Robert H. Boatman
1941 - 2009
1941 - 2009
Living with Glocks
It is a sad irony that I never interviewed my own father about his books. Robert Boatman’s passing in April 2009 on a warm Spring day with me by his side marked the end of a chapter, but not the end of the story.
There is a short list of efforts a man can leave behind that ensure his legacy; a book written with passion and conviction is one of them. Living with Glocks is not just a book about guns, it’s a book about man’s responsibility to take command of his individual destiny, his duty to keep those he loves safe and his accountability to the maintenance of the social structures upon which his prosperity and liberty depend.
To my father, the Glock pistol was personal-empowerment incarnate. He didn’t see the Glock as the do-all firearm to replace all other handguns. He saw the Glock as the ultimate “Volkspistole” or People’s Pistol. Like the original Volkswagen, Glocks are homely, tough, inexpensive, light and run forever. These qualities make Glocks perfect for properly trained ordinary citizens to use for self defense.
For almost 100 years, the 1911 was the standard for the semiauto handgun. Dad never claimed that black plastic should supplant shiny, super-accurate, finicky, heavy and expensive steel, but he did recognize that practicality demanded a modernized semiauto. Gaston Glock’s creation filled that need and Dad was one of the first to truly understand and appreciate how well the new-fangled pistol was suited to the thankless job of being the common man’s fighting gun.
When Living with Glocks was published, there were few gun manufacturers who yet dared follow Gaston's lead into the future. Polymer-framed pistols were still the exception back then rather than the rule they are today. Living with Glocks is the firsthand chronicle of one man’s reluctant reconciliation with the “Polymer Age.” It’s the unofficial record of the events that eventually established Glock pistols as the New Standard in Combat Handguns.
Dad’s unapologetic assertions about guns and society in the book flew in the face of all held holy by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and similarly inclined groups of “quivering souls steeped in terror at the thought of independent decision-making and freedom-of-action on the part of their distrusted fellow man.” Although there is hardly a single politically correct sentence in Living with Glocks, it is much more than an impassioned rant. Every statement is backed-up by firsthand experience and carefully researched statistics.
Living with Glocks is controversial, even within the gun world, because Robert Boatman never compromised, least of all on the Second Amendment. He is the unofficial poet laureate of the Right-to-Keep-and-Bare-Arms community. Chapter 20 is the infamous essay that launched a magazine, a radio show and is reprinted by instructors and activists all over the nation. The Constitutional Right and Social Obligation to Carry a Gun has been adopted as a manifesto for Constitutionalists and those who take the protection of themselves, their loved ones and their country seriously.
When his book, Living with Glocks came out, Dad agreed to several interviews on radio and in print. The interview transcribed below was conducted by Jon Dwayne in Boise, Idaho. One of the people who called in to speak with my dad on the air was none-other than Gary Gelson of the Idaho Automatic Weapons Collectors Association. Wait till you read what Colonel Jeff Cooper told Gary about Gaston Glock’s candid sentiments toward his own invention. I don’t know what to make of it myself! Gary also has an anecdote about Massad Ayoob’s initial take on the Fantastic Plastic Pistol from Austria. Massad has finally come around to the “Dark Side” since those days, but reluctantly.
Living with Glocks was released in 2002, so some of the data is unavoidably out of date. There have been new models released, websites have changed, and world events have reshaped gun policy, but a man’s story - his convictions and passions - never change when they are based on truth. Robert Boatman was perhaps the staunchest supporter of the true spirit of the United States who ever wrote. Today that makes him sound like something of a radical, but his words will live on as a beacon in the otherwise dark ages of the late 20th century.
“Only when the custom of carrying a gun once again achieves its deserved high level of social legitimacy and political priority will this county get back on the track of respect for human freedom and dignity that has set it apart from the rest of the world for two centuries.”
There is a short list of efforts a man can leave behind that ensure his legacy; a book written with passion and conviction is one of them. Living with Glocks is not just a book about guns, it’s a book about man’s responsibility to take command of his individual destiny, his duty to keep those he loves safe and his accountability to the maintenance of the social structures upon which his prosperity and liberty depend.
To my father, the Glock pistol was personal-empowerment incarnate. He didn’t see the Glock as the do-all firearm to replace all other handguns. He saw the Glock as the ultimate “Volkspistole” or People’s Pistol. Like the original Volkswagen, Glocks are homely, tough, inexpensive, light and run forever. These qualities make Glocks perfect for properly trained ordinary citizens to use for self defense.
