Credibility and gun blogs
I’m not a technical gun expert. I’m not a competitive shooting expert. I’m not a self-defense expert. I’m not a gun law expert. I’m not a gun history expert. In fact, I’m not an expert on just about anything I blog about. The few things I am actually an expert on consist of accounting, finance, accounting information systems, building spec houses, and I’m an expert on stuff Chance likes. And, frankly, all of those except the last one are boring and no one would read a blog about them. So, when it comes to experts on this stuff, I know some and defer to them. For instance, for people who know gun laws, I’d probably hit up this guy or this guy. For competition, this guy. For history and general knowledge, this girl. Training, probably this guy. General self-defense, this guy. I could go on naming names but the point is I know who to take seriously and, while I appreciate the input of others, I’m inclined to go with who I know over unknowns.
The fact is, I’m not an operator operating in operations operationally. I’m no where close to operatingest*. And most people on the internet are also not operators. I’m guessing the number of actual operators who post operations on the internet is about zero since operators spend all their time operating.
I’m someone who does other stuff and happens to like guns, carry guns, and mess around with wizbang tactical gizmos. It’s fun. A hobby. It also has the benefit of saving my or someone else’s life some day. Mostly, I’m just a guy who says smart ass things on the internet. And I make a little ad money from it.
Point is, be careful who you listen to out there. I’m no expert, but I’ve encountered this before.
* Told you I was stealing that.
June 11th, 2013 at 11:04 pm
The first two paragraphs – I am none of those either. The third paragraph describes me well and is the reason I enjoy your blog and follow it every day.
The only ‘operations’ I’ve been on are to locate and extract a Marie Calendars pot pie from a hostile freezer and eventually give it a ‘Tango Down’.
You, sir, have an excellent blog for the average gunny that wants a break from the high speed low drag crap and I hope you don’t change a thing.
June 12th, 2013 at 2:31 am
Hey, I’m an operator… it’s right in my Army job title, “heavy construction equipment operator.”
June 12th, 2013 at 6:35 am
Fred, some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they’ve made a difference. One bad morning as a heavy equipment operator, and you’ll never have that problem…
June 12th, 2013 at 11:37 am
But, wait – didn’t TTAG get an award from SAF?
June 12th, 2013 at 10:29 pm
I’ve seen several news stories lately about people becoming dumber, & I’m inclined to agree. “Common sense” should simply be called “sense” — it certainly isn’t widespread. It amazes me that anyone would think that taking Roscoe out of his garage while in the crapper is anything except a shitty idea.
Yeah, I went there.
June 17th, 2013 at 3:54 pm
I once told Evyl Robot “I’m not a high-speed/low-drag operator kicking doors in Kandahar Province: I’m worried about someone attacking me in a parking lot, or breaking into my home, or- in extreme- some jihadi-minded idiot deciding to do it in the restaurant where I’m eating. So while it’s very nice hearing “Delta issues this!” or “Rangers buy this!” or whatever, it doesn’t necessarily mean much for covering my needs.
Except in daydreams, of course.