The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods

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SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods— 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. Today, we look at New Zealand’s Gun Confiscation Failure.  But first, a brief book review.

Freehold Resistance — A Great Read!

Ads most SurvivalBlog readerts know, Michael Z. Williamson is our volunteer Editor At Large. I finally got the chance to finish reading his latest sci-fi anthology, titled Freehold Resistance.  It is set on the planet Grainne (spoken “Grahn-ya”), two hundred years after it’s colonization. This is a rousing collection of short stories, all written from different perspectives about an interstellar invasion attempting to bring a “rogue” world under United Nations control. Be forewarned that there is some crude language and of course description of combat, so this book is not for kids. This is the ninth book in Mike’s Freehold series, but you don’t need to have read the others to enjoy reading this book. The book was released late last year, and is a popular seller. It includes short stories by  Larry Correia, Michael Z. Williamson, Brad R. Torgersen, Mike Massa, Kacey Ezell, Robert E. Hampson, Aaron Haskins, John F. Holmes, Marisa Wolf, Justin Watson, Jason Cordova, Jamie Ibson, Jessica Schlenker, Christopher Dinote, Rob Reed, Chris Smith, Jaime DiNote, and Philip Wohlrab. These stories are cleverly interspersed in a way that carries along the underlying tale of a war of resistance to an occupying force. I believe that this anthology will be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys military fiction–especially folks with a libertarian bent, or anyone with an interest in resistance warfare. There is definitely a lot of “food for thought” in the pages of Freehold Resistance!

New Zealand’s Gun Confiscation Failure

Reader T.B. sent us this news from New Zealand: Total Failure: Gun Confiscation Reached 13% Compliance. JWR’s Comments:  Here we have a Socialist Nanny State government, at its worst:  Governments tax our money, using coercive force, and then they take away our birthright, with more coercive force. And once they’ve disarmed us, they will feel free to use as much coercive force as they please, to ramrod the rest of their collectivist hive mind agenda. Why? Because they will then have a monopoly on coercive force. Comprende?  Here is an excerpt:

“It turns out that New Zealand didn’t fall for the lie, because the official numbers are now in.

33,619 hand-ins were processed and 56,250 firearms were confiscated. Assuming these were all by licensed owners, about 12% of the country’s LFOs participated.

6,250 guns were handed-in without compensation as part of the amnesty programme.

Only 63% of the remaining 50,000 were centrefire semi-automatics—that’s 31,500.

When I ran the numbers in early September, I established that Gun City estimated there were at a minimum 185,000 centrefire semi-automatic firearms in the country, and according to the National Party there were 240,000. The first is based on extrapolated sales data and the later might be based on some figures from Customs. The government has not released any official numbers.

That gives a final 13% to 17% compliance rate on the targeted firearms.

OK, that was a fail, but what about those scary “Military-Style Semi Automatics” (MSSAs)? Of the 15,037 registered prior to the confiscation, 9,532 were handed-in. That’s 63% “off the streets”, the rest of the owners have applied for exemptions. The MSSA category also used to include some .22s due to their aesthetic configuration, and this is where the new legislation has a silver lining: all .22 MSSAs are now fully legal on a standard firearms license. They’re being imported by the crateload and flying off the shelves.”

Weeks Alone in Remote Alaska Wilderness After Cabin Burns Down

Reader Jim L. was the first of several readers to send this: Man survives weeks in remote Alaska wilderness after cabin burns down, writes ‘SOS’ in snow.

Edward Snowden: How Your Cell Phone Spies on You

A fascinating interview on the Joe Rogan show: Edward Snowden: How Your Cell Phone Spies on You.  JWR’s Comments: This underscores why I shun social media and why I’m so insistent on never buying a smartphone. I do own a “dumb” phone with a removable battery. That is a pre-paid Tracfone that I only use when I travel. I consider my environs fully “bugged” and consider myself fully tracked whenever that phone has its battery inserted. Even owning that phone is a compromise to my privacy, but I see it as a necessary evil.

A Review of Military Knives & Bayonets

A history primer video by IV8888: Military Cutlery of the World

FBI Reports Record Number of NICS Checks

The Washington Examiner had this headline: Record gun sales checks in 2019, NICS at all-time high: FBI. Here is a pericope:

“FBI gun background checks, linked closely to weapons sales, recorded the second-highest month ever in December, propelling 2019’s count to the most since the National Instant Criminal Background Check System began in 1998.

The agency said Monday morning that it recorded 28,369,750 background checks in 2019, a 3% jump over the last record set in 2016.

In December, there were 2,936,894 NICS checks, the second-highest month ever.

The 2016 record, pushed high in part because gun control advocate Hillary Rodham Clinton was expected to beat President Trump, was not expected to be steamrolled this year.