For almost 100 years, the 1911 was the standard for the semiauto handgun. Dad never claimed that black plastic should supplant shiny, super-accurate, finicky, heavy and expensive steel, but he did recognize that practicality demanded a modernized semiauto. Gaston Glock’s creation filled that need and Dad was one of the first to truly understand and appreciate how well the new-fangled pistol was suited to the thankless job of being the common man’s fighting gun.
When Living with Glocks was published, there were few gun manufacturers who yet dared follow Gaston's lead into the future. Polymer-framed pistols were still the exception back then rather than the rule they are today. Living with Glocks is the firsthand chronicle of one man’s reluctant reconciliation with the “Polymer Age.” It’s the unofficial record of the events that eventually established Glock pistols as the New Standard in Combat Handguns.
Dad’s unapologetic assertions about guns and society in the book flew in the face of all held holy by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and similarly inclined groups of “quivering souls steeped in terror at the thought of independent decision-making and freedom-of-action on the part of their distrusted fellow man.” Although there is hardly a single politically correct sentence in Living with Glocks, it is much more than an impassioned rant. Every statement is backed-up by firsthand experience and carefully researched statistics.
Living with Glocks is controversial, even within the gun world, because Robert Boatman never compromised, least of all on the Second Amendment. He is the unofficial poet laureate of the Right-to-Keep-and-Bare-Arms community. Chapter 20 is the infamous essay that launched a magazine, a radio show and is reprinted by instructors and activists all over the nation. The Constitutional Right and Social Obligation to Carry a Gun has been adopted as a manifesto for Constitutionalists and those who take the protection of themselves, their loved ones and their country seriously.
When his book, Living with Glocks came out, Dad agreed to several interviews on radio and in print. The interview transcribed below was conducted by Jon Dwayne in Boise, Idaho. One of the people who called in to speak with my dad on the air was none-other than Gary Gelson of the Idaho Automatic Weapons Collectors Association. Wait till you read what Colonel Jeff Cooper told Gary about Gaston Glock’s candid sentiments toward his own invention. I don’t know what to make of it myself! Gary also has an anecdote about Massad Ayoob’s initial take on the Fantastic Plastic Pistol from Austria. Massad has finally come around to the “Dark Side” since those days, but reluctantly.
Living with Glocks was released in 2002, so some of the data is unavoidably out of date. There have been new models released, websites have changed, and world events have reshaped gun policy, but a man’s story - his convictions and passions - never change when they are based on truth. Robert Boatman was perhaps the staunchest supporter of the true spirit of the United States who ever wrote. Today that makes him sound like something of a radical, but his words will live on as a beacon in the otherwise dark ages of the late 20th century.
“Only when the custom of carrying a gun once again achieves its deserved high level of social legitimacy and political priority will this county get back on the track of respect for human freedom and dignity that has set it apart from the rest of the world for two centuries.”
“Idaho Today” broadcast live on July 12, 2002
Hosted by Jon Dwayne and Kris Kelly
KIDO Newsradio AM 630
Jon: We’ve been telling you all morning that Robert Boatman was going to be in-studio, and indeed he is here. Robert has written a book called Living with Glocks. And for those of you who don’t know, a Glock is handgun and probably one of the finest handguns made, or a lot of people say that anyway. He also worked with Helen Chenoweth as a political consultant, campaign consultant and also a bodyguard for Helen Chenoweth?
Robert: That’s true.
J: And was the editor or former editor of the Owyhee Avalanche which is a newspaper that’s a weekly in Owyhee County. You may have read some of his articles over there that were very critical of the BLM (Bureau of Land Management), and the government and people who do not like guns. Robert, welcome to the program. Good to see you. Glad you could be here.
R: Thank you, Jon.
J: You’re kind of outspoken on a lot of things. I’ve read some of your articles in the old Avalanche there. I believe Dan Popkey wrote a little thing about you calling you… what was it?
R: “Mean-spirited” seems to be the word that those Democrats love to use.
J: Are you mean-spirited?
R: No, I’m not mean-spirited. I think Dan Popkey may be.
J: What I was trying to figure out is why would Dan Popkey get involved with you. I mean here you’re a weekly newspaper. It’s Owyhee County. There are three vehicles in the entire place.
