Summary: Ben came up with some reasons why the shooting sports are awesome, so we talked about that this week: There's almost no natural skill or genetic component You really can't buy very much success. Cheating is fairly difficult (because there's so little hidden complexity and so many people watching) and when successful pays off only in very small ways. Practice can be accomplished in virtually any home, for free, any time of the day or night. Gear doesn't really break down and when it does, it's usually a simple, straightforward fix. The time/money tradeoff is very robust. If you have a lot of time to invest, you can get really good and shoot a lot for very little money. The injury rate is effectively zero. Competitive opportunities are abundant, varied, and nearby. Because of the serious nature of the sport's implements, it tends to weed out completely irresponsible losers and anti-social behavior. Anybody can compete with anybody else. Newbies and veterans in the same match. The News: <a href="https://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/house-dems-introduce-assault-weapons-ban-of-2015/">House Democrats introduced a single feature assault weapons ban this week. It's terrible and nefarious, but it also doesn't stand a chance.</a> <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/business/dealbook/in-new-tack-in-gun-debate-a-call-to-investigate-smith-wessons-disclosures.html">S&W is being attacked for not disclosing stuff in their SEC filings that they've never been required to disclose.</a> Meh. <a href="http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/12/18/walther-announces-new-pps-m2-9mm-subcompact-pistol/">The Firearm Blog is reporting on a leaked Walther PPS M2.</a> It looks pretty decent. Gear that Doesn't Suck <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00180GQJA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00180GQJA&linkCode=as2&tag=triantacti-20&linkId=ZGYD6AAL3BR4BYNL" rel="nofollow"></a> The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00180GQJA/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00180GQJA&linkCode=as2&tag=triantacti-20&linkId=ZGYD6AAL3BR4BYNL" rel="nofollow">Benchmade Mini-Griptillian</a> is Ben's winter knife, and he loves it. I actually talked him into buying it several years ago, and I'm still jealous of it. The sheepsfoot blade is fantastic for most all purposes, and the axis lock is smooth, and you don't have to put your fingers in the path of the blade when unlocking and closing the knife. It's not cheap, but it definitely doesn't suck. Plug of the Week: <a href="http://weaponsman.com/?p=26712">Weaponsman did a good blog post this week about people paying for more accuracy than they need.</a> It's worth a read. Contact luke@triangletactical.net ben@triangletactical.net
