August marks the 10th annual National Shooting Sports Month, a month-long celebration of target shooting, marksmanship, safety and responsible firearms ownership. Coinciding with America`s 250th anniversary, this year`s theme, "Let Freedom Plink," encourages shooters of all experience levels to visit their local range and enjoy the traditions, camaraderie and freedom of the shooting sports.

It`s a great time to spend a day at the range practicing your marksmanship. Rifles, handguns, shotguns ... targets, clays ... shooting sports offer a great variety. If you`re an experienced shooter, this is a great time to teach a family member or friend some shooting skills.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) has ideas and resources for both new and experienced shooters at: https://www.letsgoshooting.org/
They are also offering free America 250 commemorative targets to download at: https://www.letsgoshooting.org/resources/articles/sweepstakes/celebrating-10-years-of-national-shooting-sports-month/
Information about the annual Range Challenge contest is available at: https://www.shootingsportsmonth.org/rangechallenge/

Photo: Whenever my grandkids visit, we get in some target practice. Here my grandson is shooting my M1 Carbine.
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#letsgoshooting #NationalShootingSportsFoundation #NationalShootingSportsMonth #americantradition #learntoshoot ...

It`s a dog ready for war!  This humorous photo was taken in 1939. German infantrymen dressed this German Shepherd up during some time away from the front lines. The rifle is a Mauser Karabiner 98k. The dog has a  Stielhandgranate (hand grenade) in his mouth and a standard issue steel helmet on his head. I hope they gave the dog a treat for posing.
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#dogsofwar #germangrenade #karabiner98k #militarydog #worldwars ...

Virginia`s founders would be pretty shocked to see what`s happening within the state`s politics today. "Virginia was the first of all the colonies to adopt a bill of rights. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, adopted in convention on June 12, 1776, held that all men "have certain inherent Rights," including "the Enjoyment of Life and Liberty, with the Means of...pursuing and obtaining...Safety....` Further, `a well regulated Militia, composed of the Body of the People, trained to Arms, is the proper, natural, and safe Defense of a free State....`

"George Mason, author of the Virginia Declaration, a year earlier had helped George Washington organize the Fairfax Independent Militia Company to counter the royal militia. Its members pledged to `constantly keep by us` a firelock, six pounds of gunpowder, and twenty pounds of lead."

From Halbrook, The Right to Bear Arms: A Constitutional Right of the People or a Privilege of the Ruling Class?, pgs. 147-148 (hardback edition).

Image: Citizen Militia 1774–1775 by Henry Alexander Ogden, commissioned by the U.S. Quartermaster Department, depicts the uniforms and equipment of America`s citizen militia on the eve of the Revolutionary War. The man in the blue coat, holding a flintlock musket, depicts a volunteer from Virginia`s Fairfax Independent Company.
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#virginiadeclarationofrights #georgemason #georgewashington #2ahistory #therighttobeararmshalbrook ...

"On September 1, 1939, Hitler launched World War II in Europe by invading Poland. For the first time, the world witnessed the tactics of blitzkrieg--lightning war--in which tanks would slice into and surround an enemy`s front and planes would swarm behind the enemy lines as mobile artillery. The Poles fought bravely, but within a week it was clear that strategic points of their front had been irreparably broken and their major units had been outmaneuvered by German armor.

"Despite the Nazi threat that had been evident for years, Poland was woefully unprepared for war. In some cases, orders to give out ammunition to riflemen or artillerymen had not been issued. In one telling incident, the commander of a unit found only enough cartridges to kill himself and his horse. Much of the Polish air force was caught by surprise and destroyed on the ground by German bombers. As the Wehrmacht closed in on Warsaw, already terror-bombed by the Luftwaffe, the Polish government surrendered. To preclude civilian resistance, the Nazis conducted house-to-house searches for arms. Persons found in possession of firearms in defiance of the invaders were executed."

From Halbrook, Target Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutrality in World War II, pgs. 77-78.

Photo source: nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/invasion-poland-september-1939

Target Switzerland is also available in the following translations:

Die Schweiz im Visier: Die bewaffnete Neutralität im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Verlage Novalis Schaffhausen/Rothenhäusler Stäfa, 1999. 2.Auflage 2000, Novalis Verlag, Schaffhausen. DOWNLOAD THIS BOOK FOR FREE ON MY WEBSITE.