R: Yeah, well, I guess we created a little political stir over there by kind of going to war with the BLM. There repercussions felt even over here in Boise.
J: Why’d you go after the BLM?
R: The BLM has gone after the ranchers in Owyhee County. The BLM is acting like government bureaucracies tend to act and the ranchers are fighting for their lives over there.
J: You call the BLM an affirmative action tribe of liberalist females.
R: I did that, didn’t I.
J: Yes.
R: That was my impression of several of the meetings I sat through with them.
J: You actually got some of the people at the BLM not working for the BLM anymore.
R: Yeah, that’s what I understand.
J: You responsible for that?
R: Well, I can’t claim responsibility. I’d like to.
J: You and Larry Craig together?
R: I’ll take whatever credit I can get, but actually, I don’t know. I doubt I had that much to do with it. The BLM, they tend to be self-destructive over there in any case.
J: Why do they do that?
R: I don’t know. They’re those kind of people. They’re bureaucrats. They’re a different species.
J: Well it seems like they should understand what the problems are in Owyhee County. I mean it’s the bureau of land management, that’s their job.
R: Well they were supposed to in the beginning manage the range for the ranchers but now they’re just another environmentalist front organization trying to shut it down for everybody.
J: Also you say it’s your duty to carry a gun every moment of the day.
R: I believe that. I believe it’s been shown through all the recent research that that is the way to reduce crime. Criminals don’t want to take on people who are armed or who even may be armed. Even the possibility reduces crime dramatically.
J: Are you armed?
R: That’s not a polite question to ask, John.
J: Well, I asked it. Are you carrying a weapon in here? We have police in here, they carry weapons. It’s not against the law.
R: No, it’s perfectly legal.
J: I was going to bring a pistol this morning, have it in here for you. Just to let you know that I’m on your side.
R: Good.
J: I think it’s the public’s right to have and bear arms.
R: It certainly is. It’s more than their right, it’s their duty. If everybody, or more people went around carrying concealed handguns we’d have far less crime.
Hosted by Jon Dwayne and Kris Kelly
KIDO Newsradio AM 630
Jon: We’ve been telling you all morning that Robert Boatman was going to be in-studio, and indeed he is here. Robert has written a book called Living with Glocks. And for those of you who don’t know, a Glock is handgun and probably one of the finest handguns made, or a lot of people say that anyway. He also worked with Helen Chenoweth as a political consultant, campaign consultant and also a bodyguard for Helen Chenoweth?
Robert: That’s true.
J: And was the editor or former editor of the Owyhee Avalanche which is a newspaper that’s a weekly in Owyhee County. You may have read some of his articles over there that were very critical of the BLM (Bureau of Land Management), and the government and people who do not like guns. Robert, welcome to the program. Good to see you. Glad you could be here.
R: Thank you, Jon.
J: You’re kind of outspoken on a lot of things. I’ve read some of your articles in the old Avalanche there. I believe Dan Popkey wrote a little thing about you calling you… what was it?
R: “Mean-spirited” seems to be the word that those Democrats love to use.
J: Are you mean-spirited?
R: No, I’m not mean-spirited. I think Dan Popkey may be.
J: What I was trying to figure out is why would Dan Popkey get involved with you. I mean here you’re a weekly newspaper. It’s Owyhee County. There are three vehicles in the entire place.
R: Yeah, well, I guess we created a little political stir over there by kind of going to war with the BLM. There repercussions felt even over here in Boise.
J: Why’d you go after the BLM?
R: The BLM has gone after the ranchers in Owyhee County. The BLM is acting like government bureaucracies tend to act and the ranchers are fighting for their lives over there.
J: You call the BLM an affirmative action tribe of liberalist females.
R: I did that, didn’t I.
J: Yes.
R: That was my impression of several of the meetings I sat through with them.
J: You actually got some of the people at the BLM not working for the BLM anymore.
R: Yeah, that’s what I understand.
J: You responsible for that?
R: Well, I can’t claim responsibility. I’d like to.
J: You and Larry Craig together?
R: I’ll take whatever credit I can get, but actually, I don’t know. I doubt I had that much to do with it. The BLM, they tend to be self-destructive over there in any case.
J: Why do they do that?
R: I don’t know. They’re those kind of people. They’re bureaucrats. They’re a different species.
