Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Firearms

New AZ CWP Issued

Both Damsel and I submitted (on line) renewal applications for our Arizona Concealed Weapons Permits last month. The new permits arrived today and we are impressed with the new format showing a desert motif picturing mountains, a cactus and a roadrunner. Very nice. (Vital Statistics graphically Removed for Privacy.)

Not visible in the (clickable) photocopy above, are the watermarks that appear under certain light conditions which reveal a large number of concentric circles and a logo of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. All in all, we both are happy with the new format.

Since Arizona is actually a “Constitutional Carry” State, we don’t need to have a concealed permit at all. However, due to an unnecessary and UNCONSTITUTIONAL law in the US CODE, unless you have a CWP permit issued in the state where you are carrying, you are prohibited from coming within 1000 feet of any school:

18 U.S.C. § 922(q)(2)(A) Makes it unlawful for any individual to knowingly possess a firearm that has moved in or affects interstate commerce at a place the person knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone

. The exception that we are interested in is:

State-Licensed Permit Holders: Carried by an individual holding a valid concealed carry permit issued by the state in which the school zone is located, provided state law required background/qualification verification. (Note: Reciprocal out-of-state permits generally do not qualify for this federal exemption).

Because of the exception noted above, we have to be very careful of where we go in the RV since we don’t have carry permits for other than Arizona and Utah. Of course, the law is Bullshit in the first place and needs to be struck down.

Unfortunately, and due to election fraud, we believe that our two Senators, both Democrats, are in office. It falls on deaf ears when we suggest to them that some of these rules need to be struck down.

Pray for righteous leaders to rise and prevail in the elections ahead of us. We are. Thank you for your attention in this matter.

04 Aug 2026 by Arizona CCW Firearms Second Amendment 0

Hoplophobia

Hoplophobia is defined as the fear of weaponry (in this case guns) as coined by Col. Jeff Cooper in 1962. Although the phobia itself is not classified as an actual mental disorder. Personally, I think it should be.

Colion Noir posted this interesting video on you tube about an actual individual who suffers from hoplophobia:

I had a short conversation with Grok about the disease:

Have there been any actual clinical diagnoses for hoplophobia?

No, “hoplophobia” is not a recognized clinical diagnosis** in mainstream psychiatry or psychology.

Official Status

  • It does **not** appear in the *Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders* (DSM-5 or DSM-5-TR) published by the American Psychiatric Association.
  • It is not listed as a distinct code in the ICD-10 or ICD-11 (the international classification systems used for medical diagnosis and billing).
  • Major psychiatric and psychological organizations do not treat “hoplophobia” as an official diagnostic term.

How Fear of Firearms *Can* Be Diagnosed:

A clinically significant, irrational fear of guns or weapons *could* meet the criteria for a **Specific Phobia** (DSM-5 code 300.29; ICD-10 F40.2). Specific phobia is a real, recognized anxiety disorder. Diagnosis requires:

  • Marked, persistent fear or anxiety about a specific object or situation (here, firearms).
  • The fear is out of proportion to the actual danger.
  • Immediate anxiety response when the object is encountered or anticipated.
  • Active avoidance or endurance with intense distress.
  • Significant impairment in daily functioning.
  • Duration of at least 6 months.
  • Symptoms not better explained by another mental disorder.

In practice, a clinician would diagnose “Specific Phobia, situational type” (or a similar descriptor) and note the fear of firearms in the clinical record. They would not typically write “hoplophobia” as the diagnosis.

Evidence of Clinical Cases

There are **no well-documented, peer-reviewed clinical case studies** in the medical literature that formally diagnose patients with “hoplophobia” as a distinct entity. Searches of medical databases (such as PubMed) turn up essentially nothing under that term. A few non-peer-reviewed sources and opinion pieces (often written from a pro-gun perspective) claim the condition exists and is treatable, but these do not constitute formal clinical recognition or systematic diagnostic evidence.

In short: while an extreme, impairing fear of firearms can be clinically valid and treated under the umbrella of specific phobia, “hoplophobia” itself remains a non-clinical, largely rhetorical term rather than an established medical diagnosis.

There seems to be some room under the diagnosis of “specific phobia” that would enable a clinician of mental disorders to apply treatment for the disorder to the individual in the video and for others of extreme fear.

