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The Violent Crime Disinformation Matrix
When it comes to violent crime, there is what I would call a disinformation matrix. Surprisingly, this matrix is formed unintentionally by pro-gunners, intentionally by anti-gunners, by media coverage, by statistical terminology, and sadly, by an abuse of language. What this disinformation matrix does is prevent an ordinary civilian from truly understanding violent crime risks…
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NIBRS Reports Coming – A Methodology
I’m currently working with a data scientist on parsing the 2023 NIBRS data and generating reports from that data. Using these reports, I’ll be able to directly compare NIBRS to the NCVS data I have in my book. In some instances, there will be new fields in NIBRS, which I hope sheds light on violent…
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LEOKA 2023
In my book, I covered Law Enforcement Officers Killed or Asssaulted (LEOKA). I think now that 2020, 2021, and 2022 have passed, 2023 provides a good opportunity to get back to a certain type of normalcy. However, in talking to many customer-oriented businesses, they report a large increase of rudeness after the pandemic. It is…
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The Double-Action Revolver for Home Defense
In this post, I expect my audience to be an ordinary civilian with no firearm experience. For whatever reason, you have decided to purchase a firearm for home defense and do not want to use a shotgun. What would I recommend? It may sound boring and old school, but I would recommend a large caliber…
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The Home Defense Shotgun – Part II
In my opinion, most ordinary civilians would be best served with a large-caliber (https://clayeolsen.com/archives/222) double-action revolver or a shotgun as a home defense weapon. I talked about some previous home shotgun suggestions here: https://clayeolsen.com/archives/359. I want to discuss some more considerations for shotguns here. First, many ordinary civilians may want to purchase short tactical shotguns.…
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Red Dots & Compensators
In the Guns & Ammo January 2025 issue, James Tarr has an important article on compensators and red dot sights. He indicates that compensators have become more popular because of the popularity of red dots. The reduction of muzzle flip allows for easier re-acquisition of the red dot. However, he also indicates that even pros…
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Firearm Violence Report
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The Rise of Fentanyl & Crystal Meth Arrests
This information comes from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Here is the full report for Methamphetamine, Cocaine, and Other Psychostimulant Offenses in Federal Courts, 2022 Unfortunately, the report seems to emphasize increases/decreases from FY2021 to FY2022 (FY = Fiscal Year). Since 2021 is still a “pandemic” year that suffers from a variety of governmental restrictions…
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Trends for Background Checks for Firearm Transfers, 1999–2018:The First 20 Years of the Permanent Brady Act Period
“Abstract:The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Act) requires a background check on an applicant for a firearm purchase from a dealer who is a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL). During the permanent Brady Act period, from 1999 through 2018, background checks were conducted on over 237 million applicants for firearm transfers or permits. During this…
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Criminal Victimization, 2023
“This report presents official estimates of nonfatal criminal victimizations reported and not reported to police from BJS’s [Bureau of Justice Statistics’] National Crime Victimization Survey.” The full report is available here. I encourage everyone to read it. Why? Here is an example: How many violent victimizations in 2023 involved a firearm? Many people would answer…
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Uncomfortable Truths About Trigger Finger Discipline
What is trigger finger discipline? Well, it comes up quite a bit on semi-automatic weapons that have the hammer cocked (typically done automatically), a round chambered, and the safety off. In this state, the amount of pressure needed to depress the trigger and fire the weapon is very low. If you are not ready to…
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