J: Well it seems like they should understand what the problems are in Owyhee County. I mean it’s the bureau of land management, that’s their job.
R: Well they were supposed to in the beginning manage the range for the ranchers but now they’re just another environmentalist front organization trying to shut it down for everybody.
J: Also you say it’s your duty to carry a gun every moment of the day.
R: I believe that. I believe it’s been shown through all the recent research that that is the way to reduce crime. Criminals don’t want to take on people who are armed or who even may be armed. Even the possibility reduces crime dramatically.
J: Are you armed?
R: That’s not a polite question to ask, John.
J: Well, I asked it. Are you carrying a weapon in here? We have police in here, they carry weapons. It’s not against the law.
R: No, it’s perfectly legal.
J: I was going to bring a pistol this morning, have it in here for you. Just to let you know that I’m on your side.
R: Good.
J: I think it’s the public’s right to have and bear arms.
R: It certainly is. It’s more than their right, it’s their duty. If everybody, or more people went around carrying concealed handguns we’d have far less crime.
J: You have a concealed weapons permit?
R: Sure.
J: I don’t have one of those so I just put it on the dash, then it’s not concealed.
R: Yeah. I’m sorry that they’re necessary, that it’s necessary to have a government permit to protect yourself, but it is, and I cooperate with the law whenever it’s possible.
J: And when it’s not possible…?
R: Well, there are priorities in life and defending yourself is right up there.
J: Ever been arrested?
R: No.
J: Does the BLM have arresting power?
R: They do. I mean there are BLM cops which are a big threat. In a county like Owyhee County where 70-75% of the land is owned and managed by the BLM, the BLM police force has more power than even the county Sheriff in a place like that. It’s very frightening.
J: Can you cite any frightening experiences people have had with the BLM so-called police?
R: Not in Owyhee County lately, but over in Eastern Idaho, they went in with a SWAT team, submachine guns and everything and shutdown a museum over there because the owner of the museum had some Indian arrowheads that the BLM thought he shouldn’t have. So it’s quite possible that anything could happen with those people running around.
J: What about arrowheads? Why is it illegal to have arrowheads?
R: There was some question, I suppose, where he got them. He claimed he got them legally. But you know with all the federal rules and regulations about things it’s almost impossible not to break some law. Then, as soon as you do the BLM is there with a SWAT team to enforce it.
J: Is it illegal to pick up an arrowhead on the ground?
R: I think it probably is in most places, yeah.
J: Where in the hell did they ever come from then, if nobody ever picked them up?
R: That’s the gray area where the BLM cops can cause real problems for people.
J: So the ones we have now are OK as long as we don’t pick up any more?
R: Yeah well even some of the ones we have now aren’t OK. I think they charged this guy with …
J: What do they want to do with them, give them back to the Indians or what?
R: No, they want to confiscate them. They’re building a big BLM museum in Las Vegas and they want to put them in there. They want them for themselves.
J: Can you prove that?
Kris: A BLM museum in Las Vegas?
R: I know it sounds absurd, but those people are absurd.
J: You’ve written a book called Living with Glocks. This is the first time I’ve had an opportunity to see the book which you just brought in, but I have a little profile of what the book is about. You used to not use a Glock but had a Colt .45 I believe before.
R: Yes, most people call it a .45 Automatic, it’s a 1911. It’s what a lot of competitors and a lot of people shoot in competition and cops and private citizens use. It’s the classic defensive firearm. The transition from the 1911 to the Glock was kind of a rough one because there was a lot of resistance from going from the classic gun to the super-modern gun, and I went through that transition. That’s chapter one, going through that, which is pretty interesting for a gun person to have gone through. The Glock has many advantages over the 1911. I still have a 1911, several of them, and shoot them often, but the Glock is far more practical as a carry gun for private citizens and as a police and military weapon.
J: Practical as far as weight goes and firepower.
R: It’s very light, it’s very easy to shoot it can have a lot more firepower. It’s easy to maintain. It has a lot of advantages. It’s practically indestructible.
J: They’re made in Germany, is that right?
R: Austria.
J: Austria. OK, well next door. How many different models of Glocks are there?
R: There are dozens…
J: This is a big company, Glock.
R: It’s a huge company. They’ve sold two-and-a-half-million handguns so far. They have three different sizes basically; large, small and medium. And in every popular caliber; 10mm, .45, .40, 9mm and in Europe, they even sell .380s which nobody over here buys because their the same size as 9mms and .40 calibers.
