If You Get The Outdoor Channel...

If you subscribe to the Outdoor Channel (or have a friend who does), you will want to see the Best Defense tonight. It will feature their mass casualty event reenactment modeled on the Paris music hall terrorist attack. The goal was to find ways for you to survive such an event.

I don't have the Outdoor Channel but I understand that the show will eventually be rebroadcast on their new My Outdoor TV (Shooting Gallery Online) digital network.

From Michael Bane:

THE BEST DEFENSE: MASS CASUALTY EVENT TO PREMIER THIS WEDNESDAY, 28 SEPTEMBER, ON OUTDOOR CHANNEL, 8:00 PM Eastern

Link to video teaser: https://www.facebook.com/downrangetv/videos/10157497065140635/?pnref=story

Masonville, CO — The two scariest words in the English language are “what it?” There have been a dozen terror attacks in the United States in 2016; “what if” you or your family are trapped in the worst case you can imagine?

Award-winning producers of THE BEST DEFENSE, Michael Bane and Jeff Murray, decided to tackle that question head on in a compelling, and terrifying, special premiering on OUTDOOR CHANNEL at 8:00 PM ET Wednesday, September 28, encoring November 2 (Time to be announced).

“‘What if’ is a simple question with a hellish answer,” said Bane. “Literally days before the San Bernardino attacks, Jeff and I began discussing an idea to create the most realistic terrorist attack simulation possible, then use the tools we’ve developed in THE BEST DEFENSE over multiple seasons to help people survive.”   

The producers’ number one goal was to create a scenario so realistic that it was hard to turn away. Working from the basics of the Paris concert hall attacks, Bane and Murray reached out to both law enforcement and military counterterrorism experts and trainers who studied mass casualty events, THE BEST DEFENSE training team of Mike Seeklander and Michael Janich, paramedics specializing in first response and even renowned mental health experts to build the scenario and capture as much as possible the reality of being trapped in a mass casualty attack.

“We made the decision to use FX to make the scenario more realistic,” Bane said. “We were lucky enough to have the help of the Larimer County (CO) SWAT team and local paramedics. The Mass Casualty Event is certainly the most complex sim I’ve ever been involved with.”

A film team headed by award-winning documentarian Brandon Green shot the whole event in ultra-high resolution 4K. Green worked with the FX team to make every shot fired as realistic as possible.

“Essentially, this is the most ‘vetted’ scenario we could build. Every move, every action taken is based in reality and run through some of the most knowledgeable experts in the world,” Bane said. “Even the crowd reaction is based on cutting edge research from Dr. William Aprill…as each ‘extra’ arrived, that person was given a card explaining how he or she should react when the attack started. We were lucky enough to have Michael Janich’s highly trained cadre of martial arts experts to create an even more realistic sim. In fact, our main ‘terrorist’ served in the Israeli Defense Force as a sniper and Master Breacher, and is an expert in counterterrorism techniques.” 

On-screen experts, in addition to the TBD Team of Seeklander and Janich, include Ken Hackathorn, considered one of the top firearms trainers in the world; Gabe Suarez, probably the most experienced trainer in studying and dissecting mass casualty events and teaching civilian response; Dr. Dan Olesnicky, SWAT team physician, a first responder in terrorist events and one of the leading trainers of tactical medicine; Dr. William Aprill of Aprill Risk Consulting, considered the national expert on criminal and terrorist mindset; former SEAL Jimmy Graham, who also served as Lead Instructor for elite Federal Government Protective details in high risk environments and presently heads up the Active Shooter Response Training Center in the Denver area.

“Our team is tremendously proud of this effort, and we thank OUTDOOR CHANNEL for putting this information in front of so many people,” Bane said. “Since we began planning for this special, there have been 12 terrorism events in the United States and literally one a day around the world. We believe this information is critical, and we hope our viewers never have to use it.”

Say It Ain't So

News stories are linking one of the firearms used by ISIS in their Paris terror attacks to Century International Arms. The serial number of a Zastava M92 pistol recovered by French police matches that of one that Serbia-based Zastava Arms Factory exported to Century International in 2013.

From the Boston Herald:

Milojko Brzakovic of the Zastava arms factory told The Associated Press that the M92 semi-automatic pistol's serial number matched one his company delivered to an American online arms dealer in May 2013. It was not clear how the gun got back to Europe.

At least seven of the weapons used or discovered after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris have been identified as being produced by the Serbian factory located in Kragujevac, in central Serbia. Most were manufactured before Yugoslavia broke up in a civil war in the 1990s and most of those are modified versions of the Soviet AK-47, or Kalashnikov.

Brzakovic said all the guns were delivered legally but could have later found their way into illegal channels.

"One was delivered to Bosnia in 1983, one to Skopje, Macedonia in December 1987, one to Golubici, near Knin (Croatia) in 1988, one to Zagreb (Croatia) 1987," he said.

He said the M92 pistol "is a semi-automatic weapon, a hunting and sporting weapon ... it cannot fire barrage fire, only single shots ... which are legal in America."

Century International can't confirm whether or not the weapon in question was sold by them to a FFL.

A Delray Beach-based arms importer can't confirm whether one of its guns was used in the Paris terror attacks, but it is cooperating with investigators, company officials said in a statement released Friday.

Century Arms officials say they are unable to confirm that an M92 semi-automatic pistol it sold was found at the scene of the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 130 people.

"Century has an active and vibrant training and compliance program," the statement read that was posted on the company's website. "The company abides by all federal, state and local laws and regulations. Century expects the firearms it ships to licensed firearms dealers in the United States to be sold in strict compliance with the law."

While Zastava says their records are accurate and that they have records going back 50 years where each and every firearm they produced was sent, all I'll say is that it is still the Balkans. Gun running is a national hobby.

Imported firearms sold by Century International will have a mark somewhere on that firearm stating it was imported by them. I have a few older surplus rifles that came by way of Century and they all have Century's markings on them. One of the frequent criticisms made by crufflers about Century is that their markings are too distinct and too visible. I would imagine modern arms imported by Century are no different. 

To paraphrase Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Jerry Maguire, show me the mark!

One thing we know for sure if it was actually shipped in 2013 then it couldn't have been part of Operation Fast and Furious. Thank goodness for small favors.

You Can't Make This Sh@% Up

It seems that the Demanding Moms for Illegal Mayors got a little ahead of themselves here and had to delete the tweet below.

Our hearts are with the victims and survivors of the horrific mass shooting and violent attacks in Paris today. pic.twitter.com/vMs5jkH9vI

— Moms Demand Action (@MomsDemand) November 13, 2015

Mass shooting? Nice dumbing down of a terrorist attack there, Shannon.

I guess if France had universal background checks then these ISIS terrorists couldn't have obtained their full-auto AK-47s. Oh, wait, you have to have a firearms license which includes a psychological examination, criminal background check, and a defined purpose for having a firearm before you can even possess a firearm.

Those full-auto AKs? Illegal for civilians to possess. I guess terrorists don't play by the rules. Funny how that works.