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This Week in History On September 8, 1664, the Dutch surrendered their colony of New Netherland, including New Amsterdam, to 300 English soldiers. Following the capture, New Amsterdam’s name was changed to New York, to honor the Duke of York, who had organized the mission. — September 9, 1000: Battle of Svolder, Baltic Sea: King Olaf on board the Long Serpent was defeated in one of the greatest naval battles of the Viking Age. He leapt to his death, overboard. — September 10, 1919:  Treaty of Saint-Germain. Austria ended its incorporation with Germany. But its independence was short-lived. In the …

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Introductory Disclaimer:  I am not an attorney, and the following is not legal advice. I am just a reasonably knowledgeable individual. Be sure to consult an attorney licensed in your state before making any changes to you gun collection! –  JWR A pair of consolidated court cases were recently appealed and a very strong and favorable Permanent Injunction was issued, nullifying a large portion of the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934, but only for the plaintiffs and for those in a “Protected Class” linking them to the plaintiffs. On August 5, 2026, a federal district court for the Northern …

The post Navigating the Post-Jensen NFA Injunction Landscape appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

Editor’s Note: The following recipe for Survival Cookies is from fellow preparedness blogger Patrice Lewis. It was first published with many photos in her Rural Revolution blog. We highly recommend bookmarking her blog. – JWR When I put up the recent post on making strawberry preserves, a reader asked why I canned it up in quart jars instead of pints. Short answer: Just about the only thing we use strawberry preserves for is as a filling for so-called “survival cookies.” Back in our old home, these incredibly delicious filled oatmeal sandwich cookies made the rounds among our group of homeschooling …

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Today’s graphic is a map showing U.S. Census blocks with no residents. (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) JWR’s Comment: A French journalist once referred to the Rawles Ranch as being in “Une Zone Depopulee Totalment.” Since we are surrounded by National Forest, he was just about right. The thumbnail image below is click-expandable.       — If any SurvivalBlog readers have personally taken or otherwise hold the copyright to a particularly nice landscape photo or other photo of particular interest to preppers that is in a wide horizontal format (to match our blog template) then please send it in as …

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In Economics & Investing Media of the Week we feature photos, charts, graphs, maps, video links, and news items of interest to preppers. This week, a map showing US Counties by GDP per capita [2022].  JWR’s Comment:  This illustrates the disproportionate economic contribution of oil, natural gas, and mining, in lightly-populated regions. The thumbnail below is click-expandable.       (Graphic courtesy of Reddit.) Economics & Investing Links of Interest $500 a Month Gone: Social Security Hits the Cliff in 2032 — and Congress Already Knows. Diesel Just Hit Its Highest Price in American History, AAA Data Shows — Topping …

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods. This column is a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from JWR. Our goal is to educate our readers, to help them to recognize emerging threats, and to be better prepared for both disasters and negative societal trends. You can’t mitigate a risk if you haven’t first identified a risk. In today’s column, Finland readies itself for possible attacks. Finland Holds a Large Civil Defense Exercise AP reporter Emma Burrows: Finland runs Europe’s biggest civil defense exercise since the end of …

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Our weekly Snippets column is a collection of short items: responses to posted articles, practical self-sufficiency items, how-tos, lessons learned, tips and tricks, and news items — both from readers and from SurvivalBlog’s editors. Note that we may select some long e-mails for posting as separate letters. — US Army declares ’42 is the new 35′ but millennials are outraged as enlistment age changed. JWR’s Comments: For someone who is in a stable civilian career that allows time off for annual training, enlisting (or seeking a commission) in the National Guard or Army Reserve represents a way to secure “double …

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REDOUBT NEWS LINKS This weekly column features media from around the American Redoubt region. (Idaho, Montana, eastern Oregon, eastern Washington, and Wyoming.) Much of the region is also more commonly known as The Inland Northwest. Washington Attorney Bill Kirk: The Untold Consequence of Assault Weapon Bans. Montana FWP encourages caution after Columbia Falls bear attack. Emergency rescue planned for 499 wild horses in Oregon as water sources vanish. Two interesting backcountry flying videos: Soldier Bar 85U Idaho – Badlands Traveler, and, Cabin Creek Idaho in a Badlands Traveler Bushplane. Kennewick Police looking for third suspect in deadly shooting. Indian Relay …

