Clay Blasts Combat Vet, Congressman Brian Mast for Supporting Black Rifle Ban

in Authors, Clay Martin, Columns

Florida congressman Brian Mast begins his op-ed in the New York Times, thusly, “The most important and unregrettable time of my life was the 12 years I spent in the Army. I became a bomb technician because I wanted to save lives. I nearly gave my own life for that — I lost both my legs and a finger when a roadside bomb detonated beneath me — and have known more heroes than I can count who died defending others.”

Don’t get blindsided by the setup.  Rep. Mast is throwing his combat experience in your face to elicit sympathy and to set himself up as an authority on firearms.  Playing the humble hero card may work on many readers.  Not me.  I am also a combat Veteran, retired from the U.S. Army Special Forces. I know a thing or two about gunfights, having been in my fair share.  And I’d like to challenge some of the claims Rep. Mast makes in that NY Times piece as well as to push back on his stance that the government should ban black rifles.

Below you’ll find some excerpts from the article along with my rebuttals.  I’m callin’ Rep. Mast on the carpet.

Rep. Mast: When I was with others on the battlefield and we saw a chance to save a life, we didn’t have a meeting about it; we acted immediately. I never worried about becoming a casualty myself.

Clay: I don’t know about you, but we didn’t spend a great deal of time looking for chances to save a life. We spent pretty much all of our time trying to kill the enemy. The only lives that might need saving were our own guys, and that doesn’t obviously require orders. It’s common sense. And sometimes when it is epically heroic, we hand out medals for it. But I find your emotional virtue-signaling insulting.

Rep. Mast: Most nights in Afghanistan, I wielded an M4 carbine and a .40-caliber pistol. The total barrel length of my M4 was approximately 14 inches with Trijicon ACOG sights, as well as an infrared laser. I usually carried 10 magazines stacked with 20 rounds of 5.56-millimeter ammunition each.

I find your loadout extremely suspicious. First, let us address the 10 magazines of 20 rounds each. Why were you the only guy in Afghanistan carrying a Vietnam-era loadout? A 30-round magazine has been the standard since 1971. I will grant you, I know some snipers and other high speeds that would often carry a SINGLE 20, in case they needed to pull off a shot from a specific, awkward, firing position, or so they would know said magazine was their last. But no one carried a full load of 20s. No one.

Aside from the obvious need to reload more, at issue is the current magazine pouch design. A 20 is much harder to remove from any known MOLLE-compatible magazine pouch. So why, exactly, were you carrying such a setup? Also, the standard infantry loadout is 7 magazines by 30 rounds. Your 10×20 puts you at 200 rounds, 10 short of a normal load. Why, exactly, would you carry more magazines but fewer bullets than your counterparts?

Perhaps you misspoke and meant you carried 10 magazines with 30 rounds each. That is also rather strange. In Afghanistan, most people were looking to lighten the load, not increase it. Your 10 magazines is a bigger loadout than the average grunt, which makes even less sense given your job. As an EOD member or “bomb tech,” you already had a pile of extra equipment no one else did. At least my EOD attachments always did. So at a time and place when every other soldier was trying to lighten up, you intentionally added extra weight to your kit?

***Shop for an AR-15 on GunsAmerica***

Forty-caliber pistol, huh? At the time you were injured, only two units in the Army and one in the Navy had access to .40 caliber pistols, Glocks to be specific. The obvious defense here is that you were in a JSOC support unit, the 28th Ordnance Company. But the key phrase here is “support.” The action arm of JSOC isn’t known for handing out specialized equipment to supporting elements, especially when it is a harder to master and more expensive to feed the weapon.

Pictures of the 28th Ordnance Company online show members carrying standard SOPMOD 2 M-4 variants, not H&K 416s. I find it extremely hard to believe you got the pistol from an assaulter’s loadout, but not the rifle. Strange, to say the least.

I’m not sure why you told us you were carrying “Trijicon ACOG sights.” Did you mean a Trijicon ACOG sight? Since an ACOG is a one-piece 4x magnified scope, known by everyone in the military as “a sight,” not “sights”? It is also rather curious you were running an ACOG in 2010, not the replacement given in the SOPMOD 2 kit in 2008. That would be a Spectre DR ELCAN 1-4. You will also remember, we had to turn in all of our ACOGs. Not only had they been replaced, but the ACOG had a bible verse etched on the side by the manufacturer. Everyone had to go back to have it removed.

Why exactly are you bringing up the infrared laser, by which I am sure you mean the PEQ-15 or ATPIAL? Did Nicholas Cruz drop in blacked out, and commit his massacre with Panoramic NVGs that he stole from SEAL Team 6? More on that in a minute.

Your rifle was either 10.5 inches or 14.5 inches in barrel length. Which makes it actually less lethal than a civilian model AR-15, which must include a 16-inch minimum barrel length not to be considered an SBR. Velocity drops as the barrel is shortened, which I am sure we all know. Maybe more people would have lived if Cruz had been using your actual “weapon of war.”

