That's it.

I'm going to write a book.

My target demographic will be People Who Bought Vista.

The title will be: "So, You Paid To Be A Beta-Tester".

Reality: Glocks and KTW bullets

This is excerpted from my little version of the Blackhand's Weapons Guide for the cyberpunk-genre Roleplaying system that I've written up.

You see, it actually annoyed me that most RPG publishers don't seem to know a damned thing about firearms when they write a game (The 2nd Edition Players Guide for Vampire: The Masquerade stated that the B.A.R. is a popular hunting rifle. Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot-Hotel?), and this results in some head-scratching among gamers who actually know something about guns.

Anyway, to the article:

There are several misconceptions – most of which were created and perpetuated by the media – about firearms and ammunition; many role-playing games don’t bother with realism in regards to these things, and especially firearms.

The whole idea that a Glock pistol can be passed through an x-ray and metal-detector was an assumption by a journalist that, because the outer casing of the gun was comprised of plastic polymer, then the feed mechanism, barrel and chamber must have also been made of the stuff. Since this journalist made this folly speculation in a time where anti-gun opinions were at a peak, many peoples’ “personal safety” alarms went off, and the rest is media history.

The real story behind “cop killer” Teflon coated bullets: “In 1966, the coroner of Lorain County, Ohio, Dr. Paul Kopsch, Sgt. Daniel Turcus, Jr., of the Lorain Police Dept., and Dr. Kopsch's special investigator, Donald Ward, decided that armor-piercing handgun cartridges could be sold to those police departments or officers that either lacked rifles or might be interested in testing special-purpose handgun ammunition. Major factories had produced such ammunition for the police for years, but interest was minimal, accounting for low sales and little attempt at improvement. Kopsch, Turcus and Ward easily succeeded in making a round that out-penetrated the tame old factory offerings.

Their original KTW bullet centered around a case-hardened steel core. Even at standard velocities, this core would obviously hold its shape and drill through automobiles, cinder blocks and other materials likely to defeat conventional police handgun loads. This was literally the core of the solution, but presented difficulties. The hard core would not take rifling and would ruin the bore. A gliding-metal jacket with full teflon coating took care of this. The round gave good penetration but poor accuracy at long range.” – Excerpt from The American Rifleman, February 1989

Anyway, the ammunition was strictly only for sale to police departments and security agencies, and it was highly unlikely that criminals could get their hands on the stuff. The entire purpose for the Teflon was only to protect the rifling; nothing more. What’s more, not many people knew the ammo even existed.
It was the media that dreamed up the idea that the Teflon acted as an armor-piercing agent (apparently ignoring the fact that the polymer is wrapped around a steel projectile).

“Then, in January 1982, a dramatic change occurred. KTW got national, prime-time television coverage in NBC's "Cop Killer Bullets." Law enforcement officials had pled with NBC to drop the sensational coverage of the virtually unknown bullets lest they come to the attention of criminals. NBC not only refused, but rebroadcast the show six months later. Then the print media joined in.”

This caused all sorts of mass-hysteria, ridiculously vague “anti-copkiller bullet” legislation, and the myth that survives to this day.
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This should clear things up for the ill-informed that still believe these two sad fallacies, and if I missed something, feel free to leave a comment.

Why I'm glad I no longer work for an ISP.

For those of you who don't know, Indiana seems to be having some trouble with their connectivity.

I feel for you, RiffRaff.

I actually have a profile now.

There, I actually filled in the blanks on my profile. 'Kay, ya happy now?

Oh, for the love of...

As this thread proves, a simple act by one disturbed twit brings out the worst in the great Intarwebs' ID10Ts.

Gentlemen! Behold!

Greetings. In the world where myriad pointless websites posted by John Q. PEBKAC about his lovely family and their dog have given way to even more pages where random people yammer about their day-to-day lives, I have hereby decided that it would be fun to contribute to the problem.

I'll be using this as a place to go on about my various gaming exploits, and occasional technical frustrations (or any tech humor that I encounter while I'm at work).

Also, I'll be posting any interesting information about my various gaming projects. Yes, I've been writing games since I knew how to roll a die and, in truth, this trend isn't likely to die anytime soon.


My genre interests are primarily Cyberpunk and fantasy (and I do in fact play Shadowrun from time to time), with a few of my projects straying into other areas to break the monotony.

I have a tactical starship board game that I've written, somewhat akin to Star Fleet Battles - meets - the tactical play simulation of Master Of Orion II. I've kept the game deliberately generic, for an atmosphere somewhat like Full Thrust by Ground Zero Games.

If anything that I ramble about seems to pique your interest, please feel free to leave a comment.

Jack the sound barrier. Bring the noise.