R: Sure.
J: I don’t have one of those so I just put it on the dash, then it’s not concealed.
R: Yeah. I’m sorry that they’re necessary, that it’s necessary to have a government permit to protect yourself, but it is, and I cooperate with the law whenever it’s possible.
J: And when it’s not possible…?
R: Well, there are priorities in life and defending yourself is right up there.
J: Ever been arrested?
R: No.
J: Does the BLM have arresting power?
R: They do. I mean there are BLM cops which are a big threat. In a county like Owyhee County where 70-75% of the land is owned and managed by the BLM, the BLM police force has more power than even the county Sheriff in a place like that. It’s very frightening.
J: Can you cite any frightening experiences people have had with the BLM so-called police?
R: Not in Owyhee County lately, but over in Eastern Idaho, they went in with a SWAT team, submachine guns and everything and shutdown a museum over there because the owner of the museum had some Indian arrowheads that the BLM thought he shouldn’t have. So it’s quite possible that anything could happen with those people running around.
J: What about arrowheads? Why is it illegal to have arrowheads?
R: There was some question, I suppose, where he got them. He claimed he got them legally. But you know with all the federal rules and regulations about things it’s almost impossible not to break some law. Then, as soon as you do the BLM is there with a SWAT team to enforce it.
J: Is it illegal to pick up an arrowhead on the ground?
R: I think it probably is in most places, yeah.
J: Where in the hell did they ever come from then, if nobody ever picked them up?
R: That’s the gray area where the BLM cops can cause real problems for people.
J: So the ones we have now are OK as long as we don’t pick up any more?
R: Yeah well even some of the ones we have now aren’t OK. I think they charged this guy with …
J: What do they want to do with them, give them back to the Indians or what?
R: No, they want to confiscate them. They’re building a big BLM museum in Las Vegas and they want to put them in there. They want them for themselves.
J: Can you prove that?
Kris: A BLM museum in Las Vegas?
R: I know it sounds absurd, but those people are absurd.
J: You’ve written a book called Living with Glocks. This is the first time I’ve had an opportunity to see the book which you just brought in, but I have a little profile of what the book is about. You used to not use a Glock but had a Colt .45 I believe before.
R: Yes, most people call it a .45 Automatic, it’s a 1911. It’s what a lot of competitors and a lot of people shoot in competition and cops and private citizens use. It’s the classic defensive firearm. The transition from the 1911 to the Glock was kind of a rough one because there was a lot of resistance from going from the classic gun to the super-modern gun, and I went through that transition. That’s chapter one, going through that, which is pretty interesting for a gun person to have gone through. The Glock has many advantages over the 1911. I still have a 1911, several of them, and shoot them often, but the Glock is far more practical as a carry gun for private citizens and as a police and military weapon.
J: Practical as far as weight goes and firepower.
R: It’s very light, it’s very easy to shoot it can have a lot more firepower. It’s easy to maintain. It has a lot of advantages. It’s practically indestructible.
J: They’re made in Germany, is that right?
R: Austria.
J: Austria. OK, well next door. How many different models of Glocks are there?
R: There are dozens…
J: This is a big company, Glock.
R: It’s a huge company. They’ve sold two-and-a-half-million handguns so far. They have three different sizes basically; large, small and medium. And in every popular caliber; 10mm, .45, .40, 9mm and in Europe, they even sell .380s which nobody over here buys because their the same size as 9mms and .40 calibers.
J: When did you get interested in guns?
R: I’m from Texas, I was born interested in guns. I’ve carried a weapon since I was a kid. I’ve competed nationally in action pistol sports. We used to call it combat shooting, now they call it practical shooting. Guns have always been a part of my life.
J: Politically correct, right?
R: Right.
J: How’d you get involved with Helen Chenoweth?
R: I’d admired Helen from afar even when I was living in California and when I came here I volunteered to help out a little bit and just became more and more involved over time. Involved in her campaign and as I was also a gun person, it was really easy to also provide that service.
J: It says ‘campaign consultant.’ How did you consult the campaign? On usually gun issues?
R: On that, but also my background is marketing and advertising so I worked in that area as well.
J: Also as a bodyguard for Helen Chenoweth?
R: Yes. And all the visiting politicos.
J: How tough a job is that?