In short, either you don’t remember correctly, or you are a liar. Traumatic Brain Injury maybe? It would make sense with your IED injury, lots of us have them. But if that is going to be your defense, maybe you shouldn’t be making national policy.

Rep. Mast: I have fired tens of thousands of rounds through that rifle, many in combat. We used it because it was the most lethal — the best for killing our enemies. And I know that my community, our schools and public gathering places are not made safer by any person having access to the best killing tool the Army could put in my hands. I cannot support the primary weapon I used to defend our people being used to kill children I swore to defend.

Are you referring to the bullet in this case or the rifle? Because either way you are wrong. If you meant the bullet, you need to have your head examined. Almost any round (.375 Cheytac, 7.62×51, even .270 Winchester) is more lethal than the round common to the M4 family of weapons, the ubiquitous 5.56×45 NATO.

223 Remington is so weak on the power scale, it is illegal to hunt deer with it in most states. In the civilian world, it is considered a varmint round, useful for prairie dogs and woodchucks. You didn’t carry it in the Army because it is the “most lethal.” You carried it because back in the ’60s a Pentagon study concluded it carried an optimal balance of weight and power, for a force that often used 50,000 rounds to kill one enemy soldier. That stat is the official one from Vietnam.

If you mean the rifle, you are again wrong! Statistically speaking, artillery is the “best for killing our enemies.” And if you only want to include individual-sized weapons, that would be the belt-fed medium machine gun M240B. If you are implying best shot-to-kill ratio, well, most snipers still have bolt actions. The Vietnam stat on those was 1.3 rounds per kill.

Rep. Mast: I also know that I am made less safe by the threat of tactical rifles. I am confident I can eliminate an active shooter who is attacking with a pistol because the attacker would have to be close to me. But the defense my concealed 9-millimeter affords me is largely gone if the attacker is firing from beyond 40 yards, as he could easily do with the AR-15.

So you can shoot accurately up to 40 yards with your handgun? Neat. Not bad for a mortal, but your argument is still stupid.

Last summer, I was able to easily score hits with a Dan Wesson Fury 9mm out to 160 meters. Jerry Miculek is on video shooting 9mm to 1000 yards. So in addition to banning AR-15s, are we going to ban match grade barrels in pistols?

SEE ALSO: A 1911 Crushing Targets at 180 meters — Dan Wesson Elite Series Brings the Fury

Maybe the next step after AR confiscation, we will demand all 9mm ammo be downloaded to a point where it can’t possibly go past 40 yards? That should be about 200 feet per second, I’ll work the ballistic coefficient out later.

A rifle does make shooting longer ranges a lot easier, I will grant that. But in your pistol only world, what stops a bad guy that actually has some skills? Nothing it turns out. So next on the slippery slope, you need to ban pistol red dots, training, and any bullet faster than a slingshot. Let me know how that works out.

Rep. Mast: No firearm is evil. Guns are tools that fulfill the intent of their users, good or bad. But we’ve seen that the rifle of choice for many mass shooters is the AR-15… The Second Amendment is unimpeachable. It guarantees the right of citizens to defend themselves. I accept, however, that it does not guarantee that every civilian can bear any and all arms.

Well, it is either unimpeachable or it isn’t. Only a complete cuck tries to have his cake and eat it too. Which is exactly what you are doing if you follow your arguments to their logical conclusion.

I want to be able to defend myself and my family from anything and everything, a midnight burglar all the way to a full-scale invasion by a foreign power. Not to mention domestic terrorism perpetrated by any and all aggressors, from Antifa to Big Brother and everyone in between.  Rifles are kryptonite to tyranny. You would do well to remember that.

In closing, stop being a pussy; tell us what you really think. If you want to ban guns, by all means, get after it. But run on a platform of abolishing the 2nd Amendment, like a man. Good luck with getting your peers in Congress to agree. But at least you can look us in the eye as an honest dealer.

***Shop for an AR-15 on GunsAmerica***

About the author: Clay Martin is a former Marine and Green Beret, retiring out of 3rd Special Forces Group. He is a multi-decade and -service sniper, as well as 3-Gun competitor and Master ranked shooter in USPSA Production. In addition to writing about guns, he is the author of “Last Son of The War God,” a novel about shooting people that deserve it. You can also follow him on twitter, @offthe_res or his website, Off-The-Reservation.com

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  • Greg May 3, 2019, 11:21 am

    Brothers & Sisters: The Constitution does not grant the right to keep and bear arms to Americans. That right is inherent in every person, granted by God or by natural law, as is the right to defend one’s self from criminal attack or from oppression by tyrants. The Second Amendment was added to the Constitution to restrict the actions of government. “The right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed,” by government.