24 Jul 2026 by Comrades in Arms Firearms Notions Second Amendment Whacko Politics 0

Potpourri Post

Last week I posted about a cactus flower and this week (am I doing weekly posts now?) I am going to ramble on about a few things going on. First of all, There is plenty going on in our lives these days, some quite boring things and some a little more attention getting. Let me elaborate a bit:

  • We continue to live in a peaceful, tranquil place which does little to generate exciting headlines.
  • There are some background issues (mainly healthwise) that take up a little bit of time to accommodate what with professional visits and other things to do with growing older.
  • Life goes on with the usual business of running a household (max kudos to Damsel) with our flock of dependents (2 dogs and numerous cottontails, squirrels, birds, etc.)
  • The yard and garden are looking good this spring, but there is always some little chore that pops up. If it’s a big chore, we have our Landscape crew deal with it.
  • There are the hobbies and other time-consuming activities to relieve some of the boredom and/or excitement that comes along.
  • Food and Dining are a major item in our lives; we’re both on special needs diets and almost exclusively prepare all of our meals at home.

First, here is a photo I took this morning of a squirrel and a peanut. Note that the animals we consider as “dependent” don’t really depend as it were; we just like to treat them now and then.

I used the Canon SL3 camera for the above photo. Part of the hobby thing mentioned above. Our main cameras (my 2 and Damsel’s Canon T6i) continue to provide us with entertainment and some good photos now and then. Click on the image to enlarge.

I recently upgraded my everyday carry from the one I have carried for years to a new, easier to rack semi-auto S&W M&P Shield 9mm EZ. The old muscles and ability to operate the old Glock were getting to be incompatible.

Tomorrow, we will be taking the dogs for their annual exams and immunization updates. We will renew the County licenses afterwards.

This week, I need to make time to get a haircut. Due to other commitments, I have fallen out of sync with my regular trim schedule.

On Tuesday, I have consecutive visits with the General Practitioner Doctor and the Ophthalmologist, neither of which is other than a regular visit for checkup. I also need to reschedule a checkup with the Nephrologist which I had to cancel due to a conflict.

So, we’re still here doing things that you might expect for “generians” (septi- and octo-) to encounter in our lives. We will continue in this regard as long as it takes.

12 Apr 2026 by Comrades in Arms Critters Entertainment Firearms Food & Dining Home & Garden Notions Photography Retirement Second Amendment Technobabble

USS Brooklyn March 1943

Eighty-one years ago, during WWII, in Casablanca harbor, my father was stationed aboard the USS Brooklyn as an Electrician’s Mate, Second Class. Dad went on to become a Chief Warrant Officer in the US Navy.

USS Brooklyn CL-40 in Casablanca harbor – March 1943

The first of the nine Machine Gun Cruisers*, USS Brooklyn was commissioned in September 1937. With a primary armament of fifteen 6”/47 guns in five triple turrets, each 6”/47 gun had a maximum rate of fire of 8-10 shells a minute. Theoretically, a Brooklyn-Class cruiser could fire a total of 120-150 6” rounds a minute at a target.

USS Brooklyn survived WW2 and was put into reserve in 1946, in 1951 she was transferred to Chile, where she was renamed O’Higgins. Serving for 40 years in the Chilean Navy, she was sold for scrap in 1992, but foundered and sank while under tow to shipbreakers in India. One of her 6”/47 turrets is preserved at the Chilean Navy base at Talcahuano.

LIFE Magazine Archives – J R Eyerman Photographer

*Machine Gun Cruisers typically refer to naval vessels equipped with multiple machine guns for anti-aircraft and anti-small craft defense. The Brooklyn-class cruisers, for example, were armed with several M2 Browning machine guns alongside their main artillery, enhancing their combat capabilities during World War II.

I find the installation and use of the .50 BMG M2 Machine guns to be particularly interesting:

The .50 Browning Machine Gun (BMG) round is one of the most widely used service ammunition. Also known as the .50 Browning and the 12.7x99mm NATO, it is currently listed as military ammunition for the U.S. and at least 30 other countries. However, civilian shooters also enjoy .50 caliber shooting – using this rifle round for long-range hunting and shooting competitions. Developed in the early 1900s by John Moses Browning, the .50 BMG is a scaled-up version of the .30-06.; No stranger to military and law enforcement use, .50 BMG ammo has been fired from WWII fighter aircraft and is still used today on helicopters and ground vehicles.

