To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. Back Blast Back Blast & other hot gases Huh? Run That By Me Again! Commander Gilmore Y ou’ve seen it on the news: All this hogwash from the administration about how guns sold in American shops are destabilizing the government of Mexico. Then, both American and Mexican politicians go on to list items like select-fire rifles, RPGs and hand grenades as examples of the weapons seized. Yeah, sure — like you can stroll into a gun shop in the Southwest and buy 106mm recoilless rifles on layaway, hand grenades at $5.99 a pop or $30 for a six pack, with an RPG thrown in as a deal-sweetener, right? Here’s the latest. The day before President Obama’s April visit to Mexico, federal police there found and seized what was described as a truck-mounted, crewserved, anti-aircraft machine gun capable of firing 800 rounds per minute and accurately hitting targets 1,500 meters away. Yup, more evidence of American deer hunters’ weapons arming Mexico’s violent drug cartels. Sure sounds like a Ma Deuce .50 BMG to me. And, you know, I’ve always thought that was just too much gun for whitetails. Meanwhile, the real thugs — the drug lords south of the border — are laughing their full-auto heads off at the irony: The heavily regulated, microscopically inspected gun dealer gets the blame, and they sight in their full-auto weaponry on their fellow citizens. Illustration by Nick Petrosino Knowing there are frequent roadblockstyle robberies of buses in the Brazilian state of Bahia, 58-year-old passenger Ivonete Pereira tucked her roll of 10 and 20-real banknotes into the left cup of her bra. Sure enough, as the bus trundled through the tough Boca do Rio area, two armed dudes suddenly commenced a stop-an’-rob operation. Another passenger, a retired police sergeant, and a police officer who happened to roll up just as the robbery began, exchanged volleys of gunfire with the stickup men. A stray round smacked Pereira square in the left breast. Although the slug penetrated the lady’s cash roll, it barely had enough inertia left to embed itself in her breast. The doctor who removed the slug said it saved her life. Yeah, it saved her savings, too — she was allowed to exchange her mutilated money for fresh currency. Police in Campania, Italy, are investigating a sorta sensitive and ticklish crime: an alleged assault and battery where the suspects are a middle-aged priest and two 83-year-old nuns. 24 JULY 2009 A Different Kind Of Body Armor Fighting Back Against Nuns Restaurant owner Aniello Esposito told officers he arrived at his business to find the priest and two elderly nuns smashing plates, glassware and furniture. When he tried to stop them, he said, the priest walloped him with a chair, and the sisters began kicking him viciously while he was on the ground. He suffered bruises to his neck and abdomen, and was taken to a hospital. He also suffered from a severe conflict of ethics: When your attackers are “holy persons” among a devoutly religious population, ummm, can you fight back? The physical conflict arose, it seems, from a dispute over Esposito’s use of the property. The mother superior of the convent said the nuns were removing furniture because Esposito was “in illegal possession” of the property. Esposito said he leased the space from the convent, but problems began when they learned he was issuing receipts to his customers and keeping records of sales — and, he said, they wanted the business operated “under the table.” If you don’t have the police manpower to get the job done, the smart thing to do is call in a Hollywood star, right? Huh! Yeah, that’s Big Bad Brad our reaction, also. But what do we know? Russian police in the city of Omsk have recruited Brad Pitt to help reduce traffic accidents. The thinking? Why, Pitt has all that experience chasing down bad guys, destroying international spies and attracting women. (We just threw that last one in. Sorry.) According to the Russian newspaper Argumenty I Fakty (does that last word look a lot like “flaky,” or is it just me looking for a fight?), police officials are counting on Pitt’s star power to slow traffic in the Siberian city. Omsk officials have placed cardboard cutouts of Pitt (we always knew Hollywood stars were shallow) dressed as a traffic cop at the city’s most dangerous intersections. The actor’s star power, the thinking goes, will slow traffic. And — we hate saying this — it appears to be working. Omsk officials report that traffic accidents have dropped as heavy-footed drivers ease off the gas pedal to catch a glimpse of the Hollywood star. We haven’t seen any follow-on stories of the number of Pitt cardboard cutouts that have been stolen. Bet we do. “Tanya, quick. Who is that man standing with Nikta in her apartment? It can’t be! Why, it’s Brad Pitt dressed as a traffic cop!” 9 Read SI DIGITAL www.shootingindustry.com