    Many Americans have given all they had to protect our Constitution. There are 58,000+ names on a black wall in Washington, D.C. that some of these anti-Constitution politicians should visit once in a while. Veterans, especially, need to stand tall against the political forces trying to erode the Constitution. Clay, thanks for your service, brother.

    When I came home from Vietnam, I used the GI Bill to go to law school. I only mention my own service because Vietnam vets are still portrayed as either homeless, drugged-out losers or as killers on a PTSD rampage. I have five campaign stars on my little red-yellow-green ribbon, and like most vets of that war I came home, went to school, got a job, and built a life and a family. So many people these days seem to be ready to toss America on the trash-heap of history; maybe because so few have actually done anything to support our home and native land. The Second Amendment is there to insure we keep all the other freedoms listed in our Constitution.

  • kaki March 13, 2018, 1:20 am

    Cell phones kill ten times more kids than firearms every year. If you want to save kids make drugs and texting illegal?

  • Steve Gibbons March 12, 2018, 6:40 pm

    I hope someone forwarded this to the Congressman? Only us gun culture people will ever see this if no one sends a copy over to this guy’s office to call him out. These idiots need to be held accountable for their public statements. Please confirm if he was sent a copy Clay’s replies to his recent statements. – SRG

    • S.H. Blannelberry March 12, 2018, 6:50 pm

      Don’t know if it was. Can you please send it.

  • Robert March 11, 2018, 4:53 pm

    Great article. Thank you for your service. I too am a Veteran and I’m not sure what they hope to gain by all of this except personal political gain. There are 100’s of millions of firearms in our country. They need to focus on mental health services. The NY and California gun bans and restrictions have done ZERO to protect their citizens. Please keep up the great work.

  • Chris Mallory March 11, 2018, 4:48 pm

    “223 Remington is so weak on the power scale, it is illegal to hunt deer with it in most states.”

    This is a myth. Fewer than 15 states require a larger round, some of those prohibit all rifles for deer hunting.

    • Paul October 28, 2018, 12:33 pm

      Hey Chris, rifles are generally prohibited and shorter range weapons allowed due to how far the projectiles will travel. It is not because all rifles and all cartridges are adequate to hunt medium to large sized game.

  • Bart Reid March 10, 2018, 5:05 pm

    I never served this great country and that is one of my biggest regrets. I do appreciate all of those who have, including this idiot politician. However, being a vet does not give you the right to spew liberal democRAT talking points as if they are fact, they certainly are not. The biggest threat to this country are the dishonest, liberal, socialist scumbags attracted to the profession of politics. Good honest people do not get into politics because they don’t want the stench on themselves or their families. Term limits is the only way to get the scum out of politics and the lack thereof is the biggest threat to our freedom.

  • Mr. Sparkles March 10, 2018, 10:29 am

    I have no idea what kind of a soldier Mr. Mast really was, but I give him kudos for being a great politician. Jumping on the bandwagon and getting out in front of the issue is amazing. Not only did he manage to promote himself but he used the Democrat approach of talking about his injuries to mask the fact that he is attempting to take the rights granted all of us in the constitution.

    I suggest he focuses his energy on addressing the real issues facing his constituency and not on his political career and re-election.

  • Darryl March 10, 2018, 5:40 am

    one thing i’d like to bring up is out of all these shootings i’ve yet to see these cops with all their toys go in to a place and try to take out the bad guy. all i ever see is them standing around by the hundreds waiting till it’s over and then round up all the victim’s that are still alive and walk them out. i know it a tuff job but why take the job if you’re not going to go in and clean house. as with the ones of late and now this last one of the soldier with PTSD who killed the 3 ladies and himself. the cops had hours and hours to try and do something but all we see are the pictures of them standing around their commando trucks with $10,000 worth of stuff on them and doing nothing just waiting for the guy to kill everyone as they did in the Fl. school shooting and by what now we know with all the reports that have come out.

    • Stephen March 10, 2018, 5:14 pm

      They are “standing” there because they have been ordered to stand there. Blame the ones at the top, not the grunts on the street.

      • Chris Mallory March 11, 2018, 5:06 pm

        Those “grunts on the street” have moral agency and the ability to do what is right, no matter what their orders are. If they are standing around while kids get shot, they are cowards, PERIOD.

  • kneedragger79 March 9, 2018, 11:00 pm

    Where are the father’s to these kids? Fatherlessness leads to gun violence without question. The morals of American people has been going downhill for generations. Why is there no-fault divorce, nearly three-thousand babies are slaughtered every single day, the state sponsors sodomy along with many other issues? And people still want to blame a gun. Bet it doesn’t work, even if they could take away all of our guns.

  • Barry March 9, 2018, 7:36 pm

    Now that’s not fair– confusing the issue with facts and reason. How are these guys going to accomplish the UN’s gun confiscation program if you keep arguing that way?