R: Well, it’s not very tough because the people who could be a potential threat to Helen are generally incompetent Lefties and there’s not much challenge there. I never had to shoot one.
J: Were you there when somebody threw a pie I guess up in North Idaho.
R: Yeah, I wasn’t there for that.
J: What would you have done?
R: Would I have shot the guy who threw the pie?
J: Yeah.
R: Oh I don’t know.
J: It’s kind of hard to shoot a guy for throwing a pie.
R: Seriously, you have to assess dangers. It’s real hard with political people because the guy might have had a knife instead of a pie, he might have had a gun instead of a pie. You have to instantly decide how serious the threat is; whether you can just step in front and whack him across the face or whether you have to blow his brains out.
J: I would hope you just whack him across the face.
R: I would hope so.
J: Robert Boatman is our guest. Living with Glocks is the name of the new book that he has written. We’ll open up the lines in just a minute. Robert used to work for Helen Chenoweth as campaign consultant. Were you a paid consultant, Robert?
R: I started out as volunteer, I became a paid consultant, yeah.
J: OK. And also a bodyguard. You were paid for the bodyguard work?
R: That came along with the job, I provided that service.
J: OK. The Owyhee Avalanche, the weekly newspaper in Owyhee County; you were recently fired as the editor of that magazine. Why were you fired?
R: Well, Joe Aman, the publisher had asked me to back off the BLM, and I had ignored that directive because the fight between the ranchers and the BLM was very important. Then Popkey wrote the article about me calling me mean-spirited and a week later, Joe fired me. A week later, the book came out so everything worked out fine.
J: There was also a story last week to where there is some sort of agreement the BLM has reached with either the county or local law-enforcement or the ranchers where they’re going to get along.
R: The BLM is bending under pressure, whether that’s permanent of temporary, we’ll see. They’re under a lot of pressure from the new administration to stop acting like the Clinton people that they really are, and we’ll see if it works out.
R: I’m from Texas, I was born interested in guns. I’ve carried a weapon since I was a kid. I’ve competed nationally in action pistol sports. We used to call it combat shooting, now they call it practical shooting. Guns have always been a part of my life.
J: Politically correct, right?
R: Right.
J: How’d you get involved with Helen Chenoweth?
R: I’d admired Helen from afar even when I was living in California and when I came here I volunteered to help out a little bit and just became more and more involved over time. Involved in her campaign and as I was also a gun person, it was really easy to also provide that service.
J: It says ‘campaign consultant.’ How did you consult the campaign? On usually gun issues?
R: On that, but also my background is marketing and advertising so I worked in that area as well.
J: Also as a bodyguard for Helen Chenoweth?
R: Yes. And all the visiting politicos.
J: How tough a job is that?
R: Well, it’s not very tough because the people who could be a potential threat to Helen are generally incompetent Lefties and there’s not much challenge there. I never had to shoot one.
J: Were you there when somebody threw a pie I guess up in North Idaho.
R: Yeah, I wasn’t there for that.
J: What would you have done?
R: Would I have shot the guy who threw the pie?
J: Yeah.
R: Oh I don’t know.
J: It’s kind of hard to shoot a guy for throwing a pie.
R: Seriously, you have to assess dangers. It’s real hard with political people because the guy might have had a knife instead of a pie, he might have had a gun instead of a pie. You have to instantly decide how serious the threat is; whether you can just step in front and whack him across the face or whether you have to blow his brains out.
J: I would hope you just whack him across the face.
R: I would hope so.
J: Robert Boatman is our guest. Living with Glocks is the name of the new book that he has written. We’ll open up the lines in just a minute. Robert used to work for Helen Chenoweth as campaign consultant. Were you a paid consultant, Robert?
R: I started out as volunteer, I became a paid consultant, yeah.
J: OK. And also a bodyguard. You were paid for the bodyguard work?
R: That came along with the job, I provided that service.
J: OK. The Owyhee Avalanche, the weekly newspaper in Owyhee County; you were recently fired as the editor of that magazine. Why were you fired?
R: Well, Joe Aman, the publisher had asked me to back off the BLM, and I had ignored that directive because the fight between the ranchers and the BLM was very important. Then Popkey wrote the article about me calling me mean-spirited and a week later, Joe fired me. A week later, the book came out so everything worked out fine.