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To be prepared for a crisis, every Prepper must establish goals and make both long-term and short-term plans. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors review their week’s prep activities and planned prep activities for the coming week. These range from healthcare and gear purchases to gardening, ranch improvements, bug-out bag fine-tuning, and food storage. This is something akin to our Retreat Owner Profiles, but written incrementally and in detail, throughout the year.  We always welcome you to share your own successes and wisdom in your e-mailed letters. We post many of those — or excerpts thereof — in the Odds …

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The latest meme created by JWR: Meme Text: I Think We Can All Agree That The Pilot Did Not Choose… A Prime Landing Location Notes From JWR: Do you have a meme idea? Just e-mail me the concept, and I’ll try to assemble it. And if it is posted then I’ll give you credit. Thanks! Permission to repost memes that I’ve created is granted, provided that credit to SurvivalBlog.com is included.

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“We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork.” – Milton Friedman

The post Editors’ Quote: appeared first on SurvivalBlog.com.

 9/6/26 New York Post:

Advancements in AI may soon allow humans to talk with animals, but some groups claim the research could be violating the animals’ right to privacy.

Machine learning models are paving the way to catalogue and even mimic the sounds animals make to communicate with each other, with researchers touting the technology as a way to better understand the world of animals.

But “one risk that is currently not taken into account in research ethics is the concern that we might be violating the privacy of animals by collecting data on their vocalizations and movements,” according to researchers in an article published in Springer Nature.

AI can make mistakes. Imagine those mistakes:

Don't eat me.

I love becoming one with your body.

Faster, faster, more stirrups.

FotB Tom Lindsay has a very interesting blog: The Whiskey Trail which is all about, well, cocktailblogging.  He has a very fun series of posts on the James Bond drinks (with recipes) and even includes Kina Lillet blanc in the martini.  10/10.

As an Old Fashioned admirer, I really quite like his New Fashioned.  Clever, that. 

Highly recommended. 

Man being attacked by four pit bull dogs

Video in public domain from wikimedia.org 

William English has published a new, comprehensive, detailed survey on firearms ownership and defensive firearms use in the United States. This new academic paper is 75 pages long. It details the care with which the survey was accomplished. In this new survey, questions were included about using firearms in defense against animals. The survey shows 8.4% of defensive firearms use were directed against animals.

Several examples of verbatim responses about defensive firearms use directed against animals are included in Appendix H. These were specifically taken from responses where the respondents were asked:

 “Have you ever been in a situation (including any referenced in earlier responses) in which it would have been useful for defensive purposes to have a firearm with a magazine capacity in excess of 10 rounds? If so, please briefly describe that situation.”

There were 2,386 individuals who answered positively. most of those are reported as giving a description of the situation. The paper quotes 33 responses to illustrate what was reported to them. Of the 33 responses, 7 involved defenses against animals, somewhat higher than mentioned in the overall survey.  Here are a three from the paper:

• Going hunting a cougar came up on me and I fired 15 shots for it to go away

• When a dog with rabies was attacking my livestock and would not go down even after several shots and reloading

• We had an aggressive bear come onto our property and was going after animals. had a Glock 9mm had to use 2 clips

As a researcher and writer who has devoted considerable time to detailing the usefulness of handguns in defense against bears, it was gratifying to see William English include animal defenses as a significant, if not large, portion of the defensive use of firearms. One of the more common defense against animals which this correspondent has observed in media reports is defense against aggressive and often feral dogs. This correspondent has had several close calls with aggressive dogs. On one occasion, a Glock 17 was drawn, but fortunately, was not required to be fired.

Dogs are much more aggressive when acting as a pack.  Attacking animals tend to be very sensitive to how confident the potential "prey" acts. The availability of a firearm increases the confidence of the person who has it, thus decreasing the chances of attack.  The more confident the person with the firearm is in their ability to use it, the less likely they will have to use it.

At the Supreme Court, Justice Anthony Kennedy asked counsel if the right to keep and bear arms:

 “had nothing to do with the concern of the remote settler to defend
himself and his family against hostile Indian tribes and outlaws, wolves
and bears and grizzlies and things like that?”

The survey by William English definitively shows defense against animal attack is not a dead letter. The estimate of 2.2 million defensive uses of firearms per year. This is a conservative number in the survey. 8.4% of those would be about 180 thousand defensive uses against animals in the United States every year. Criminal uses of firearms where the person was victimizes were about 1.8 per thousand since 2008. Defensive use of firearms against animals are about .54 per thousand, or nearly a third as many. Defensive uses of firearms in total are about 6.4 per thousand or 3.5 times as many as successful victimizations.