  • Smitty March 9, 2018, 7:20 pm

    Amen Brother,
    Clay, I cannot understand how someone serves in the military, combat vet or otherwise and does not gain a full understanding of how important defending the Constitution is. How do you take that oath and not get it? With me it has been a thing of the longer I’ve been out the more obviously important that oath and the Constitution have become, and I now feel that oath never expires. I digress. Your a little younger than me and I just want to say Thank You for this article. You are more up to date/ knowledgeable about the fine details of today’s weapons and tactics which gives you the “quals” to call “BULLSHIT”. I’ve been out 30 years and it’s a different world in how we train now as opposed to those days. We were woefully inadequate but willing none the less (Regan was getting us out of the stone ages). I don’t know what happened to this young man. After what he sacrificed it just seems a waste.

  • Paul Heinz March 9, 2018, 5:28 pm

    Clay I knew there was a reason I like you. I just wish MSNBC would interview you. Of coarse Mika is the one you would need to take out first The guy is that pussy you referred to with regard to the congressman. Please keep up the good work you do and of coarse thanks for your service. As long as we have men like you we will all be much safer. Have you considered your own clothing line? You and I do spend all our time on what to wear today.

  • Rich Creech March 9, 2018, 4:56 pm

    Very well said Clay!
    This article should go viral and anyone who reads it and agrees with what Mr. Martin said should send this to everyone they know.
    I didn’t serve, have had non of the excellent training or good and bad experiences that you have doing the job that you did, for yourself, your Country, and all of us, but, even I could tell that this guy is completely full of #%*+ or he has had some serious damage to his memory/brain. If injury caused this I truly feel bad for him and appreciate that he went to fight, but, if he’s just some poser claiming more than what he did or let someone else write his statement to make points toward his anti gun agenda then f%*+ him.

  • mark haney March 9, 2018, 3:32 pm

    why does mika always look like she is on drugs. i agree with the rebuttal and believe that what they did won’t save one life because it won’t stop a lunatic from finding a “weapon” whether a black rifle or bomb but the politicians are intent on taking guns away from law abiding citizens.

  • Billy M March 9, 2018, 3:26 pm

    Thanks Clay! Not only for your service but for a great article. Those were great points. There are a couple of questions I do have. I have heard the 5.56 does not ‘tumble’ out of the shorter barrels in distances less than 50 yards (I know that other factors can change that) and at what distance are these shooters engaging these students’ (I can’t see them being more than 25-40 yards and that being a hallway)?

  • Dave Brown March 9, 2018, 2:09 pm

    Well I did not read it word for word, but in my 65 years I have seen it all anyway. The NRA brought me into Guns 53 years ago at age 12, and I have been hunting and shooting since. I do not plan to slow down any, and maybe I will pick up an AR to go with My SKSs, one is a BullPup, way cool, and my AKs, 2 rifles, 2 pistols with arm braces, a bunch of MAC type most with arm braces. Thus I am a Gunner, but I am also a GrandPa. Thus I support FL new possible Law as they may be just shitting us, sad for them if they do. I have lived in days with those same rules, yes we tried them before. Course the biggest form of gun control is our FFL System, which I support. Enough Said, other then I am not a left or right kind of guy. I do not walk lock step with any party or person. I have voted since my Draft Card days, #252 Vet Nam Time. And, I know some More rules ain’t gonna be a big thing, and no they will not lead to more and more as so many fear. Lest I do not give into mindless fear that or Black Powder 2nd will be hurt in anyway.

  • Allen Lawson March 9, 2018, 1:17 pm

    This piece should be required reading . Bottom line you can BS some of the people some of the time but not most of us most of the time . It’s kinda hard for me to believe that mast actually said all that crap. Maybe something is wrong with the man . Oh yes what a 5.56 won’t do is more scary than what it will do.

  • Jimothy March 9, 2018, 12:57 pm

    While you made excellent, and brutal points, many people in the military are not gun people and have only the basic info retained on their weapon. I know plenty that would make these same mistakes. Does everyone who drives a car know what 2.4 liters mean? Can they even change their own oil? There is a whole industry to do just that. I agree with you on most of your points, but I’m a gun person. This guy is not.

    • David Miller March 9, 2018, 5:33 pm

      If so then he should not be speaking as if he were. He should be brought to task and was for his misleading comments.
      He is influencing others with his commentary so best his comments be corrected by a person with the knowledge to do it.
      We are all saddened by what happened in Florida, but had we followed the proper way of handling people who break the law,
      the shooter would have had a police record for felony assault back when he was 14 and threatened his mother. Again just months before when should have been arrested and charged with another felony, He was given other options by the very school system in which he became the shooter…the killer. He would have never had those guns, and would not have been permitted to purchase other weapons. Do some research about the background of the shooter don’t take my word about this.

  • Mike March 9, 2018, 12:56 pm

    As a combat vet myself, I have never seen infantry clear mines. This was done by engineers and bomb specialists. Second, if your life in the military was so bad why did you re-enlist and stay 12 years? I would discount whatever you believe your expertise is.

