The Mule

 

The Mule That Turns the Mill

By Jamie Spaulding, 1/22/2021

The mule that turns the mill seems content to do his task.

Then none could ever know for sure, for none have cared to ask.

He has no opinion on weighty matters, that any would care to hear.

They only care their meal is ground, five days a week, month after month, year after year.

 

Some might say he has a good life, as they butter their daily bread.

For there are, oh so many mules, to turn the wheel that keeps them fed.

Consider not the mule, if he could speak, the things that he might say.

It’s enough that he has a little grain and his daily ration of hay.

 

He is blanketed on cold nights and receives his daily grain.

For which he must perform his toil, in Sunshine and in rain.

On weekends he can pasture, and act as many free beasts do.

As long as he stays within the fence and gives no thought to breaking through.

 

At the break of dawn on Monday, he’ll submit to the millers will.

Harnessed to the wheel that feeds the town, with the fruit of the miller’s mill.

When he grows too old to turn the mill, as all beasts are wont to do,

He’ll serve the town once and for all, for then he’ll serve as glue.

 

The mule that turns the mill seems content to do his task.

Then none could ever know for sure, for none have cared to ask.

He has no opinion on weighty matters, that any would care to hear.

They only care their meal is ground, five days a week, month after month, year after year.

    

                    Gun Free Zones in Your Hometown

                           by Jamie Spaulding on Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 7:25pm

       Friends the time has come to speak up. The Martin and Union City mayors and aldermen are going to try to ban the carrying of legal firearms by permit holders in local parks.

      We just beat this silliness on the state level and they are going to shove it down our throats locally. Let's stop this in it's tracks. Monday the Martin mayor and board of aldermen will have their meeting to consider this at 5:15 PM. The Union City Mayor and board are meeting Tuesday night. It has already passed informally in Martin, whatever that means. Weakley County permit holders need to be there. Solid citizens with carry permits need to remind city officials that killing sprees happen in places where the law abiding are, by law, unarmed.

      Someone also needs to remind them that permit holders are more law-abiding than the public at large. They need to be reminded, as well, that there may be liability issues at stake for the city should a permit holder suffer grave bodily injury or death at the hands of a criminal while disarmed by a city mandate.

     Here's a newsflash for the uninformed. Because of an improper reference in Tennessee Code Annotated, unless the park has the main entrances posted, the carrying of legal firearms by permit holders in city parks has been, if not legal, certainly not illegal for several years. The ban on firearms in parks and other public recreation areas (sec. 39-17-1311) specifically bans those arms listed in Sec. 39-17-1302a which are:
" (1) An explosive or an explosive weapon;
   (2) A device principally designed, made, or adapted for delivering or shooting an explosive weapon;
   (3) A machinegun;
   (4) A short barreled rifle or shotgun;
   (5) A firearm silencer;
   (6) A hoax device;
   (7) A switchblade knife or knuckles; or
   (8) Any other implement for infliction of serious bodily injury or death which has no other common lawful purpose."        Note here that handguns do have a common lawful purpose. The state proved this by issuing handgun permits to allow for self-defense.  So since posting became mandatory, if your parks have not been posted, people who know the law have already been carrying there for several years. Can anyone name one instance of trouble this has caused? Let's stop this garbage here and now. Gun Free Zones are an invitation for any maniac to come and slaughter.

Letter to the Editor U.C. Daily Messenger: published Wed. July 29, 2009

by Jamie Spaulding on Saturday, August 8, 2009 at 2:51pm

     The Tennessee constitution plainly says “the legislature has the power to regulate the wearing of arms with a view toward preventing crime”. Last Tuesday night I witnessed (thanks to WOBT-TV) a city council regulating the wearing of arms. There is no question that it is contrary to the constitution. I believe the courts will settle this rather quickly.