But gun shops around the nation saw a surge in sales because of highly publicized shootings, cheap prices, and an increase in states eager to impose controls on sales, bans, and even confiscations of weapons.

Overall, NICS checks were up 831,077 over 2016. The system conducts background checks for those buying weapons and seeking carry permits.”

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You can send your news tips to JWR. (Either via e-mail of via our Contact form.) Thanks!


21 Comments

  2. It is worse than that. Facebook tracks you even if you don’t have an account. One of the top blocked sites in my NextDNS.io is “graph.facebook.com”. The F icon, web bugs (1×1 totally transarent pixel “images”) and other things are building a cyber dossier on you. Since my job is computers, I have to be online.

      2. Not actually a myth. When I had to get a new Samsung for work, the seller told me right up front that this newest upgrade

        ‘can never be actually totally turned off, and the user cannot remove the battery. Even when turned off using the control screens this design still pings cell towers which do track this phone using the battery.’

        Forewarned is forearmed. I simply don’t carry this phone certain places, and intentionally carry it to others to plant data I want to get into the system database.

        I got a second, burner phone from Walmart for 60 bucks and unlimited voice and texting on it for 28 bucks a month. It you must have a phone, it is a cheap way to go and doesn’t get nearly the data mining activity and marketing the smart phones are subjecting us to. And it has a removable battery.

        1. Yes there is malware that can be used to make it appear that your phone is turned off but is actually still on. But as I said when your cell phone is turned “off” it cannot be tracked.

          It is also possible that a phone can be manufactured to keep part of the circuitry active even when turned off; that is the concern with Huawei and part of the reason the U.S. is banning them.

          There were a few older phones that would still check for SMS messages every ten minutes when turned off. Very unlikely anyone still has one of these

          If you think that someone deemed you so important that they went to the trouble of infecting your phone with malware so that it wouldn’t turn of there is a simple test for this. Fully charge it, shut it off for a month and power it up and check the charge; should be 100% If it is a lot less then maybe the NSA is tracking you.

          A better way is to get some test equipment and to check for any signal coming from your phone when it is turned of.

          1. Already tested this Galaxy 9. When transmitting, while fully :turned off” it makes two different radios buzz….my BaoFeng, and an old plug-in AM FM.

            No Malware except what was designed and built in.

            Like I said, the sales lady told me right up front.

  5. A necessary evil: God how I hate that phrase. I understand it. I’m subjected to it. I’m also subject to it as well but it is simply terrible in it’s ruthless assessment of the situation. We are all chattel in a world of necessary evil and willful disregard. It can be utterly depressing and it you let it, soul crushing. What does one do? Endeavor to persevere. Rise and stand. Do not give up. Do not give in. Learn and educate. Grow and give. Be the light that holds the darkness at bay.

    See the world as it is and work to make it as it should be.

    1. Wow, inventive on the part of the mom, but she’ll rightfully be getting locked up for it! The cop should also sue her for everything she has once she is convicted. I actually think this is a good thing, it shows another example of how these laws are a farce. Maybe it’ll move some people towards reconsidering (but I doubt it).

    2. How many cop murders are not “justified?”,why would the Mother be prosecuted? He killed someone with a firearm,should happen to most cops(criminal psycopath thugs with badges) when they commit crimes under cover of “authority”.

  7. Protection/restraining orders are the most abused (well maybe domestic violence complaints is more abused) legal fantasies. Anyone can file for an RO and the accused is forced to prove their innocence while the accuser is under no similar demand for proof. Once a RO is issued it all becomes worse in that your rights are taken from you and even an accidental or inadvertent infringement can put you in jail. I would argue that it is unconstitutional on it’s face.

  11. I used to build cell phone equipment for a major company. Some phones cannot be turned off from the factory and many apps today prevent it. We used a frequency counter to test for signal as well as data test sets. We tested employee phones for extra credit and were surprised to find that unknown people had access to some phones and could control their functions. It gets creepy real fast when you find out that you’re not alone. Keeping your phone in a Faraday cage or removing the battery will stop the signal coming in as well as out.

    Educate, equip, be active in working to save our country….pray.

  12. AFAIK IV8888: Military Cutlery Video is not very precise and accurate, especially in the history of the Bajonett and others.
    Guns were used without the Option to attach blades and the first bajonett was plugged in the Barrel of the gun some after the Thirty years war in this war as well as the english civil war etc, musketeers would be pritected by pikemen.
    btw when he says pike i think he means a spear.

    The german Military pocket knife isn´t a west german , when i served we were issued it´s predecessor after the re unification.
    The Thing on italian pocket knife is i believe a can opener

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