  • Joe March 9, 2018, 12:42 pm

    Yeah, I was EOD attached to JSOC 2008-2009 and had a M4 w/ EOTech and only carried 4 mags. And as for the m9, it was only used to walk to the DFAC! Is this guy really a veteran? That was a lot of facts to get wrong.

    • Clay Martin March 10, 2018, 1:10 am

      glad to hear from you brother. this whole thing smelled fishy as fuck, and it is good to have other voices with experience rogering up with the same. Put your feelers out, see if anyone you know served with this dude. EOD is small community, I’d be curious to know if anyone remembers him.

  • K.C. March 9, 2018, 12:39 pm

    Clay, Well. Well said. Mast seems to be riding the wave of liberal emotion and agenda to benefit his way up the political ladder….Willing to sacrifice all who take the 2nd as a right and not a gift to the wolves of the “higher echelon” who “know what we need” and what we “do not need”. I prefer knowing and needing FREEDOM……out.

  • Michael Keim March 9, 2018, 12:08 pm

    2 points to keep in mind: The anti gunners want ALL guns out of our hands no matter what they say about “”common sense gun safety laws”. Second point is that the vast majority of politicians are lying dishonorable assholes who will be in favor of whatever they think will get them votes.

  • Lance March 9, 2018, 10:54 am

    Well done Clay. I agree totally with your assessment. I had alarm bells going off with his statements. It would be interesting to actually check his records and see if we have another great pretender. It’s amazing that his M4 barrel held up to tens of thousands of rounds- he must have had a magical barrel. One of our greatest generals in the Revolutionary War was a traitor and so is this scum. Another Benedict Arnold!

  • Sage March 9, 2018, 10:54 am

    All I can say is ‘Amen Bro’. Keep telling it like it is ’cause these politicians are just going to keep on spooning the BS. Semper Fi

  • Tim March 9, 2018, 10:22 am

    You want to really stop these shooting?? Then look at who’s really doing them. Hired mercenaries (both foreign and domestic) by our own US government. We are so quick to believe whatever we see and hear because “why would the media and government lie about something like this”?…right?
    Not one jid was shot or killed at this school. All shots were blanks. Why were EMTs not rushing wounded/dying kids out? Why are their no mass funeral processions? Why are none of the kids interview that say there was “without a doubt” multiple shooter?
    Why did one girl say that there were “army people” there before they even evacuated from the fire alarm?
    Why won’t the media play the interview of a teacher that said she saw the shooter in head to toe tactical gear with even helmet and mask? Nicholas Cruz had no gear at all…And why won’t the media play the interview of the girl that stated she was walking and talking with Nicholas Cruz right after the fire alarm went off and heard gun shots while walking with him?
    Why are we all so afraid to look at the truth? Why are you all so afraid to find out that our government is behind ALL of these “mass shootings” in order to destabilize this nation and to strip the 2nd amendment? The 1st amendment is next and Youtube has already been deleting all videos exposing this “shooting” as another one of MANY false flags

    • Michael Keim March 9, 2018, 11:57 am

      Do you wear a tin foil hat?

    • Andy March 9, 2018, 12:01 pm

      Why don’t you crawl back under whatever the hell rock you came from under to post this nonsense? You must be a liberal plant.

  • Mike March 9, 2018, 10:20 am

    This feeds in to exactly what I wrote in response to another story earlier today. You see the gun grabbers for which this goon is one of them get so giddy when they see their ultimate plan coming to fruition. They are not going to go after the gun at first. They are going to start with the accessories. Yes first it is the bump stocks then the stock itself. Then the pistol grip followed by nobody needs a 30 round magazine. Let me stop and ask a question. Does that mean military and law enforcement as well? Then the type of projectile and then finally all you will be left with is a paper weight or wall hanger. The anti gunners have taken a page from the play book of rules of engagement. Attack on multiple areas enough that the person being attacked won’t know what hit them when the real attack comes. They will be too tired and depleted to mount any formidable offense. It’s coming folks. Line needs to be drawn in the sand and this time if it is crossed they need to be shown what the cost will be. It rest assured will be very expensive. The cost will be too much for most of the pussified snowflakes like this has been is

  • Sean March 9, 2018, 10:17 am

    Just cause someone joins the armed forces doesn’t automatically make them a “hero” there are lots of pieces of shit that join too, mostly for the free everything tghe government provides. Does anybody remember when we invaded Iraq in ’01? There were gang bangers tagging their tanks and humvees with their gang signs and shooting fellow troops that weren’t in their gang! What a bunch of winners! This hypocrite is so full of it he tastes intestines. Too bad the i.e.d. didn’t get his top half. We don’t need him around stirring the pot with his filthy jargon.

  • Miles Mueller March 9, 2018, 10:15 am

    Well spoken, Clay!

