'm glad to see the 10mm Auto round making a comeback (Glock never abandoned it). That may be my next purchase. Hey, CA law says "one gun a month." Who am I to argue?