The stories which reach the headlines are when people are injured or killed.  Bear attacks where people are injured make headlines.  Attacks by rabid skunks, coyotes, foxes or bobcats in rural areas may make local news. The common successful defenses, when no person has been injured, seldom make the news.

Analysis: Cartridge firearms make humans the top level predator on the planet. Nothing else comes close. When animals prey on humans where cartridge firearms are common, the animals are quickly killed. The defensive use of firearms against attacking animals is not controversial. Many people in urban centers are unaware such defenses occur on a regular basis. The well designed and executed survey done by William English goes a long way to provide information to those ignorant of the phenomena.

©2026 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch 

 Around 9:15 p.m., a 40-year-old man was inside his home in the 1000 block of Lamar Street when a man he knew knocked on the door and forced his way inside, according to a preliminary police report.

The shooting was reported at about 7:30 a.m. She was initially listed in critical condition after being taken to the hospital, but the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office later said she was stable.

More Here

Three Kimber K6s revolvers. Three handloads. Two distances. Five-shot groups. And a chronograph. This test started with what sounded like a fairly simple question: If we put a 2-inch, 3-inch and 4-inch Kimber K6s on the firing line, does the longer barrel actually produce better accuracy? Most shooters would probably put their money on the […]

Guess what governor proposed this bill to give a second chance to first time drug offenders?

Yes, Gov. Ronald Reagan.

 9/4/26 Reason:

Houses of worship are often targeted by people with murder on their minds. That's especially true of synagogues, which were disproportionately attacked even before October 7 and have since been on the receiving end of the "antizionist" reframing of hatred of Jews. But in Montgomery County, Maryland, officials recently renewed efforts to forbid the carrying of firearms within 100 yards of "places of public assembly," including churches and synagogues. Now, some security volunteers are defying the intrusive law as they await the outcome of courtroom pushback against the restrictions.

Of course,  we have a long tradition of not only allowing but actively requiring people be armed at church to protect against attacks, such as these extracted from here:

Georgia

1770: "An act for the better security of the inhabitants by obliging the male white persons to carry fire arms to places of public worship."  From Allen D. Candler, comp., The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia (Atlanta, Ga.: Chas. P. Byrd, 1910), 19(part 1):137-140, this law required all white male inhabitants to carry either a long gun or a pair of pistols to church (p. 138), and required "That the church warden or church wardens of each respective parish, and the deacons, elders or select men... to examine all such male persons" to make sure that they were armed. (pp. 138-39)

Massachusetts Bay

1636/7: At Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England (Boston: William White, 1853) 1:190, Because of the danger of Indian attack, and because much of the population was neglecting to carry guns, every person above eighteen years of age (except magistrates and elders of the churches) were ordered to "come to the publike assemblies with their muskets, or other peeces fit for servise, furnished with match, powder, & bullets, upon paine of 12d. for every default".  And no person shall travel above one mile from his dwelling house, except in places wheare other houses are neare together, without some armes, upon paine of 12d. for every default"."

New Haven

1646: From Charles J. Hoadly, ed., Records Of The Colony And Plantation Of New Haven, From 1638 To 1649 (Hartford, Conn.: Case, Tiffany, 1857), 201-202.  This statute requiring "every male from 16 to 60 yeares of age" to have a gun, provided by either himself or his master, was also enforced.  At pages 486-487 we have records of fines imposed in 1649 on several men "for not bringing ther armes to the meeting [church] on day when it was their turne" and failure to bring slowmatch (for matchlock guns), bullets, flints, and other accessories.  That same year (on page 501) we have the legislature hearing a request from a William Paine "that he might be freed from bringing his armes [on] the Lord's day and lecture dayes, because he lives farr of and hath three small children, and his wife is lame and cannot help to bring the children."

Plymouth

1658: On William Brigham, ed., The Compact with the Charter and Laws of the Colony of New Plymouth" (Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, 1836) 115, is an order that 1/4 of the militia "carry theire armes" to church every Sunday, defined as "some serviceable peece and sword and three charges of powder and bullets" or be fined "2 shillings and six pence...."

1675: On page 176 is an order by the legislature, "That during the time of publicke danger every one that comes to the meeting on the Lords day bring his Armes with him and furnished with att least six charges of powder and shott untill further order shall be given" with a two shilling fine for failure to do so.