    I never served (my sons plan on it though), and there were certainly a few observations from someone who had been there that sufficiently calls the guys’ statements into question regarding what equipment, arms and ammo the average soldier carries into battle with them.

    Gonna borrow a link to this article and share it with my RKBA brethren, thanks for posting!

  • Andy March 9, 2018, 9:53 am

    Not too long ago, I had a lot of respect for this guy. Now he is just another worthless POS democrat. He is just as worthless as the Florida Gov and every other worthless republican or RINO that thinks any law would have stopped the FBI from their dereliction of duty, the Pelosi-like Sheriff Israel Scott wackjob from his dereliction of duty and the implementation of the violence promoting Eric Holder PROMISE program that he says is “Outstanding”… which was forced on schools under threat of Federal Civil Rights Violations and greased with money to make the bribe/threat more palatable… after all, it wasn’t like the taxpayer money being stolen to fund the program came from the pockets of people that mattered. We are watching our country be destroyed right in front of our eyes and we will not be able to stop it. Trump can hold it off for the meantime but when the next Obama, that is the next Farrakhan loving democrat, like Kamala Harris, Keith Ellis have the revolving door greased again for the racists like Al Sharpton to come and go as they please, we will be in bigger trouble. Republicans watch and learn but do nothing, Democrats watch and learn and implement more destruction every chance they get.

  • joefoam March 9, 2018, 9:50 am

    Clay- excellent and informative article. Taking on and rebutting this politician point by point was a good read. Goes to show that even servicemen can be clueless or this one is an outright liar pandering for votes. Attention voters in FL, you elected this POS, vote him out.

  • krinkov54t March 9, 2018, 9:20 am

    Some inform this clueless bonehead that the drugged up insane mass murderer can get the deed accomplished with a shotgun, pistol, revolver, ordinary rifle, sword, katana, knife, club…… it’s called the law of substitution.

  • D.J. March 9, 2018, 9:18 am

    Right-on , Mr. Martin ! Good show , that !
    No one could have said it better . My hat is off to you , sir .

  • Rex Dickerson March 9, 2018, 9:14 am

    Brilliant point counterpoint Clay. In the alternate universe, you were responding to Mast on that damnable show in real time.

  • Bob March 9, 2018, 9:08 am

    Rock on Clay: Rifles are kryptonite to tyranny!
    I just hope the Dumb A$$ES that come for our guns, have their Insurance Policies up to date, because their Families are going to need it!!!
    Being a Disabled Service Connected Combat Veteran myself, I might not Survive the Fight but I can promise you this: I will not go down without a Fight and these Pricks will know that Fought a REAL MAN and not a Snow Flake!
    In Liberty, Bob

  • Frank March 9, 2018, 8:54 am

    No disrespect meant to are armed forces but I’m tired of people putting military people on a pedestal just because the served. Many of the military are people that are clueless about firearms when going in. They are just people with all different backgrounds, opinions, political views and otherwise. Many I’ve met also think only military deserves a so called assault weapon. They’ve been brainwashed to think the constitution they’re protecting is for the government. It says the right of the people not the government. Obviously the weapons protected are the ones designed to kill people how else would the people fight tyranny. Dolts like this guy say I believe in the 2nd in one breath and we don’t want to take guns away. Then the next breath say we need to take assault weapons away. Oh and by the way saying your a NRA member or republican means nothing the NRA has been responsible for taking our gun rights away forever they are back stabbers.

    • Dr. English March 9, 2018, 10:35 am

      Hey Frankie……I call BS. Prove your contention the NRA is “responsible for taking our gun rights away”. I have no evidence the NRA has back stabbed the membership. You’re either a left wing troll or some form gun hating idiot who conveniently calls himself a 2A supporter and love to snipe at the Association. So…….where’s your proof.

      • mark haney March 9, 2018, 3:47 pm

        the NRA was first to say it would be a good compromise to ban the bump stock and what came of it was a bill that says any means of increasing the firing rate. Watch MAC gun channel on you tube as he fired about 300 rounds like an automatic weapon using his finger only and details what the NRA did and what the new gun bill entails that is going before congress now.

      • Frank March 9, 2018, 7:22 pm

        I am no troll I am a true American 2a supporter unlike most. The NRA has said many times they believe machine guns are not for ordinary people. Do some research about the NRA and the 1934 gun control act, 1968 gun control act, the firearm owners protection act 1986, and Hughes amendment. Don’t wear blinders when doing research and you will see how the NRA thinks it’s ok to trade some of our rights I believe in trading none. Don’t get me wrong the NRA has done some good things but the GOA doesn’t believe in compromising with our rights.

  • Bill Goodwin March 9, 2018, 8:46 am

    Great article, Clay. Mast’s biggest problem is his gullibility to be led and prompted by MSNBC. The ssddest part is that there are a bunch of dipwads just like him making laws for the rest of us.

