Buried in an LA Times Entertainment section article about two dead former Navy Seals is some interesting news about the Maersk Alabama, the ship that was attacked by Somali pirates (not pictured above) in 2009 and featured in the movie “Captain Phillips.” In the last paragraph of the article, it’s casually mentioned that the same ship was attacked three more times in the next two years . . .
From the LA Times:
But while Phillips’ story — and by extension, “Captain Phillips” — had a happy ending, the Maersk Alabama has not been so fortunate, facing further pirate assaults in recent years. The ship was attacked a second time in 2009, again in 2010 and yet again in 2011. Each time, though, the assailants were repelled by armed security forces.
So the ship went from being defenseless in early 2009 to having armed guards ready and able to repel sea-faring marauders. In the first instance, the ship is taken over and the captain taken hostage, requiring the U.S. military to intervene. That, of course, famously concluded with the the pirates being dispatched and the rescue of Captain Phillips.
In the next three situations, the armed guards repelled the pirates before they could board the ship. A better result for everyone concerned (except, of course, the pirates). Funny that we end up reading news like this about successful armed self defense in the Entertainment section of a paper discussing the movie made about the original incident.
(H/T David Codrea)
©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Gun Watch
“If we let the peasants know that armed defense actually works, who knows what could happen!” -Generic Shady Hollywood types.
Now that’s a gun I could have fun with. 54r is still cheap and plentiful. grumble, ca, sigh, nfa.
What are those 4 rules everyone keeps telling me about?
http://www.somalicruises.com/index.php
That is hysterical and disturbing. I liked it so much I had to call my brother.
That was hilarious!
I’ll take a PKM for $30,000, Alex.
Wtf? We can’t point out truckasaurus hands when we see them?
I believe good progress on the piracy issue could be made through a combination of Q-Ships and Private Maritime Contractors operating under Letters of Marque.
“Letters of Marque and Reprisal” have gone so sadly out of fashion. Francis Drake was my elementary school hero, and still seems an admirable exemplar of an old-school Englishman.
It is the Reprisal we need a bit more of. I assume SEALs are suitable for the purpose? Don’t they blow up ships?
As for the LA Times, what can be expected of them? Were a stalker to threaten a beauty and simply get shot, a brief story, who could sell it? But let that stalker nearly succeed three times. Let him fool the beauty through the use of a disguise, only to have his plan interrupted by the appearance of the beauty’s dangerous lover. Allow the beauty to slowly grow from a frail and fearful object into an angry vengeance-seeking vixen with a pistol and a trap…and you have a movie. Hollywood. But the great French directors also insisted on a longer ride.
Illegal to carry on campus in Ohio, which is basically 75% of my whole day. Doesn’t mean I don’t carry a knife (also illegal but no one cares) or some FOX. Carry when I can in public and at home, otherwise use situational awareness and hope no one decides to go postal.
I don’t carry because I can’t buy a handgun from an FFL until I’m 21, and carrying a shotgun or a rifle around would be a pain in the ass. T minus two years and two months, give or take.
I am getting my CCW. I did not carry before I got gray hairs, largely because I felt that, as a black man who tends to be in more well-to-do neighborhoods more often than not, I would be less safe when carrying. When I was younger, I got stopped by cops for various things, and they’d always go shining lights in the car and being intimidating and such. I’ve been asked if I had a weapon, and the answer was no. Things were fine, I went along on my way. I always felt that things may not have gone as well had the answer been yes, or if there had been evidence of arms in the car. Now that I am older, I think the risks from criminals are higher than the risk from cops. But the police were always my biggest concern when it came to carrying.
I live in Ohio and while I greatly enjoy guns and shooting, i don’t care to hunt. Think it’s a positive thing, etc., it’s just not for me . My wife and I have been fortunate enough to own a fairly large piece of deer and turkey land, and any and all who ask are welcome to hunt. Recently leasing outfits have been trying to get us to sign up, not interested. My point here is: when Sunday hunting was not permitted, we personally liked it, because there was one day a week that we could walk, ride, or let our dogs run free, and feel a little less likely to be involved in an accident, or accidentally ruin some guys turkey or deer setup he had worked on all morning.just a different way of looking at it
Gun Control is as American as Jim Crow. Fixed it for him.
I wonder if the defence was prosecuted by
peasantssailors, or by armed guards?If the latter, they are professionals – and therefor it’s alright for them to be armed, unlike we little people.
Time for the Q-Ship to make its resurgence. Surplus Maxson mounts would be a good start.
I’ll give the only contrary opinoin so far. Having shot the .357 LCR and owned Ruger SP101s (and S&W Model 60s), I find the steel guns are superior in every way. They are durable and reliable. None of the odd-ball glitches that some people have encountered with the LCR. Sorry, but from an engineering standpoint a polymer, aluminum, and steel gun is just not as strong or reliable as an all steel gun of the same dimensions. Over time there will be tolerance difficulites and thermal expansion problems when dissimilar materials are mated, pinned, and sleeved.
