Sobre los PROTOCOLOS

contains three types of filling: 1) A series of baffles through which the hot propellant gas passes before exiting the silencer. 2) A wire mesh screen. 3) Some combination of the two, i.e., baffles and screen.

Proponents of each design have carved niches for themselves in the suppressor market, and tests have shown their handiwork to be effective. This suggests that punctilious execution of any basically sound design will succeed. The patent literature is filled with designs that claim to achieve swirling and counter-swirling of gasses; use complex venting stratagems; and shape expansion chambers into futuristic outlines that look like they must be effective. Yet, when we buy suppressors from the pros, men whose livelihoods and reputations depend on performance, we find the simple baffle, screen, or combo ••••

•••• which means that those with a mind to roll their own should not be surprised that dramatically effective units await at the local hardware store, in unfinished form, as PVC pipe, screen or copper scrubbing pads, metal washers, along with an expanding array of miracle adhesives. Scanning a few proven suppressor designs shows that it would be ridiculously simple to duplicate them without resorting to a machine shop. The diagram shows the 3 basic designs. Common sense and knowledge of physics fills in the details for a particular accessory.

KITS

Those who peruse Soldier of Fortune and its clones noticed that kits of replacement parts for suppressors were offered for sale. Reports have it that some were scams and customers lost their money, while others were the real thing: suppressors that were fully effective when assembled and attached to a firearm. Usually, the only part missing was a threaded tube, or the suppressor for which the parts were designed. This subterfuge brought the ruthless attention of BATF, and kits were not long on the market.

Who made them? Several small companies, some of which began with lone, dedicated craftsmen.

The silencer is nothing more than a barometer of the times. When humans lived in a more violent but paradoxically more civilized climate, the silencerls legitimate use put it on the end of sporting arms and target pistols to be shot in semi-populated areas without disturbing everyone within miles or having to wear earplugs. Today, the idea of inner-city mutants wielding lethal weapons with less noise to them than cap pistols is unnerving. It says much about what we have come to expect of human nature, rather than some

innate evi I of the device.

Can a private citizen make or buy silencers legally?

Yes, in some states, but there is a catch. A silencer is subject to the same restrictions applied to machine guns and destructive devices (hand grenades; yes, you can own those, too, but it costs $200 apiece since each must be registered; and, of course, you cannot keep the device in the dresser drawer •••• ). Violation brings a fine of ten grand and up to ten years in the joint. BATF has prosecuted a man for taking an inert hand grenade, and rigging it to make a report with about 5 grams of black powder-in effect, a practice grenade. The grenade did not fragment; BATF won. The guy became a felon for that. The bravura of the IRS seems to have rubbed off on its sinister sister service, BATF.

The literature of amateur spookdom is filled with advice on how to make suppressors. Frankly, these devices can be damned effective, but the risk of making a suppressor is prohibitive, unless you notify BATF of your intent in advance, submit to their background check, pay a tax of $200 per unit, and fit every silencer with a serial number, keep records, and subject yourself to the risk of a 3 AM surprise visit from the jackboots.

Remember that you have the right to remain silent, cold comfort in a jail cell which is probably bugged anyway ••••

Lo those many years ago, better days it now seems, one experimenter found himself with time on his hands during a holiday visit home. The rest of the family had taken off for the weekend, and the young and naive hobbyist noticed that he had a 12" length of 5/8" inside diameter cardboard tubing (in fact, it was a Class B roman candle casing). He had a selection of paper endcaps left over from manufacture of aerial report devices, and couldn It help wondering whether this combination might fit together as a makeshift suppressor.

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He removed the front blade sight from the barrel of a .22 rifle and slipped the tube over the muzzle. It friction-fit snug and tight. Next, he took 7 endcaps and punched quarter-inch holes in them centered as well as he could, then positioned them at roughly even intervals through the length of the tube.

After remounting this jiffy-popped paper silencer, there wasn't much left but to test it. Instead of going with full power ammunition, which would have meant a trip to the range, with the likelihood of shocked stares and furtive calls to the Authorities, he chose the wiser course of "caps"-partial power .22 loads made by CCI.

Well, the loudest sound was the hammerfall and the sound of the bullet penetrating a stack of old paperback books set up as a backstop in the garage. The report was literally inaudible amidst the other sounds which, alone, would have drawn no more notice across the room than thumbing an old Zippo lighter. Accuracy was as good as he could hold. It was eeri Iy effective, just the sort of thing for serious control work on barking dogs in the wee hours of the morning ••••

After firing about twenty rounds the thrill wore off, and the tube and its internal baffles found a safe and final haven in the fireplace.

If one found oneself in need of an effective suppressor that could be put together in a flash, less than five minutes, that paper-tube model would take the prize, and it could be made into a non-silencer in the time it takes to run a wooden dowel through the tube and trash the paper baffles (which could be chewed and swallowed in a pinch, when that awful knock came at 3 AM .... ). Needless to say, we recommend that no one actually attempt to duplicate this youthful and irresponsible experiment that, according to the publisher's attorney, took place so long ago that the statute of limitations has expired and the individual involved needn't fear legal reprisal ••••

Who uses silencers-and why? Professionals in and out of the government: assassins, police counter-sniper squads, counter-terrorist squads, criminals, and dilettantes. Government personnel are presumed to use silencers to help avoid detection when carrying out assassinations-and let us be frank in saying that assas-sination serves as much a tool of foreign pol icy as the sham-negotiations that occupy page one of the Times.