  • Dave Kieta March 9, 2018, 8:34 am

    Clay, You are the man! I enjoy your style of writing. Look forward to your articles and emails everyday. Thanks again

  • Rip March 9, 2018, 8:34 am

    VOTE HIM OUT!!!!!!

  • BOhio March 9, 2018, 8:23 am

    The 2nd Amendment was implemented to ensure the PEOPLE are ultimately in charge — NOT the government. It’s not about deer hunting, school shootings, etc.

    MOLON LABE.

  • Carl March 9, 2018, 8:20 am

    I saw his interview before reading Clays’ response. Bravo Sir! I can’t believe this hack is in Florida attempting his rhetoric. Wake up Florida he needs to go at the next vote.

    • Dr. English March 9, 2018, 10:40 am

      Unfortunately Florida is on the quick track to becoming just another California, Connecticut or Massatwoshits. Once the libtard Yankees come to your community they will stop at nothing short of getting their way. The fight to keep our rights has just been amped up. It’s now our time to punch back.

  • tom March 9, 2018, 8:03 am

    An informed rebuttal. I’m sure we’ll see it posted in the NYT (just a little sarcasm). Deviating from the truth is, sadly, a common tactic used by politicians and Hollywood entertainers. Hollywood calls it “artistic license”. Politicians tend to ignore the lies and inaccuracies unless caught and then they will usually ignore the correction (HRC and sniper fire). Media outlets will only print retractions/corrections when caught but will pass off Mr. Mast’s inaccuracies without verification because they were made by him rather than by the publisher. Can anybody explain Mr. Couch’s reference to “Jessup”? I feel like I’m missing something. But I agree with Patrick. There are still honest, reasonable and rational people out there (many who don’t even own guns) who could benefit from informed comment and rebuttal from people like Clay Martin and Dana Loesch.

  • tom davis March 9, 2018, 7:48 am

    An informed rebuttal. I’m sure we’ll see it posted in the NYT (just a little sarcasm). Deviating from the truth is, sadly, a common tactic used by politicians and Hollywood entertainers. Hollywood calls it “artistic license”. Politicians tend to ignore the lies and inaccuracies unless caught and then they will usually ignore the correction (HRC and sniper fire). Media outlets will only print retractions/corrections when caught but will pass off Mr. Mast’s inaccuracies without verification because they were made by him rather than by the publisher. Can anybody explain Mr. Couch’s reference to “Jessup”? I feel like I’m missing something. But I agree with Patrick. There are still honest, reasonable and rational people out there (many who don’t even own guns) who could benefit from informed comment and rebuttal from people like Clay Martin and Dana Loesch.

  • Wayne March 9, 2018, 7:31 am

    Chris – enjoyed your response. Spoken like a true Dark Triad Man. Keep up the great work!

    • tom davis March 9, 2018, 7:51 am

      Chris?

  • Dr Motown March 9, 2018, 7:23 am

    I’m sure most of us were suckered into donating to Mast’s campaigns with his sympathy-eliciting pictures of his prosthetic legs…NO MORE, dude. You’ll never get another dime from me after this ridiculous and stupid interview

  • Mike March 9, 2018, 7:13 am

    Well done Clay! That’s the expertise in writing and combat I like your your articles for!

    • deanbob March 9, 2018, 8:42 am

      Roger that!

  • Alex March 9, 2018, 7:08 am

    I respect his service to our country but that doesn’t make him an expert or the final word on what each individual citizen has the god given right to own. You see Rep. Mast, was not born on a communist country like I was, so I don’t have the battlefield experience but I do know very well what it is to live in a totalitarian government. I hope Rep. Mast reads these posts. If he doesn’t think an AR15 should be owned by citizens look at what’s happening in Venezuela now. He lives under a fallacy that the U.S. is impervious to radical change. Think again Rep. Mast look who this country elected 8 years ago.

  • Steve in Detroit March 9, 2018, 6:51 am

    The Politician lies, who would have thought. Politicians are owned by Donors. They work, not for that $190 K a year we pay them, a long with 50% pay after 2 terms and lifetime “Cadillac” Health Plan that We also pay for, but for the $500 K “Donations” from donors from both spectrums. Politicians are the cancer that is eating the U.S.

  • The quietman March 9, 2018, 6:29 am

    I wrote the good congressman a rebuttal letter a few days ago. Asking pretty much the same questions. Since I live in South GA and active in our local veterans group I invited him to come speak with us at our next meeting so we can discuss his claims further. Good job man on calling him out in a public forum. If he does come for a visit I’ll pass along his defense. Keep up the good work

  • Sam March 9, 2018, 6:14 am

    To much left wing positioned news coverage. It is so obvious at every turn. These people don’t know one end of a rifle from the other and this army veteran Brian may have been a cook for all I know. Sounds like it anyway.

