Category: All About Guns
It was December 7, 1944, and PFC Akio Shimizu faced his imminent death resolutely. After the spectacular attack on Pearl Harbor, the world had seemed ripe for conquest. Since then, however, so much had changed. Now he sat, lost in thought, strapped inside the bowels of a lumbering Ki-57 transport as it droned toward the Philippine island of Leyte.
What had begun as glorious victory had inexorably turned into something else entirely. The sleeping giant awakened exactly three years before had ground its way across the Pacific like some kind of ghastly leviathan. Now it stood poised to threaten Shimizu’s home islands. For that, and his emperor, Akio Shimizu was now prepared to die.
The B-29 Superfortresses rained death down on his country every day the weather allowed, and each week there were quiet rumblings of some new battlefield defeat or other. His company commander, Captain Ogawa, had explained with great verve how this final parachute assault would finally turn the tide of the war back in favor of the Empire, but Akio wasn’t a fool. Shimizu and his comrades would spend themselves fruitlessly against this great steel monster, like waves against the rocks, but they would die with honor and glory. That was what was important.
PFC Shimizu was distracted by a flash outside his porthole window. He suddenly saw another of the transports disintegrate under the concentrated fire of an American Marine Corsair. This indeed frightened Shimizu. He wanted to give his life in combat with the enemy, not in some random ball of fiery chaos. To his relief, after some exceptionally violent maneuvering, the jump light showed red. Shimizu and his mates stood up, fastened their static lines, and made ready.
They jumped lower and faster than they ever had in training, but at least he was outside of that accursed airplane. Yellow tracers arced across the darkening sky like strings of fiery pearls, connecting with many of his friends during the descent. Miraculously, PFC Shimizu hit the tarmac more or less intact.
Shimizu released his parachute and rolled into the grass alongside the freshly built runway. He retrieved his TERA Type 2 paratrooper rifle from its case and assembled it by feel in the dark, an action he had performed hundreds of times blindfolded. Using rote muscle memory, he mounted a five-round stripper clip atop the open action and rolled the bolt home. PFC Shimizu then took off toward the growing flames at a trot.
PFC Shimizu jogged around the corner of a shipping container and ran headlong into a young American about his same age. The look in his wide eyes was one of utter terror. Shimizu reflexively raised his rifle, but the American had the better angle. His three carbine rounds struck the luckless Japanese paratrooper in the chest.
The youthful soldier bled out across the pierced steel runway material beneath the last mournful rays of the dying sun. The following morning, the American aviation mechanic relieved Shimizu’s corpse of his rifle, cigarettes and letters home. The weird paratrooper takedown weapon made it into his duffle bag, and eventually, it came to me.
The Fight
Japanese airborne forces conducted three different paradrop assaults during the course of World War II. The third operation involved some 750 elite sky soldiers marshaled as a strategic reserve to be spent in a decisive assault that was actually hoped might turn the tide of the war. This bold undertaking was obviously doomed from the outset.
Half of the transports fell to Allied fighters and anti-aircraft guns en route. The static line failed on one plane, violently spilling its entire stick of airborne soldiers onto the rocky Philippine earth when none of their parachutes deployed. The surviving paratroopers hit the airfield at dusk and were eventually obliterated. They destroyed a handful of L-19 Bird Dog spotter planes, but otherwise died for nothing. The following morning the victorious Americans claimed their souvenirs, burned off the ammo, and buried the bodies in a communal grave.
The Japanese invested a fair amount of effort and treasure developing specialized weapons and equipment to support their modest airborne arm. A dedicated paratroop version of the Type 99 machinegun had a removable buttstock and a folding steel pistol grip. Once broken down, the entire gun could be readily carried by a single soldier. Their TERA Type 2 paratrooper rifle was held together by a clever threaded steel wedge. Many, if not most, of the Japanese paratrooper weapons available on the surplus market today were captured in this one battle on Leyte.
The TERA Type 2 Paratrooper Rifle
The TERA Type 2 paratrooper rifle was an evolutionary development of the standard Type 99 that was itself an improvement on the previous Type 38. TERA is a contraction of the Japanese term Teishin Rakkasan, which translates literally as “Raiding Parachutes.” The Type 38 fired a modest 6.5×50 mm round. The subsequent Type 99 was chambered for the more powerful 7.7x58mm machinegun cartridge. The Type 99 was one of the first military rifles to be equipped with a chrome-lined barrel.