La Suisse encerclée: La neutralité armée suisse durant la Deuxième Guerre mondiale. Editions Slatkine Genève, 2000.

La Svizzera nel mirino: La neutralità aramata della Svizzera nella seconda guerra mondiale. Coedizione Pedrazzini – Locarno/Alberti – Verbania, 2002.

Cel: Szwajcaria. Warszawa: Dom Wydawniczy Bellona, 2003.
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#WWIIhistory #invasionofpoland #Wehrmachthistory #firearmspossession #targetswitzerland ...

Continuing from yesterday`s post about Lord Percy, "At Lexington, Brigade Commander Lord Percy routed the Americans with cannon and musket fire, burning several houses to prevent militiamen from using them for cover. They dispersed the Americans sufficiently at Concord to execute search-and-seizure operations.

"The British had a map, prepared by one of their spies, showing suspected places where arms and stores were secreted, and they proceeded to search numerous farms and houses for the contraband. They discovered 500 pounds of musket balls and dumped them into the mill pond. Major Pitcairn seized and disabled a cannon, which Ephraim Jones, the town jailer and an innkeeper, had hidden; the major manhandled and threatened Jones and then ate breakfast at his inn, paying the tab. In other incidents, Concord`s women persuaded soldiers not to search certain rooms of houses where supplies were hidden. Most of the stores went undiscovered."

From Halbrook, The Founders` Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms, pgs. 77-78.

Image: "The Soldier`s Wife" by Henry E. Kidd
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#americanrevolution #thefounderssecondamendment #lexingtonandconcord #lordhughpercy #weaponssearch ...

"Lord Hugh Percy, of His Majesty`s forces,...wrote a letter on September 12 [1774], deploring that `the People here openly oppose the New Accts. They have taken up arms in almost every part of this Province, & have drove in the Govr & most of the Council.` Percy groused about his superior Gage: `The General`s great lenity and moderation serve only to make them more daring & insolent.` Percy then added:

" `What makes an insurrection here always more formidable than in other places, is that there is a law of this Province, wh[ich] obliges every inhabitant to be furnished with a firelock, bayonet, & pretty considerable quantity of ammunition. Besides wh[ich], every township is obliged by the same law to have a large magazine of all kinds of military stores.

" `They are, moreover, trained four times in each year, so that they do not make a despicable appearance as soldiers, tho` armed with firelocks, provided they only come in small nos.`

"Yet Gage was no pansy. He had already incensed the colonists by seizing large quantities of ammunition from the powder houses...."

From Halbrook, The Founders` Second Amendment: Origins of the Right to Bear Arms, pgs. 41-42.

Image: "Colonial Militia Scout" by Randy Steele.
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#americanrevolution #thefounderssecondamendment #2ahistory #lordhughpercy #generalgage ...

I wonder what tune she`s whistling as she confidently strides home with her rifle on her shoulder and dinner in hand.

Photo: This photograph most likely dates to the early 1940s.
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#rabbithunting #smallgamehunting #rabbithunter #womenthathunt #vintagehuntingphoto ...

In 1866, "Buffalo Soldiers," an all-Black army regiment, was formed to serve on the Western frontier. These men proved to be brave and dedicated as they worked to control Native American tribes of the Plains, catch cattle thieves, protect national parks, and protect settlers, travelers, and railroad crew, all in the Wild West. They fought in numerous wars including the Spanish American War and World Wars I and II. The Buffalo Soldier regiments were finally disbanded during the Korean War, when the U.S. military was desegregated.

It is said that the Native American tribes called these men "Buffalo Soldiers" because of their fierce way of fighting and their dark, curly hair.

Dr. John Morton-Finney (1889–1998) was a Buffalo Soldier who served with the 24th U.S. Infantry Regiment in the Philippines before fighting in France during WWI. An avid learner, he earned 11 academic degrees, including five in law. Once he became a lawyer, he did not retire until his 107th birthday and is believed to have been the oldest practicing attorney in the U.S.

President George H.W. Bush officially proclaimed July 28th as Buffalo Soldiers Day in 1992.

Photo: African American soldiers of the U.S. Army`s segregated 92nd Infantry Division (Buffalo Soldiers) walking past a disabled German Tiger I heavy tank on a road in Italy." (September 1944.) [warfarehistorynetwork.com]
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#BuffaloSoldier #BuffaloSoldiers #africanamericanhistory #wildwesthistory #blackamericanhistory ...