1681: On pages 192 and 193 is an order, "That every souldieer in this Jurisdiction that beares armes be with all convenient speed furnished with a compleat sword or cutlas."  Also, the statute of 1658 requiring 1/4 of the militia to bring their guns to church every Sunday was updated to require "six charges of powder same shott" from "beginning of Aprill to the end of October yearly...."  It would appear that Plymouth did not fear Indian attack in winter.

Rhode Island

1639: from John Russell Bartlett, ed., Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England (Providence, R.I.: A. Crawford Greene and Brother, 1856), 1:94: "It is ordered, that noe man shall go two miles from the Towne unarmed, eyther with Gunn or Sword; and that none shall come to any public Meeting without his weapon."  There was a fine of five shillings for failing to be armed in either circumstance.****  This is a city ordinance, not a colony statute.

1643: from Bartlett, Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England 1:79-80, reiterated an earlier order "for every man to have so much powder, and so many bullets, and so the forwarning is to stand still in force; and also that every man do come armed unto the meeting upon every sixth day" with orders for militia officers to go to "to every inhabitant [in Portsmouth and] see whether every one of them has powder" and bullets.

South Carolina

 1743: from David J. McCord, ed., The Statutes at Large of South Carolina: Edited Under Authority of the Legislature(Columbia, S.C.: A. S. Johnston, 1840), 7:417, 418, 419;  7:417-419 require everyone to bring their guns to church.

Virginia

1619: Lyon G. Tyler,  ed., Narratives of Early Virginia, 1606-1625 (New York, 1907), 273 required everyone to attend church on the Sabbath, "and all suche as beare armes shall bring their pieces, swords, pouder and shotte."  Those failing to bring their guns were subject to a three shilling fine.

On Sunday, May 3, 2026, at about 9:30 pm, Anthony Polio was attacked by a mature grizzly bear boar on the Mt. Brown Lookout trail in Glacier National Park. Polio had time to draw and empty his 7.9 ounce Bear Guard bear spray before he was killed by the bear. The official report on the incident has been released by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee (IGBC) Board of Review.  The Board of Review consisted of ten people, four from federal agencies, one from Wyoming Game and Fish, and five from Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. From the official report, p. 10:

Claw marks on a burned tree and a displaced stone suggested that the bear launched its attack from this point (Photo 4). This is also where the discharged canister of bear spray was located. 

The bear spray can was fully discharged. The empty can weighed 84 g. A new, full can of the same brand with the same expiration date weighed 312 g, a difference of 228g. The advertised quantity marked on the label was 225g.

Fallen trees and poor light would have probably obscured the bear. As the bear attacked, the victim fell or was thrown downhill. His path was littered with personal effects beginning 10 ft below the trail (Figure 2). We believe the bear followed Mr. Pollio downhill, continuing the attack. Spatters of blood increased in frequency and volume down the hill. Mr. Pollio’s ear was found approx. 40 ft downslope. A large pool of blood marked the limit of his descent 93 ft below the trail, (Figure 3).

The initial attack site as determined by the investigation. 

First contact is believed to have been at the trail just before first tree across trail with bark worn off. The trail switches back to the right, uphill, just beyond the second deadfall across the trail with the bark worn off. The scent of bear spray lingered around the area where the trail switches back. 

The handwritten notes and sketch of the attack scene show some context and the probable routes taken by Polio and the grizzly bear.  The sketch shows an area with the scent of bear spray at the point the trail switches back to the south, going uphill. The top of the sketch is roughly to the West. The sketch shows the distance from claw marks to the point on the trail where the initial contact is believed to have taken place as seven feet.

In the sketch, the x-x, y-y, and z-z measurements appear to be from the trail to points below the trail, with x to be the furthest from the trail.

The investigators believe the attack occurred as Polio was coming down the trail, heading back toward the trail head. The investigators place the attack time about 9:30 pm, just at the end of civil twilight. The report lists "last light" as 9:24 pm. The Sunrise/Sunset tables Glacier National Park for May 3, 2026 list Sunset at 8:54:58 and End of Twilight at 9:29:02. pm. In mountainous terrain, atmospheric conditions and lighting from mountainsides and clouds mean those numbers can vary by several minutes. According to the report, the moon would not rise until 11:46 pm on May 3, 2026. Because the sky was mostly clear, the area would not have been completely dark. Light levels were low.