The SP101 with eat .357 Magum rounds all day, and your whole life, if you are up to it. The many SP101 aftermarket grips give your whole hand something to grip to tame the recoil (available in rubber, nylon or wood). The available LCR grips are all (so far) too small and uncomforatable. The SP101 can take years of shooting 38 +P and .357 with no failures, and regular 38 Special is just easy, pleasant, and fun to shoot at the range. The shorter barrel of the LCR magnifies muzzle blast. The SP101 is a simple mechanism that can be taken apart and easily tuned to have as good a trigger as the Smith or LCR. A shim kit and replacing the hammer spring will do it for $20. Light polising of the internals will make it even better. You are advised by Ruger not to take the LCR apart.
Hey , we are only talking about 10 ounces of extra weight here. That’s not much more than the weight of the coffee you drank this morning. In a properly-designed, and supsended holster the difference is barely noticeable. But hat 10 ounces of steel makes a huge difference in controlling recoil.
But Lots of people have poor, limp holsters, or due to body shape really need to wear wearing suspenders with a gun belt. I think that the latter is the reason so many people want a super light gun. If your belt is at an angle due to a “muffin top” your 25 ounce gun is going to tilt outward and feel uncomfortable. Losing wieght puts the belt vertical, where it needs to be.
And if you LIKE to shoot and go to the range every few months, what are you going to enjoy shooting? A steel gun that you can shoot single action or double action, with all types of ammo, or the LCR? And would you feel comfortable carrying the LCR with .357s hiking with your family, say if you had an encounter with a mountain lion or black bear?
The LCR is for people who want a gun to shoot very little and not have to notice the weight at all. If you like to shoot and can afford it, buy a GP100 ( or comparable Smith) for home defense and target shooting, a 3″ SP101 or Model 60 for hiking, and a LCR for daily carry. But if you can only afford one $400 revolver to do everything , buy an SP101 in 2.25″ or 3″ – the shorter barrel if you want more concealability and the longer barrel if you want to occasionally carry concealed but also have more fun target shooting.
Gee do you think I could have a Hot dog in Virginia on a Sunday or is that activity banned too.Wait,? Is Bloomberg there ? This sounds a lot like the ” No 32 oz surgery drink” law.How ( excuse the Sunday reference) on this God’s earth does the east let these politicians into power? I understand California cause they all came from the Liberal side of the East coast,and moved to the West for the weather.So they moved from Stupiderville to just plain Stupidville ,so they could relax and enjoy the weather.But Both coasts suffer from a rare disease that comes in off the Atlantic and the Pacific.Maybe you have heard of it? It’s called ; STUPID FOG!
“But while Phillips’ story — and by extension, “Captain Phillips” — had a happy ending, the Maersk Alabama has not been so fortunate, facing further pirate assaults in recent years. The ship was attacked a second time in 2009, again in 2010 and yet again in 2011. Each time, though, the assailants were repelled by armed security forces.”
I fail to see how the three subsequent attacks being repulsed were not also “happy endings”. More-so, in fact, as they required far fewer resources and mess than the first attack….
In my experience, an investigating officer would like to get all the facts and evidence in a nice package to forward to the DA as soon as he can. He doesnt like loose ends or incomplete portions of the case, as those thing can come back and be his problem.
Unless he has some reason to like or dislike you compared to the others involved, I wouldnt expect him to go out of his way to make you look bad. On the other hand, you might want to point out facts for him to include that support your DGU assertion. If you dont at the incident, it may become a loose end that may or may not be collected later.
If you are booked into jail, you will be asked as to your medical needs. make sure they are fully advised of your specific needs, since they dont know your needs. The jail will send you to the hospital if they are not satisfied you are healthy enough to be housed, not because they are looking out for you, but because failure to care for a prisoner is low hanging fruit for a lawsuit.
Fortunately, that is why we have a separation of church and state. Freedom of religion is all we get out of government, not legislature based around one religion or another’s “Sabbath”.
I don’t carry because in line in NY state >:(
Pirate attacks have plummeted to nearly zero in the wake of (pun intended) ships taking on armed security guards.
Simple solution: shoot them out of the water before they can climb aboard.
Arming merchant ships even in the name of security and self-protection is fraught with all kinds of standing international law violations.
I’m not exactly a legal scholar, so someone help me out here…since when does in loco parentis apply to adults?
In any case, this is a typical anti-gun civilian disarmament screed:
Deadwood-like mind-set
in case some brigand with evil intent sits in front of you in a movie theater
frothing gun rights groups
won’t be satisfied until all newborns from Panama City to Key West are issued a TEC-9
shoot people just for the heck of it
gun-toting poltroons
College campuses are strictly institutions for the liberal indoctrination of our youth. I don’t know what this asshat is talking about, wide open interactions? Try interacting with your political science professor about your pro-life stance and see where that gets you.
Quit reading after a paragraph and a half. Too inane for me.
This guy is a mega anti-gun liberal, one of this recent columns where he oppose a gun range being built in Tarpon Springs he wrote:
“The Reload Gun Range calls for a 57,533-square-foot building that will house 45 various shooting ranges from 100 yards all the way down to 15-yard distances for gun-happy Floridians to hone their “stand your ground” skills bumping off teenagers playing music too loudly or feloniously walking through apartment complexes armed with ice tea and Skittles, or perhaps exacting justice on people who — with full premeditation — dare to text their child’s babysitter while sitting in a movie theater.”
The reason to oppose this is clear; buying these firearms will give material aid and support to the anti-gun movement. Making grabbers rich will not help the cause of 2a freedom, despite what this owner apparently thought.