  • Duck March 9, 2018, 6:03 am

    What slays me is RINO’S got in office by siding with us and the NRA. Told us it was the Dems that wanted to take our guns. But… it is the rino’s who are passing the laws, Trump wants to take guns ask questions later, he sided with Diane Frankenstein about her bill banning assault rifles..add it on he said! The NRA made him walk it back, GOP in Florida passing gun laws……8 years of Obomba….no new gun regulations……Reagan passed original gun laws in Cali…….. we have been lied to time and time again by the GOP! So now what? We now know REALLY wants to disarm us….it’s the Grand Old Party…….

    • tom davis March 9, 2018, 7:58 am

      Political party affiliation has nothing to do with gun grabbers. There are staunch advocates and detractors in all parties. I think it comes down to a desire to remove a potential threat against big government and judicial legislation. People with power and authority want to be able to exercise it without the restraint of an armed public.

  • Ugly Driver March 9, 2018, 5:34 am

    Thank you Clay.
    Makes me want to go back as soon as possible. Too many cowards on this side of the pond. We defend and they squander.

  • Stan Karamol March 9, 2018, 5:25 am

    Spot on Clay, as a Iraq, Afghanistan Vet myself I personally think he is full of crap he sold out. Bottom line!!!!!!!!! Oh and by the way I was just a grunt.

    • Clay Martin March 10, 2018, 1:17 am

      This nation wouldn’t exist without Grunts. thanks for rogering up.

  • Craig March 9, 2018, 3:36 am

    Strong Work Clay! Very well stated & Thank you!

  • SuperG March 6, 2018, 10:40 am

    Follow the money trail. His top contributor is MacAndrews & Frobes, which is also a contributor to Schumer, Visclosky, and Kamala Harris. MacAndrews & Frobes is owned by Democrat billionaire Ronald Perelman. The ultimate in hypocrisy is that Perelman always travels with 2 armed bodyguards though. So in typical Democrat fashion, guns are good for me but not for you, is the mantra of the day.

  • Scott Couch March 6, 2018, 8:56 am

    Is this guy related to Jessup?

    • CLAYTON MARTIN March 6, 2018, 3:03 pm

      LMAO. Good question brother!

  • Will Drider March 6, 2018, 2:19 am

    You should have told that asshat that no mass shooter in the U.S. has ever used a Military M16 which has select fire burst/full auto! The civilian AR15 is not the equivalent of whatever the hell he thinks he had. His attempt at tear jerking comparisons is as irrelevant as his supect Combat Load. I think his “combat 20 rd Mag” comment was a tie into the Parkland murdered who only used 20 rounders: to push them as modern tools of war.

    When there are insurgent or host nation soldier/police attacks on U.S. Forces do we disarm OUR Troops? NO!
    Why then would you want to partally/fully disarm the law-abiding citizens after criminal attacks in the U.S.?
    Is there some specified number of abuses that mandate a change to the Constitution and Bill of Rights?
    Damn gun grabbers and anti-gun politicians aren’t satisified when the mass murder is dead or captured/convicted and Justice is Served as they woud be for any other crime. They use the dead and injured as their Blood Mascots to push for COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT (look it up) of all firearm owners for the actions of a relatively few individuals.

    All you devisive firearm owners that don’t care about firearms you don’t like: wake the hell up! Look at the swath of 2A Rights being eliminated with the no gun until 21 push! Thats not just “Evil black guns” thats all guns for an entire Class of Americans. Make no mistake the gun grabbers will come for yours sooner or later. As soon as MSRs and “high cap” mags are banned they will target the next group ant it will never stop!

    • Mark N. March 6, 2018, 11:51 pm

      Umm, the Parkland killer used 10 round mags.

      • mark haney March 9, 2018, 3:53 pm

        that hasn’t stopped some of the legislators from adding ban on high capacity magazines in some of the bills, i think they just assumed he had high capacity mags.

    • Sam March 9, 2018, 6:14 am

      I agree the guy is totally stupid.

  • Steve G March 5, 2018, 9:16 pm

    Clay – thank you for responding to this cuck and taking him point by point. It’s easy for any of us to see many of the holes in his lame argument, but without your background we wouldn’t be able to see he is taking liberties with his “facts” at a minimum.

    • Sam March 9, 2018, 6:20 am

      The same is true with California politicians and a lot of others. They have no real understanding of guns and their uses but they want to govern the use of all of them. Guns do not kill people–people kill people. The number of deaths from car wrecks and overdoses in the short period of time I been following all this gun control cramp is shameful. The politicians need to redirect their efforts where the real problems exist.

  • De March 5, 2018, 7:14 pm

    Well said. It’s easy to go with whatever the mob wants (easy) vs what is right. Keep at it, Clay

  • Patrick March 5, 2018, 7:08 pm

    Bravo Clay! Damn we need YOU on that damn brainwash box countering these yahoos!

  • Bobs yer uncle March 5, 2018, 5:23 pm

    Wow! Clay, who knew you were so articulate? There must be some way to respect Mast’s service and sacrifice and at the same time politely tell him to go………………………

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