     What I found most intriguing is that there are at least two councilmen, based on their arguments in favor of banning legally carried handguns in city parks, who are members of the “cultural elite“. Those well-meaning, “enlightened”, if somewhat arrogant, individuals whom, because of divine providence or their superior intellect, have attained a station of power, regardless how miniscule that station. Their life’s mission is to protect you and me, the ignorant masses, from ourselves. Our nations’ capitol is full of their kind. They honestly believe that we are incapable of knowing what is best for us. I teach that if you are too ignorant to be trusted with your own defense, how can you be trusted to govern yourself? Their answer is simple. You can’t. Those in the “cultural elite” forget that we are the boss. We loan power to the government to do its job. If it ceases to do its job, we have the right, and the obligation to take that power back.

     Fifteen years ago the people of Tennessee, like others across the country, reclaimed the right to go armed for our defense because the government was failing miserably in this regard. Studies showed that in counties where the law-abiding were permitted to go armed, violent crime was significantly lower than in counties that severely restricted the rights of armed citizens. Justice Dept. studies showed that armed citizens killed three times as many criminals per year as the police did. This study also showed that, in shooting incidents involving armed citizens, innocent parties were harmed two percent of the time. “Not good” you say? The same study showed that, in shooting incidents involving police, innocent parties were harmed eleven percent of the time. Ask any cop and he’ll tell you it’s true. If I am being beaten, robbed, stabbed, or shot at; there is no question in my mind who is the perpetrator. The police don’t have that luxury, unless they, too, are the victim. No one can protect you or your family better than you. It’s that simple. Over two and a half million times a year, private citizens use a gun to stop a crime. That’s once every thirteen seconds.

     Lastly, Mr. Cranford and Mr. Harrison, I don’t carry a handgun because I expect trouble. I carry a handgun because I realize trouble can come when I least expect it. If I thought I needed a gun to go to your park, I wouldn’t go. Can you both promise me I won’t need it? I sincerely hope so, because that’s exactly what you are doing. Patrick Henry asked, “Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense? If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety and equal justice to us, than in our own hands?…..” Thomas Jefferson said, “… let your firearm be the constant companion of your walks…” Sorry Mr. Jefferson, not if you live in Union City. I invite the Union City city council to take one of my classes. You may find, as I have, that the people who obtain carry permits are the best informed, and the most responsible of all our citizens. They are the greatest resource this country has. All the ingenuity, wealth, charity, and goodness of which our country can boast is because of these uncommonly, common folk. They are the true sons and daughters of Liberty. They continue to confound the “Cultural Elite”.

Daddy Daughter Dance

by, Jamie Spaulding on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 1:21am

   Tonight I had the pleasure of accompanying my daughter to the Annual Hillcrest Elementary Daddy/Daughter Dance. I was amazed to see so many of my Goodyear co-workers there with the apples of their eye. I couldn’t help but think about the fact that this time next year our jobs will be gone.

    As I looked around at the men that I have spent a good deal of my life with, I realized that these are good men, hard-working, honorable, family men. Not the slackers that many outside of the plant seem to think make up the majority of the workforce. I consider it an honor to work with these men. 

     I watched the girls and their dads having fun dancing and laughing and wondered if the girls knew the concerns hidden behind their fathers smiling faces. I decided that they didn’t. It’s a dad’s job to see that his family’s needs are met and these girls have faith in their dads. 

    The truth is that I do too. These are the kind of men who won’t flinch when times get tough. They are men from the heartland of America. Not the namby-pamby, Hollywood types, who run to their therapist when the pressures of their vain existence become too much for them to handle. I know that most of them have talents and smarts that Goodyear has never tapped. That’s Goodyear’s loss. 

    There was more character in that room than has ever been in an Akron board room. I realized that if these men ran a business during tough economic times, their first concern would be for their employees. I also realized that with men like these in our community, we are going to be fine. This may be naïve but I honestly believe that the good guy always wins in the end. The Daddy/Daughter dance reminded me that we have more than our fair share of good guys.

Caliber Choice for Self Defense

Which Caliber for Your Carry Gun?