J: There was also a story last week to where there is some sort of agreement the BLM has reached with either the county or local law-enforcement or the ranchers where they’re going to get along.
R: The BLM is bending under pressure, whether that’s permanent of temporary, we’ll see. They’re under a lot of pressure from the new administration to stop acting like the Clinton people that they really are, and we’ll see if it works out.
J: On line one, good morning, KIDO.
Caller: Hey, good morning.
J: Hey, good morning.
C: Mr. Boatman, I think Mr. Aman is a fool, but anyway that’s my opinion. I guess being truthful and opinionated and outspoken makes you mean-spirited, but I’ve always enjoyed your articles, in fact that’s why I get the Homedale paper all the time. I want to know how I’m going to get an autographed copy of your book.
R: Well, the book’s available through bookstores, amazon.com and Paladin Press, but if you want an autographed copy, you’ll have to go to my website which is www.boatmanbooks.com and I’ll be happy to sign one for you.
C: I appreciate that. The only thing I’ve ever held against you I guess is your choice of hats that you wear. Everything else, I agree with you. In fact I’ve cut out articles and pasted them in a scrapbook because they hit home so good.
R: Well, you know I have a new collection of cowboy hats now that I moved to Owyhee County.
C: Well that one you’re wearing in the picture in the paper, that’s just awful. That’s a terrible hat.
R: That’s a Boise hat.
C: It looks like a 1957 hat.
R: It is a 1957 hat.
K: It’s called vintage. Vintage-wear.
J: The one you have in-studio, is that the Boise hat?
R: No, this one is midway between Boise and Owyhee County. But I have some good cowboy hats now, but I don’t have any pictures of me. Actually I do on my website there’s a picture of me on the ranch with a cowboy hat. I just like hats. I love the fact that the people in Owyhee County wear hats, whatever kind of hats they wear.
C: Well, I wear hats all the time too.
J: Thanks for the call, appreciate it.
C: Bye.
Caller: Hey, good morning.
J: Hey, good morning.
C: Mr. Boatman, I think Mr. Aman is a fool, but anyway that’s my opinion. I guess being truthful and opinionated and outspoken makes you mean-spirited, but I’ve always enjoyed your articles, in fact that’s why I get the Homedale paper all the time. I want to know how I’m going to get an autographed copy of your book.
R: Well, the book’s available through bookstores, amazon.com and Paladin Press, but if you want an autographed copy, you’ll have to go to my website which is www.boatmanbooks.com and I’ll be happy to sign one for you.
C: I appreciate that. The only thing I’ve ever held against you I guess is your choice of hats that you wear. Everything else, I agree with you. In fact I’ve cut out articles and pasted them in a scrapbook because they hit home so good.
R: Well, you know I have a new collection of cowboy hats now that I moved to Owyhee County.
C: Well that one you’re wearing in the picture in the paper, that’s just awful. That’s a terrible hat.
R: That’s a Boise hat.
C: It looks like a 1957 hat.
R: It is a 1957 hat.
K: It’s called vintage. Vintage-wear.
J: The one you have in-studio, is that the Boise hat?
R: No, this one is midway between Boise and Owyhee County. But I have some good cowboy hats now, but I don’t have any pictures of me. Actually I do on my website there’s a picture of me on the ranch with a cowboy hat. I just like hats. I love the fact that the people in Owyhee County wear hats, whatever kind of hats they wear.
C: Well, I wear hats all the time too.
J: Thanks for the call, appreciate it.
C: Bye.
J: On to line 2, good morning, this is KIDO.
Gary: Hi Jon, hi Kris, hi Robert.
K: Hi.
G: This is Gary Gelson, I’m president of the Idaho Automatic Weapons Collectors Association. Jon, I hope we can arrange that shoot with Ted Nugent.
J: I think that’s just about a done deal.
G: I hope it is. It’s a scheduling deal. It’s about 85% a go.
J: The only thing we have to do is make sure Ted can get in town or be here in time to get it done.
G: We’ll make all the arrangements we can and the rest is up to his folks.
J: Yeah. We’re going to go create a brass pile.
K: That’s right.
G: Exactly. Hey Robert I wanted to get your comment on this: I was down at Gunsite back in April and I had a chance to speak with Jeff Cooper who I’m sure you know.
R: Sure.