Once the DOJ and the SCOTUS gets off their collective asses and removes the infringements on ALL firearms and accessories, we might want to own one of those. The ammo, however, is quite expensive and could burn through your weekly allowance in one quick hurry when you go down to the range to have some fun.

10 Mar 2025 by Classics Firearms Military Nostalgia

2025 Concealed Carry Map and
  Winterizing the Small Arms

At some point in 2025, Damsel and I, along with the dogs, will be travelling in the RV, the purpose of which is to visit some of the places where our ancestors lived and died. Since we both wish to be armed wherever we go, it is helpful to know where our permits to carry will be recognized, so we visit USA Carry to consult their interactive concealed carry maps. After clicking on Arizona and Utah (where we have permits), our map looks like this:

There are 39 states (in blue or green) that recognize our Utah or Arizona permits. Fortunately, most places we intend to visit accept our CCWs. There is one small exception in one of the no-carry states on our proposed route. We’re thinking about how to handle that one, but I’m sure it will work out. Perhaps National CCW Reciprocity will happen by our travel date (not holding our breath).

The other arms-related issue here is getting everything winterized. Today, I inspected, dusted off and oiled up several of the inventory. At this point, we’re about halfway done with them. The (clickable) image below shows my semi-auto long arm and the maintenance setup on the patio atop the Spa cover.

The winterization of the rest of the inventory should be done by next week. That effort will include several pistol-caliber carbines which have yet to be taken to the range (by us). Maybe we will take them out and get them dirty before their winterization.

30 Dec 2024 by Arizona CCW Firearms Notions Retirement Wanderlust

Nineteenth Blogiversary

Well, here we are passing another milestone for this blog. We have had an interesting year thus far, with all the political nonsense going on, attempted assassinations of DJT a couple of times and the endless calls to save “democracy,” when we actually need to save our Constitutional Republic.

The political Left is intent on destroying the Constitution and the original nation envisioned and realized by the Founders. They can’t do that as long as there are several hundreds of millions of firearms owned by good, patriotic Americans, thus the endless calls for “assault weapon” (i.e. a political term for commonly owned carbines) bans and “red flag laws,” also a ploy to take lawful weapons from folks without due process.

We’ll hang in there, if we get everybody we know to get registered and vote this fall to oust the swamp creatures in congress and to elect those who defend the Constitution. Just do it.

Enough of that – now, we’re entering the third season of this year as the sun heads south of the equator for shorter days and cooler temperatures. Our blog will continue to post on occasion about our personal travels and events as well as posting about holidays and other significant occurrences.

Thanks for reading all these years and see you on the next posting. Happy Autumn, even though Arizona is still enjoying our “second spring.”

By the way, there was a partial eclipse of the moon on the 17th of September. I got this shot when the shadow was nearly at maximum obscuration . . .

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel SL1
Aperture: F22
Exposure: 1/200sec
Focal Length: 250mm
ISO: 800
Lens: Canon EF-S55-250 f/4 IS STM

22 Sep 2024 by Beltway Kabuki Blogosphere Firearms Technobabble

Monsoon Days Are Upon Us

As of a few weeks ago, our Monsoon Season has brought us a few showers, but not in the usual summertime quantity nor have they been very intense. We’re not complaining about the lack of damaging rainfall at all, but as to not getting a good soak now and then. The image above (I later learned) is of a cell located over Yarnell, AZ, a town 30 miles north of here. They had a good prolonged rainfall just up there around eleven AM local, while we have had didley squat.

Later in the day, some intense, dark clouds drifted over us, but again, no significant precipitation. Damsel took the following photo of a Turkey Buzzard circling overhead beneath the clouds:

After the time of the previous photo, I took the dogs for a walk and distinctly smelled wet creosote, but observed no rain. I presume that the Good Lord will eventually bring gentle, soaking rain our way as He always does.


Image courtesy Foxtrot Mike Products

In other news, we have been monitoring some of the court proceedings regarding our rights to keep and bear arms. There are some good decisions and some bad decisions about various aspects of arms and accessories. We anticipate that one of these days the US Supreme Court will gather their collective cajones and grant certiorari for one or more of the “Assault Weapons” cases where various Communist states (California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, etc.) are unconstitutionally restricting the right to keep and bear those “commonly in use for lawful purposes” firearms. Maybe I will live long enough to see that become a reality.

03 Aug 2024 by Arizona Beltway Kabuki Environment Firearms

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