Okay, last time I submitted an article for Roger to post I promised the next one would be on which caliber was best. What was I thinking? This is just my six or seventh submission to Traditional Woodsman and now I’m about to alienate half my readership! Before I get started with my seppuku, I’d like to lay down some ground rules that might leave me with a modicum of self-respect and perhaps keep me from falling all the way to the bottom of your short list of gun gurus.

            The first rule is that we are talking about handguns. I know the old saying about bringing a rifle and ten of your best friends with their rifles. Remember, in the last article, I made the case that a handgun is what we carry when we don’t expect trouble.

Rule number two, dear reader, is to understand my caliber selections will be based on defending against a two-legged varmint. Also the caliber should do well against commonly domesticated animals and wild critters that might be found roaming Suburbia. While I understand that Tennessee is home to an Elephant Rescue ranch, I don’t expect you to carry a .600 Nitro Express derringer in your hip pocket. As for the readers living in proximation to grizzlies, moose, black bear, elk, Sasquatch, and other big, hairy, stuff, I recommend you call information for Cody, Wyoming and ask for a listing for my friend, John Linebaugh. His .475 or .500 Linebaugh single action revolvers are the perfect packing pistol for your neck of the woods. If you prefer double action revolvers with big bullets, fellow Tennessean, Hamilton Bowen can fix you up. If you use handguns built by these two you have the added option of pulling your bullets in the off season and using them for a game of “curling”. Just solder on a handle, get a broom and head to the frozen pond! Since the ground rules have been laid, we are ready to talk caliber.

Growing up, my dad wasn’t into handguns. He had one. It was a 4 5/8” Ruger Blackhawk in .41 Rem. Mag. on the old three screw frame. It was, and still is a fine, strong revolver. We reloaded for it using a Speer 210gr. SWC moving around 900 fps. My dad kept it in his bedroom where it could be called upon to defend home and hearth. That load was, no doubt, up to the task. As a kid I longed for a Colt Gov’t Model .45 ACP. It was my dream gun. In the early seventies (my formative years) it was understood that “old slab sides” was the self-defense handgun of choice. Forty years later, it’s still selling as well as any other model. So much so, that even Sig Sauer and Smith & Wesson are building them.

It was the second handgun I purchased when I turned 21, the first being a 6 inch Smith & Wesson Model 19. As a licensed private investigator and bounty hunter, my 70 Series Colt was my constant companion. I carried it every day for ten years. I have an awesome amount of respect for the design and the caliber. Along with the eighties came plastic pistols; I clung my Colt as long as I could but a Glock 23 stole me away in the nineties. Thirteen plus one rounds of .40 S&W in a design that re-wrote the book on reliability, was a good swap for the old Colt.

So, even as recently as the late 1990s, I was still carrying a medium/big bore auto. “Shall Issue” legislation was changing the market rapidly. Shorter barrels, polymers, and lighter alloys were answering the demand, but the biggest change came in bullet designs. The need for bullets that would expand at velocities achievable in shorter barrels became the holy grail of all the ammo companies. Pre-fragmented rounds by companies like MagSafe and Glaser solved the over penetration problems but were destroyed by things like auto glass. Cor-Bon answered the call by designing “light for caliber” bullets and pushed them to unbelievable velocities. Unfortunately, fixed sights and rifling rates of twist made these bullets perform better in some guns and not so well in others. The answer to the problem came in the form of controlled expansion jacketing, while bonding technology insured that the lead core and jacket stayed together.

Bullets, now, are not only designed around caliber and weight but also by barrel length/expected velocity. The jacket thickness is regulated to attain the desired expansion velocity. The Federal HydroShok, Remington Golden Sabre, Speer Gold Dot were all born within months of each other. And who can forget the Winchester Black Talon? I still have a few boxes put back for the zombie apocalypse. Hornady has also developed into a powerhouse for bullet technology. I dare say that their Critical Defense line will prove to be a game changer.