Due to layers of hypocrisy in which information has become wrapped in this country, it is necessary to insist that we do not kill people covertly in the national interest, while our enemies ki II them openly, invade neutral countries, spread terror, etc.

CBS television figure Dan Rather opined that the Afghanistan atrocity had not caught the minds and hearts of Americans the way Vietnam had. On the other hand, Danno, it saw maybe 0.000001 percent the TV coverage ^INam got. •••

Army and Marine sniper teams achieved spooky results in Vietnam using silenced M14 rifles modified for extreme accuracy. Kills at ranges of 600 meters or more were recorded, with a rounds-per-kill ratio reported around 1.3 (i.e., it took 4 shots to kill 3 enemy soldiers, compared to about 50,000 rounds, some said, for regular ground soldiers to wax one enemy soldier). Enemy personnel would march in a line, and one after another they would fall dead without apparent reason. At 200 meters or more, no sound was heard.

This unnerved the enemy and made it difficult to spot the sniper. It came to be called "whispering death."

Feats of trained riflemen using finely tuned and suppressed weapons cannot help but astound us, but silenced pistols are strictly close-range weapons, usually arm's length, primarily assassination devices meant for point blank head shots. This is needed because the most common (and quietest) round is the .22 rimfire, a round with poor ability to stop a target unless it strikes the brain.

A sonic crack follows bullets traveling faster than 1100 fps-a miniature sonic boom. Those who grew up after about 1965, except people who live near fighter jet staging areas, may never have heard a sonic boom.

This single "boom" or thunder-like sound follows aircraft traveling faster than 1100 fps, the approximate speed of sound at sea level. Any object that breaks the sound barrier in air makes this sound. The very quietest combination of suppressed firearm and projectile are made with .22 ammunition traveling at subsonic velocities. Upscale gunshops stock subsonic .22 ammo for use in target rifles, since it proves just a hair more accurate than supersonic ammo. Beware that it leads barrels of some pistols, though.

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What do those who own suppressors legally use them for? And why do they pay a tax per item that may double the price of ownership?

Those who understand the gun-nut mental and a bit of that must curse us see that the lure of a gadget rises in proportion to its rarity. Some men simply must have them, even though they never use the device. Perhaps some do shoot targets in large basements, and some poach game with suppressed weapons.

Then there are those who make or buy suppressors illegally: organized crime, street gangs, motorcycle packs, and other colorful strata.

Does the average law-abiding citizen have need of a suppressor? In most cases, no. But situations have come and will arise again when a suppressor provides essential advantage for self-defense or just vengeance the law will not offer.

Take the example of a dog that mauled you daughter. You sued the owner and but a paltry token sum.

And the bum got to keep his pit bull. Fine. A 3 AM trip by his house with a suppressed .22 should settle the question decisively (as to the not the owner).

Occasionally, targets further up the evolutionary scale-yet more savage than any animal-come in for special regard. But those are rare: grave matters of honor, principle, or personal safety. A grasp of suppressors gives comfort that extremes can be resorted to in competent fashion, responsibly, if that grim need arises.

We've seen countless instances of spoiled justice-obvious convictions thrown out on technicalities. Fiction gave us the undertaker whose daughter suffered at the hands of vicious youths. The court suspended their sentences. So the undertaker went to the local mafia Don for justice.

But those with Family connections have no and the police have more important things to do.

Plaintiff's attorney's yawn over won cases for which there will be no payoff. Wronged parties with no recourse at law find the rage unbearable and take justice into their own hands, sometimes melodramatically in the latest fashion, mass-murder followed by suicide.

One cannot help but speculate that a more prudent approach would be to bide one's time until the stink dies and the perp's guard drops. Then dispatch the felon in a quieter mode.

Societies that tolerate too great a divergence from conformity do not survive as societies very long, and most would deem that rapist who chopped off his victim's arms a bit too deviant; yet he has been released from prison, though no community thus far will take him in. If someone were to use a suppressed weapon to put that rapist out of his remorse, you can bet the police would mobilize all resources to track down the killer ••••

ARMOR CARS AND WALLS

The material that forms the basis of most bullet-resistant windows is known as polycarbonate plastic, marketed by General Electric under the trade name, and by other firms under their own trademarks. This material can be had commonly in sheets of four by six, or larger if you want to custom order, and in thicknesses of a half-inch, more than adequate for stopping most handgun ammunition.

For vandal-prone windows it is the material of choice, and can be had in a version that is about as scratch-resistant as glass (we now have plastic-polishing kits to take away those unsightly scratches). It may deteriorate through prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays in the even now rising ominously as the ozone layer wilts.