A total of 3.5 million copies of the standard Type 99 were produced in nine separate facilities by the end of the war. One factory was in China, and another in Korea. The other seven were in Japan proper. Designed in 1942, all the Type 2 paratroop rifles were produced at the Nagoya Arsenal between 1943 and 1945.
The Type 2 fed from the top via five-round stripper clips. The action cocked on closing like that of the esteemed British Lee-Enfield. The safety was an oversized round button on the back of the bolt. The best way to manage this component was to press in with the palm of the hand and rotate.
There were originally several disparate takedown paratrooper designs. The Type 2 was the most common, with some 21,200 copies produced. Most of these paratrooper rifles incorporated the ludicrously complicated folding anti-aircraft sight of the early standard infantry rifles. This contraption sported folding wings, each of which was marked with a “2” and a “3.” The theory was that one might use this device to determine lead for a passing enemy aircraft. The numbers refer to the speed of a crossing airplane in hundreds of kilometers per hour. Good luck figuring that out while under fire.
Denouement
The Type 2 Japanese paratrooper rifle was a curious footnote to the pantheon of small arms employed during World War II. This inspired takedown design would indeed fit into a leg bag for parachute operations. The Type 2 allowed the individual paratrooper to jump with this primary weapon on his person rather than in some separate, hard-to-find weapons canister. However, none of that really mattered.
Despite their undeniable gallantry, those 750 Japanese paratroopers were dead before they even took off that fateful night. Most of them likely knew this as they kitted out. Regardless, they climbed aboard those rickety planes and jumped over a hostile airfield in a doomed effort at slowing the oncoming American juggernaut. That they failed so utterly was certainly not for lack of courage.
Special thanks to World War Supply for the cool replica gear used in our pictures.
Categories
Let the Party begin!
April 21, 2022
Mike Sampson
In prior Gun Talk articles I’ve spoken of how glad I am to live in Arkansas, the Natural State. Now I have another reason.
An April article on msn.com noted that “The state with the worst gun laws is Arkansas. Its gun law grade in 2021 was F.”
In the article, I found that “To determine the state with the worst gun laws, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 2021 Annual Gun Law Scorecard from the Giffords Law Center (led by former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, herself a gun violence victim), which assigned letter grades to states based on the strength and weaknesses of their gun laws and policies.”
And in looking at the Giffords site, indeed Arkansas is ranked 50th in the nation. Wyoming is 49th, Idaho is 48th, and my birth state of Missouri is 47th. I’ve lived in all four states. On the scorecard, 23 states share the F grade.
As Gun Talk readers might speculate, California has a number one ranking, but look at what is going on in that state with firearms violations and crime surge. For a real education about your state’s ranking, take a look at the scorecard site with the link above.
The article further defines Arkansas’ low ranking with the following:
“Arkansas is a ‘shall issue’ state, according to the report. This means that local law enforcement must issue a concealed weapons license to any applicant who is 21 years old and over, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and a resident of Arkansas for at least 90 days, among other such criteria. In 2021, Arkansas also repealed its law that required a permit to carry a concealed firearm in public. With this it dropped from ranking 12th worst in 2020 to the worst in 2021.”
Yes, Arkansas of one of 25 states that has conferred Constitutional carry on its residents, and for me, that gives each of those states a high ranking.
To clarify things, the article also says, “National laws have been impossible to pass because many people believe gun ownership is a right guaranteed by the Constitution. Gun regulations, therefore, are mostly enacted at the state level. Some states are very strict, while in others people can carry guns in the open.”
And all along I’ve been thinking the U.S. Constitution and the Second Amendment allow gun ownership. Leave it to the lamestream media to shatter my beliefs.
As the article continued, “Many states have very loose gun ownership rules. Those with stronger restrictions in place can do little to stem the flow of firearms from less-regulated states. One bill currently before the House Judiciary Committee, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, would even force states with stricter gun laws to accept concealed carry permits issued in states with less stringent laws.”
I’ve written before about the benefits of reciprocity because I travel to other states, and my Arkansas CCW is honored in most states I visit. Wouldn’t national reciprocity be a novel idea for self defense?
I have said all along I believe if one is going to carry a firearm, training is a good plan, and CCW permit classes usually have an overview of state firearms laws as part of that training component. Knowing state firearms laws where you live and travel is a key way to stay out of legal trouble. Look at Handgunlaw.us or USCCA Concealed Carry Reciprocity Map & U.S. Gun Laws | USCCA (usconcealedcarry.com) for state information.