I’ve said all that, to say this. Caliber is no longer what it used to be. My instructions to students in regards to caliber are simple; use the largest caliber, in the smallest package that you will shoot well and often. This makes the 9MM much more attractive than the .40, .45, or .357 Sig in ammo costs alone. The old Luger round is now loaded in +P+ and can push a 100gr. bullet to 1400 fps. We are in the neighborhood of the 110gr .357 magnum revolver with a 4 inch barrel. I use Hornady’s Critical Defense in .380 ACP in my Sig Sauer P238. This load sends a 90gr silicone filled FTX hollow point out of the muzzle at 1000 fps. That’s close to where the 9MM was 15 years ago.

I’m not a fan of the .32 ACP simply because it’s a semi rimmed case. Fill up a magazine with them and push the bullet end of the top round down and you will hear a distinct “click”. Nothing will get that round out of the magazine short of using a small screw driver to push the lower rounds down further into the magazine. The extractor rim of the top round slips behind the rim of the second round essentially locking up the gun. The .25 ACP suffers from being the baby of center fire handgun rounds. It also costs as much as the .32 and .380 and more than the 9MM. Until somebody comes up with a small double stack magazine version that will hold thirty rounds and conceal in a pocket, it’s dead.

On the other hand, the rim-fire .22s are alive and well. That shouldn’t come as a big surprise. The .22 Long Rifle round is the official sweetheart of American shooters. S&W, Ruger and Taurus are offering revolvers in this caliber with a capacity of eight or nine rounds. All the semi-auto makers are producing miniturized versions of their big stuff for the .22LR. There are a lot of shooters who dismiss the .22 LR as too anemic for self-defense. These are the same ones who would tell you that a 3 inch .410 full of  #4 buckshot at 20ft, would be devastating. Hmmm…, let’s think about that. Federal’s Premium Defense .410 load boasts 9 pellets of #4 (.24 caliber) buckshot at 1200 fps. Compare that to a Taurus model 94 or Ruger SR22 auto with 9 rounds of Federal 40gr .22 High Velocity at 1240 fps. See where I’m headed? It's virtually the same ballistics as the shotgun round but instead of 9 projectiles fired at once, the pistol rounds come at tenth of a second intervals.

I have seen so many ladies come to my classes with guns their husbands bought for them on the promise that it’s the perfect “lady’s gun”. It’s usually an alloy J frame which they load with 158gr SWCs. By the time mom fires the first 50 rounds, her hand is inflamed and she has sworn off ever shooting again. Congratulations! You have just ruined your best possible ally. Thank goodness, Ruger has introduced their LCR in an 8 shot .22 version. Buy your dearest one and let her learn to love shooting before she has to learn to master recoil. It has the best trigger of any .22 DA revolvers on the market today, in it's price range. Once she masters it, the transition to an LCR in .38 special is easy. As she learns to shoot, she will see the attraction of bigger bullets with no convincing from you.

Caliber choice really comes down to this: find a gun that you love to shoot. Demand that it be reliable. Shoot it at least once a month, once a week is better. Learn it well. If you are confident and competent and you load it with the best self-defense style ammo available, you will be a force to be reckoned with, regardless which caliber you choose.       

Your comments are welcomed!

Jamie Spaulding

Letter to the Editor U.C. Daily Messenger: published Wed. July 29, 2009

by Jamie Spaulding on Saturday, August 8, 2009 at 3:51pm

     The Tennessee constitution plainly says “ the legislature has the power to regulate the wearing of arms with a view toward preventing crime”. Last Tuesday night I witnessed (thanks to WOBT-TV) a city council regulating the wearing of arms. There is no question that it is contrary to the constitution. I believe the courts will settle this rather quickly.