Despite its amazing impact resistance, polycarbonate shares the drawbacks of other plastics. It burns, meaning that a torch will make quick work of it. It can be drilled quite easily, and one hole big enough to admit the blade of a saber saw means that a man-size opening is about five minutes away. Polycarbonate has been put forward as a means to harden house walls to bullet impact.

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One of the better places would be the front door, if you anticipate shots fired through it.

It can be plastered over, drilled, painted, and wallpapered. Dealers for the stuff in large sheets are usually found in cities of more than 200,000 population, and you may have to order custom sizes or thicknesses.

What about sheets of Kevlar? They will serve; but make a cost comparison, and ask, if a vest of about two sq ft costs $200, what will a 32 sq ft panel cost? And what about handling? Limp Kevlar would have to be supported at key points, unlike a sheet of polycarbonate, which could simply be propped up, or secreted in slots prudently made during construction of the house or mobile home.

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TEAR GAS

Any decade ushered in by Klute cannot help but consider itself chic. The seventies were a trendy time for personal tear-gas weapons. The rise of feminism brought with it the need for a portable weapon women could use to thwart muggers and rapists; or, just on a whim, teach cheeky and self-satisfied chauvinists a lesson.

Due to the leftist pull of feminism, guns and other fascist (i.e., effective) weapons did not qualify. So hand-held gassers filled the need by fashion and default. What an irony that the police types who gave Mace[tm]

its first surge saw it go on to become the darling of liberals. Political extremes oppose possession of all weapons by anyone but Big Brother ••• and themselves, of course, since they aim to step up to the top spot ....

Two compounds are commonly available as "tear gas." The first is called CN, which stands for chloracetophenone. One brand of spray dissolves it in the propellant that squirts it out of the canister. Its maker maintains that the propellant dissolves fat on the skin of the assailant, and through that means exposes nerve endings to the CN, which makes it more likely to hurt.

The second type, the varsity of tear gasses, is known as CS (or orthochlorobenzal-malononitrile). When riot-control cops get serious they turn to CS.

Both types cause intense burning of exposed skin, ten times worse on mucous membranes and a thousand times worse in the eyes. If inhaled they induce coughing and a sense of constricted breathing. The literature indicates CS to be more pitiless than CN.

One gun mag reported a test of CN tear gas. An experienced combat handgunner let himself be maced straight in the face, then drew his weapon and fired controlled burst, hitting a standard combat target. A surprise splash of CN might give you time to flee a casual mauler in an open space, but this non-lethal defense will not stop the determined adversary. And think if he had tried to duck the burst, wore glasses.

Streetwise punks can duck or cover their eyes in a flash. Most of them laugh when the imminent victim brandishes a gas canister, since they recognize it as a non-threat that gives the user a deadly false sense of security.

Other types of gasses are available to highly placed powers. One is known as sternutator gas. It induces such severe nausea and vomiting that victims feel as if they want to die. Mean stuff. Better stock up now to gas your brokerage after the next crash. One rumor making the rounds in Frisco in the wake of Watergate had it that the security team at Democratic National Headquarters planned to plant sternutator gas in quick-release canisters to catch, and presumably punish on the spot, the second wave of buggers that would take Liddy's place. We put no stock in rumor ••••

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PERSONAL LASER WEAPONS?

You can buy kits to make lasers in the shape of ray-pistols right off the set of Forbidden Planet. What end they serve is not clear. Their laser light might conceivably cause momentary blurred vision if it accidentally shown straight in the eye of a felon, but not much else.

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For the present, genuinely effective laser weapons remain experimental and bazooka-size, exclusive of their power packs. One-shot chemical lasers might do without the power pack, but one shot is not much ••••

And yet, there can be little doubt that this will change. Science fiction writers saw the laser light long before it shown in Charles Townes' lab. The rise in laser efficiency and strides in density of energy-storage devices claimed for magnetic projectile weapons will lead to ever smaller laser weapons.

Visible lasers have found greater application as add-on aiming devices for conventional firearms. With a properly aligned laser-the bullet drops in flight but the light does not-it's a matter of putting the light on the target and pulling the trigger. That ruby-red glow is something of a giveaway, though, and those who know its significance would probably seek to neutralize it without further provocation ••••

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ELECTRICAL WEAPONS

High voltage has seen its share of press lately. First the hand-held shockers, followed by the cry for their banishment. Then, in France of all places, where cabbies wired their back seats with 50,000-volt jolters designed to thwart robbery or murder (several cabbies had been killed by passengers prior to the shocker move). Some vehicle anti -theft systems make the driver's seat a true hot seat unless the right code is entered quickly.

How do these devices work, mechanically and physiologically?

Physiologically, note that the human nervous system is composed of two main parts, the central nervous system consisting of brain and spinal cord; and the peripheral nervous system, consisting of nerve after it leaves the spinal cord. It all runs on minute amounts of electricity.

Ever see someone have a seizure (epileptic fit)? What you witnessed resulted from most of the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain firing their electrical impulses at once, in disorganized fashion. Electricity can indeed

Ever see someone have a seizure (epileptic fit)? What you witnessed resulted from most of the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain firing their electrical impulses at once, in disorganized fashion. Electricity can indeed