To help understand Arkansas’ ranking, my state also is first in eight other achievements that include:
· Creation of Walmart stores.
· Adding synchronized sound to film.
· Issuing “Obesity Report Cards” for kids in 2004.
· First U.S. female senator, Hattie Caraway, in November 1932.
· Installing school classroom panic buttons in 2015-16.
· Founding of Dillard’s Department Stores in 1938.
· Creation of Brown and Serve Rolls.
· Creation of “cheese dogs” in 1956.
While these achievements certainly add to Arkansas’ stature and history, ranking 50th on the Giffords national scorecard makes me glad my best worst state is doing its part to help me “Stay safe, be prepared.” ~ Mike
Mike Sampson
Mike now calls Northwestern Arkansas home, but has lived and worked in several states and internationally. He has been an independent contractor and consultant since 2006 specializing in risk management, emergency management and training, worked as a law-enforcement planner and technical writer with the Boise, Idaho, Police Department, and also worked as an outfitter’s guide.
- 43 Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the bill, and one Democrat, Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., who is not running for reelection, voted against it
- Supporters of the bill said that it would allow police to alert the public of unsafe situations more quickly
- They said police typically rely on social media and news reports to get word out
- Critics said the bill was unnecessary and likely to stoke fear among the public
- ‘This bill is like yelling ‘fire’ in a movie theater, except the fire is in another movie theater across the street,’ Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said
The House on Thursday passed a bill 260-169 that would allow law enforcement to deploy an Amber alert-like phone notification system in active shooter situations.
Forty-three Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the bill, and one Democrat, Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., who is not running for reelection, voted against it.
The bill, led by Reps. David Cicilline, D-R.I., and Fred Upton, R-Mich., now heads to the Senate.
Supporters of the bill said that it would allow police to alert the public of unsafe situations more quickly. They said police typically rely on social media and news reports to get the word out. Critics said that the bill was unnecessary and likely to stoke fear among the public.
‘This bill is a common sense piece of public safety legislation that police have asked for over, and over, and over again, and we are past due in delivering it to them,’ Cicilline said on the House floor.
The bill would carve out a new role in the Department of Justice known as the national coordinator of the Active Shooter Alert Communications network, and that coordinator would work with the FEMA administrator, Transportation secretary FCC chair to help state and local law enforcement set up such alert systems.
Upton, the Republican leader on the bill, pointed to the July 4 mass shooting at a parade in Highland Park, Ill., where the suspected gunman was at large for eight hours and drove across state lines to Wisconsin.
‘Wouldn’t it have been nice to have had a system that would have alerted the entire parade route to take cover, and maybe some of those folks that were killed or wounded wouldn’t have happened?’ he asked.
Police deploy after gunfire erupted at a Fourth of July parade route in the wealthy Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois on July 4
A Fourth of July parade-goer runs for cover after gunfire was heard at the parade Monday morning, July 4
People’s belongings lie abandoned along the parade route after a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade
Upton said he heard from ‘law enforcement and police chiefs that active shooter alerts can be a vital tool to provide accurate, real-time information to our communities, and one they believe will help in these dangerous situations.’
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed Thursday Republicans cared more about their ‘political survival’ than children’s survival after 168 voted against the bill.
‘If your child were in a school where there was an assault, wouldn’t you want to know? How can these Republicans vote ‘no’?’ she said.
‘These people think their political survival is more important than the survival of their children.’
The Active Shooter Alert bill would allow for Amber alert-style notifications to pop up on nearby residents’ phones in the case of a mass shooting
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., warned that such a bill could cause chaos, giving a hypothetical where a stadium full of concertgoers all get an alert if someone fired a gun several blocks away, maybe even by accident.
‘Would that make the circumstance safer? Of course not. It would lead to stampede, tragedy, hysteria, mistake, perhaps even more death,’ he said.
Gaetz said that the bill was vague about how far from an incident people would still get alerts and what types of events would warrant an alert.
‘This bill is like yelling ‘fire’ in a movie theater, except the fire is in another movie theater across the street,’ he said.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, described the bill as ‘Democrat fear-mongering that guns are an ever-present threat.’
Democrats, meanwhile, mocked Republicans for being ‘pro-life’ but voting against the bill.