     What I found most intriguing is that there are at least two councilmen, based on their arguments in favor of banning legally carried handguns in city parks, who are members of the “cultural elite“. Those well meaning, “enlightened”, if somewhat arrogant, individuals whom, because of divine providence or their superior intellect, have attained a station of power, regardless how miniscule that station. Their life’s mission is to protect you and me, the ignorant masses, from ourselves. Our nation’s capitol is full of their kind. They honestly believe that we are incapable of knowing what is best for us. I teach that if you are too ignorant to be trusted with your own defense, how can you be trusted to govern yourself? Their answer is simple. You can’t. Those in the “cultural elite” forget that we are the boss. We loan power to the government to do it’s job. If it ceases to do it’s job, we have the right, and the obligation to take that power back.

     Fifteen years ago the people of Tennessee, like others across the country, reclaimed the right to go armed for our defense because the government was failing miserably in this regard. Studies showed that in counties where the law abiding were permitted to go armed, violent crime was significantly lower than in counties that severely restricted the rights of armed citizens. Justice Dept. studies showed that armed citizens killed three times as many criminals per year as the police did. This study also showed that, in shooting incidents involving armed citizens, innocent parties were harmed two percent of the time. “Not good” you say? The same study showed that, in shooting incidents involving police, innocent parties were harmed eleven percent of the time. Ask any cop and he’ll tell you it’s true. If I am being beaten, robbed, stabbed, or shot at; there is no question in my mind who is the perpetrator. The police don’t have that luxury. Unless they, too, are the victim. No one can protect you or your family better than you. It’s that simple. Over two and a half million times a year, a private citizen uses a gun to stop a crime. That’s once every thirteen seconds.

     Lastly, Mr. Cranford and Mr. Harrison, I don’t carry a handgun because I expect trouble. I carry a handgun because I realize trouble can come when I least expect it. If I thought I needed a gun to go to your park, I wouldn’t go. Can you both promise me I won’t need it. I sincerely hope so because that’s exactly what you are doing. Patrick Henry asked, “Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation that we cannot be trusted with arms for our defense? If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety and equal justice to us, than in our own hands?…..” Thomas Jefferson said, “… let your firearm be the constant companion of your walks…”. Sorry Mr. Jefferson, not if you live in Union City. I invite the Union City city council to take one of my classes. You may find, as I have, that the people who obtain carry permits are the best informed, and the most responsible of all our citizens. They are the greatest resource this country has. All the ingenuity, wealth, charity, and goodness of which our country can boast is because of these uncommonly, common folk. They are the true sons and daughters of Liberty. They continue to confound the “Cultural Elite”.

Jamie Spaulding

Attention, All Police Officers Intimidated by My Mom

      I received the following question again today and have answered it so many times I chose to respond in an article.

     “Jamie, I have a question. I have researched on the state website and I am unable to find an answer. If you are a handgun permit holder and are stopped by the police for a traffic violation and you give them your permit with your driver’s license, are they required to then check and clear your weapon? Your help on this would be appreciated. Thanks.”

     Absolutely not!  There's no requirement in Tennessee state law that you even hand them your permit or inform them you have a gun in the car*.  During the original debate, state legislators debated that since permit holders underwent the same vetting (fingerprinting and FBI background check) as TN police officers, it really wasn't any business of police officers during routine traffic stops. It is “suggested” that you hand over your permit with your license. A police officer may take possession of your gun "in the course of lawful, law enforcement activities". There is definitely no requirement to do so, and for a loaded gun to unnecessarily change hands presents a genuine safety concern and a potential hazard. This would assume every police officer is a firearms expert and can safely handle and unload a loaded firearm which he has never received instruction for, or read a manual on. I have had enough LEO's bring their guns to my house asking to be shown how to field strip them to know that there are very few small arms experts wearing blue these days. But, we all know that 95% of all police officers seek additional firearms training above and beyond what’s required to keep their jobs, and they compete in things like PPC, IDPA and IPSC, right?  Wrong, only 5% do these things and 95% don’t. There’s a good chance that the cop that’s handling your gun has only handled his twice in the last year.