The temperature listed at West Glacier weather station was 58 degrees at 9:12 pm at an elevation of 3202 feet on May 3, 2026. The elevation where the attack occurred was over 2,000 feet higher, at about 5,300. The snow field was  only 800 feet above the attack site. The temperature at the attack site was likely lower than 58 degrees but above freezing. According to research done by Tom Smith on how temperatures affects bear spray, the reach of bear spray starts to be reduced at about 64 degrees F. Wind at West Glacier was light, at about 2 mph gusting to 7 mph. It is unknown what the wind was at the attack site when the bear attacked. As noted in the Tom Smith paper, wind can have a significant effect on bear spray.  We do not know what the temperature of the bear spray was when it was sprayed. The investigators were not able to determine if any bear spray contacted the attacking bear.

The distance from the claw marks to the trail, at 7 feet downhill, is remarkably similar to the distance at which Brian Murphy shot a grizzly bear which charged at him through bear spray on the same trail. That bear was also charging uphill, in 2014. In 2014, the .357 magnum shot stopped the bear when the bear spray did not. The estimated distance was 7-10 feet.

From 2003 to 2023, there were 211 independent grizzly bears which were killed in defense of human life in the lower 48, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2025. Those fatalities averaged 13 per year, or about .64% of the grizzly bear population per year. Grizzly bear populations can easily increase at 7% per year. Alaska harvests about 6% per year. A harvest of 15% a year may be sustainable. Grizzly bear populations in the lower 48 states continued to increase through the entire period. While not stated, it is reasonable to assume the vast majority of fatalities of grizzly bears in defense of human life occurred with the use of modern firearms. The Fish & Wildlife Service did not differentiate between types of instruments used to kill the grizzly bears in self defense in the cited report.

The IGBC Board of Review Report gives recommendations for bear safety. One of the things they continue to recommend is bear spray. They do not mention firearms or handguns at all. Handguns, when fired, have been shown to be more effective than bear spray, when sprayed. The latest bear spray statistics show about 90% effectiveness when sprayed. The latest handgun statistics show about 98% effectiveness when fired. Anthony Polio is the eleventh person recorded in North America as having been killed by a bear after bear spray was sprayed in defense. No human has been recorded as being killed by a bear in North America where a handgun was present and fired in self defense against a bear.

Analysis:  Anthony Polio had time to recognize a threat, draw and empty his can of bear spray. This is at least five seconds or more. He would have had time to draw and fire multiple shots from a modern handgun carried in a modern holster.  While it can never be known if a modern handgun would have saved him, the numbers show his chance of survival would have been improved.

©2026 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch  

After the victim had told Jordan to leave the property, Jordan followed the victim with a pickaxe and shoved it into his back, which caused him to fall to the ground. Jordan then stood over the victim, threatening to strike him, before the victim shot Jordan in self-defense, according to Sheriff Marceno.

Jordan and the victim declined to press charges; however, deputies responded to the property again on Wednesday after another incident between the two. After Wednesday's incident, the victim decided to press charges against Jordan for the Monday incident.

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The initial investigation indicates the shooter lives in a camper at the property. The man who was killed had stayed at the property but was no longer allowed to remain there, deputies said.

VSO said on Tuesday night, the man was found asleep in the laundry room of the house, leading to an argument and the initial trespassing call.

The shooter told investigators that the man advanced toward him despite warnings to back away or he would be shot. The shooter then fired several rounds.

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 U.S. v. Aleman-Lozanociting Vazquez-Ramirez, 163 F.4th at 719 (Bumatay, J., concurring) (quoting Clayton E. Cramer, Colonial Firearm Regulation, 16 J. on Firearms & Pub. Pol'y 1, 23 (2004) upholding bans on illegal aliens possessing arms.

U.S. v. Vasquez-Ramirez, 163 F.4th 706, 720, 721 (9th Cir. 2026)(Bumtay, J., concurring) upholding bans on illegal aliens possessing arms.

I am still thrilled to get my work cited. There are few pleasures in life; I take 'em where I can get them.

RX: "Popeye's in 'Goonland'."

Me: "That's why his forearms are so big."

Rules Of Engagement 100 Yards 5 Warm Up Sighters Allowed Best Ring Score – Center White Dot = 10X, Red =  10 Points, Blue = 5 Points, Outer white ring 1point, Highest Ring Score  No Time Limit Dayattherange 100 Supporting Manufacturers Prize Table — Creation Still Under Way Leaderboard Shooter Rifle and Ammo Score Comments […]