‘The vast majority of the House Republican Conference voted against a bill to alert people of nearby active shooters,’ Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., wrote on Twitter. ‘The bill doesn’t limit gun ownership. All it does is keep communities safe. In case you were wondering what the ‘pro-life’ party really stands for.’
‘Last night, 168 Republicans voted against the Active Shooter Alert Act, which would set up a system to send alerts directly to people’s phones, warning them in the case of a nearby active shooter. This could save lives. Yet most of the “pro-life” party voted to try and block it,’ Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the House Progressive Caucus, wrote on Twitter.
Categories
Colt Woodsman Match Target Pistol
With the countless stories that would emerge from the Normandy landings, some of the most harrowing would come from the U.S. troops that stormed “Bloody Omaha” beach. Of the two primary U.S. landing beaches along the Normandy coastline, with “Utah” beach to the west of Pointe du Hoc and “Omaha” to the east, the landings at Omaha beach would result in far more carnage than the other American landing zones.
Omaha, the code name given to a five-mile stretch of the Normandy coastline, was divided into four sectors: “Charlie,” “Dog,” “Easy” and “Fox,” which were themselves further divided into sub-sectors. This beach was the designated landing zone for elements of the U.S. 5th Corps, consisting of the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions along with supporting naval personnel and combat engineers.
A map showing the sectors and German defensive positions along the five mile stretch of “Omaha” beach.
This stretch of beach features a large sandy shoreline overlooked by tall bluffs and rolling hills. the bluffs were fortified by the Germans in the years leading up to the invasion as a part of Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall,” which was intended to keep any Allied forces from landing along the conquered coastlines of Nazi-controlled Europe. The Germans built numerous concrete bunkers, machine-gun nests and other fortifications along the bluffs overlooking the beaches. On the shoreline itself, the Germans also emplaced tank traps, mines and various other wood and metal obstacles meant to prevent armor and landing craft from making their way up to the shore.
A view of Omaha beach today, showing the outlay of the bluffs and the long stretch of sand that separates them from the shoreline.
These German defensive positions along the coast were targeted by numerous Allied bombing raids in an effort to destroy them, but these raids did little damage to the fortified emplacements. In the hours before the landings, these positions were further shelled by naval artillery from a fleet of Allied vessels off shore, but this too had negligible effect on the defenses. To make matters worse, the German defenders of Omaha did not have to contend with the issue of paratroopers behind their lines as those defending Utah did. This in turn meant that the men going ashore at Omaha would be facing a focused, entrenched and well-armed enemy that was waiting for them.
U.S. troops seen wading ashore at Omaha after leaving their landing craft on June 6, 1944.
On the morning of June 6, 1944, troops boarded their landing craft and prepared to make the journey ashore, but issues cropped up almost immediately. The less-than-ideal weather produced choppy seas, resulting in seasick crew and swamped landing craft. The rough water also caused a the majority of a group of M4 Sherman Duplex Drive amphibious tanks that were meant to support the troops on the beach to instead founder and sink. To make matters worse, a combination of smoke covering the shore and an eastward tidal current pushed many of the landing craft off from their designated landing sectors.
Men wading ashore at Omaha, with a clearer picture of the scene of chaos unfolding on the beach.
As the craft approached the beach, the German positions along the coastline opened up on them with mortars, artillery and machine gun fire. Obstacles in the water and on the beach prevented many landing craft from being able to get right up to the shoreline, forcing the troops they contained to wade ashore. The men of the first wave to hit the beach were soon greeted by a hail of fire from the numerous MG34 and MG42 machine gun positions spread out amongst the bluffs. Some men were cut down still inside the landing craft, with German gunners focusing in on them as the ramps dropped.
With a high rate of fire and the ability to quickly swap hot barrels, the MG42 was murderous for the men landing at Omaha.
For the men of A Company, 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division, the German fire was murderous. Landing at the “Dog Green” sector of Omaha, within in five minutes of hitting the beach, the company was essentially wiped out, with 91 killed and 65 wounded. The intense German defensive fire caused the landings at Omaha to stall as American troops desperately tried to find whatever cover they could on the beach. Luckily for many of them, Omaha had a shelf of shingle, or tidal rock, that provided some small degree of cover. However, they would still have to make their way up the rest of the beach and then up the bluffs in order to take it.
To watch complete segments of past episodes of American Rifleman TV, go to americanrifleman.org/artv. For all-new episodes of ARTV, tune in Wednesday nights to Outdoor Channel 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. EST.