     I had a friend and fellow instructor from Washington State who told of being pulled over by a (un-named city) police officer for speeding. He presented his permit (which was required by state law) and the officer had him un-holster his gun and hand it over. He did so, against his better judgment, and the officer placed it on the hood of his squad car and re-approached my friend.  Just as soon as the officer reached the window, a street thug jumped from the curb, snatched my friend's loaded Sig/Sauer off of the cop car and beat feet down an alley. The officer didn't even see it happen and my friend, having witnessed it in his rearview mirror, was trying to get him to go after the punk. The officer refused, wrote him a ticket for speeding, and was going to leave the scene but my friend called 911 from his cell phone to request the presence of a supervisor and to report the theft. Even the supervisor didn't want to give my friend a receipt for his gun. To make a long story short, over several weeks and with the aid of an attorney, my friend threatened to sue and go to the local papers if the city did not replace his pistol. They did. The officer was deemed to have accepted responsibility for that firearm when he took possession of it.

     Taking possession of a permit holder's gun should only be done in certain instances. Generally, this is done if the gun is visible or un-holstered, and in close proximity to vehicle occupants or if the permit holder is the subject of a complaint and officers are conducting a preliminary investigation. Of course, if you use the gun in any way, police will take possession of it in order to conduct a thorough investigation. You should always ask for a receipt in this case. Better yet, ask for an attorney and let him get your receipt.

     I have heard many stories from people who have encountered problems during routine traffic stops because of police discrimination against permit holders. Some police believe only they should be allowed to carry a gun. Also, unfortunately, many police officers do not know the law and a thankfully small number think they are above it and/or can make it up as they go.

     A confident, competent, well trained police officer will not be the least bit intimidated by a permit holder's possession of a firearm. I urge you to ask around to see how traffic stops of permit holders are handled by our Tennessee State Troopers. I have been stopped by Troopers four times (two were holiday check points) since 1996 when TN permits began and Mary has been stopped twice. Three times we never mentioned our permits or our guns, and were never asked about them. Three times we handed our permits with our driver's licenses and each time the Troopers asked where our guns were and we told them. Upon hearing where our guns were, the Troopers politely asked us to leave them where they were and not to handle them during the stop. No quaking in their voices, watery eyes or loose bowels. They simply did their job! No big deal. After all, TWRA officers deal with armed sportsmen all the time and very rarely experience any trouble. I was stopped at a checkpoint by the KY Highway Patrol one holiday weekend while in the company truck with Armed Response magnetic signs on each door. The KY Trooper smiled and as I handed him our permits and said “Oh wow, how many guns do we have with us tonight?” He thought it was funny that I said “Three” when the only occupants were Mary and I in the front seat and my eight year old daughter in the back. He was cordial and professional and made the inconvenience of the road block as pleasant as possible.

     Frankly, an officer who doesn't trust me with my gun should not be trusted with his. Perhaps this officer should find another line of work. A librarian maybe? Oh wait, there might be permit holders that frequent the library too…. I know! Maybe they should be cops in countries that only allow "cops" to be armed. Germany was that way once. Those cops were called the Gestapo and the "SS". That should give you an idea of the character of "cops" who believe only "cops" should be armed.

      If you are a good cop, you know who the bad ones are! See that they straighten up or find a new town to victimize. They are a liability to your department. If they are too shaky to trust a permit holder with a gun, do you think they will risk life and limb to “watch your six” when a real bad guy has one? 

     There may soon come a time when police officers will have to choose sides. I hope that most will choose to side with the Constitution and the “people”, rather than the “state”.  I also hope that we can pass the “Sheriff’s Law” in Tennessee. This law re-emphasizes the autonomy and accountability of the County Sheriff. It prevents any (federal, state, or local) investigations and/or arrests being carried out in a Sheriff’s jurisdiction without his knowledge and consent. Our Sheriffs are elected officials and, constitutionally, wield more power than some bureaucrat in D.C. Tennessee’s constitution was written that way and that’s how it needs to be. 

*Denotes the laws of Tennessee. The laws may differ where you are.

Once again, thanks for reading!

Jamie