G: And his comment was he met Gaston Glock over in Austria and was talking about the merits of 1911s versus his Glock pistol and Mr. Glock’s comment was, “Well I invented a throw-away gun for throw-away soldiers.”
R: That’s a pretty damning quote isn’t it?
G: I think it tells you a little bit about the mindset. I own both, I own 1911s that I shoot in competition. And for self defense and for everyday carry with my permit, of course, I carry a Glock .40.
R: Yeah, I own both too, Gary. And I think one of the things I like about the Glock, having been trained on the 1911, is that the transition is very easy and the Glock has many of the same advantages at the 1911.
G: Right.
R: Trigger control, balance, simplicity. It’s not one of those double-action crunch-n-ticker things that Jeff Cooper detests, and so do I and you probably do too.
G: His point was that there’s a place for them. In fact a lot of people in our class had Glocks and some of the better shooters were using Glocks. I also took a class from Massad Ayoob who you’ve probably also heard of. And we were in his classroom and he said, “What is a Glock armorer’s tool?” And the answer is: a tube of Super Glue.
R: Well, Massad is full of it and he has a strange sense of humor. I don’t see how you can call a throw-away gun something that routinely goes 350,000 rounds without breaking anything more than maybe a spring here and there. The torture tests these guns have been through are impressive. And performed by lots of people; people I know personally and people who publish the results of their documented torture tests and it’s just that these guns hold up far better than our beloved 1911 will to anything; to weather, to abuse to constant firing to firing under strenuous wartime conditions.
G: Another thing I like about the gun is it doesn’t have really nice pretty blued finish so if you should scratch it or something like that, this is an everyday carry gun and it’s not like a really fancy blued 1911 that you’re going to be really babying. So I agree with you and good luck on the book.
R: Thank you very much, Gary.
J: You know, the Glock people have just got to be thrilled with you.
R: Well, I don’t know if they are or not. They may be.
J: Well my God, you’re sitting here. I mean this is a major book that is just absolutely gorgeous and it’s all about Glock firearms.
R: It is. Well, there’s a lot to say about Glock firearms. Some people earlier on when they know I was doing the project who weren’t gun people said, “How can you write a whole book about one gun?” But it’s not one gun, it’s many guns and it replaces a whole class of firearms. It’s now carried by well-over 60% of all police forces and military forces worldwide. It’s the most popular civilian concealed-carry gun , and as Gary Gelson was just saying, there are other guns that people can fall in love with but this gun is practical, it’s built to save your life.
J: Did they pay you anything to …
R: No, they didn’t pay me anything.
J: Have they seen it yet?
R: I sent a copy to Gaston Glock, I haven’t heard back from him. I would like to talk to him and meet him one of these days. I would like his reaction but I have no idea what it will be. He’s known to be somewhat eccentric, so perhaps I’ll find out.
J: He’s got to be happy with this. Is every gun that Glock makes in this book?
R: Every single gun that Glock has ever made (up to 2002) is in that book.
J: My God.
K: Wow.
J: They’ve got to be ecstatic over there.
Gary: Hi Jon, hi Kris, hi Robert.
K: Hi.
G: This is Gary Gelson, I’m president of the Idaho Automatic Weapons Collectors Association. Jon, I hope we can arrange that shoot with Ted Nugent.
J: I think that’s just about a done deal.
G: I hope it is. It’s a scheduling deal. It’s about 85% a go.
J: The only thing we have to do is make sure Ted can get in town or be here in time to get it done.
G: We’ll make all the arrangements we can and the rest is up to his folks.
J: Yeah. We’re going to go create a brass pile.
K: That’s right.
G: Exactly. Hey Robert I wanted to get your comment on this: I was down at Gunsite back in April and I had a chance to speak with Jeff Cooper who I’m sure you know.
R: Sure.
G: And his comment was he met Gaston Glock over in Austria and was talking about the merits of 1911s versus his Glock pistol and Mr. Glock’s comment was, “Well I invented a throw-away gun for throw-away soldiers.”
R: That’s a pretty damning quote isn’t it?
G: I think it tells you a little bit about the mindset. I own both, I own 1911s that I shoot in competition. And for self defense and for everyday carry with my permit, of course, I carry a Glock .40.
R: Yeah, I own both too, Gary. And I think one of the things I like about the Glock, having been trained on the 1911, is that the transition is very easy and the Glock has many of the same advantages at the 1911.
G: Right.
R: Trigger control, balance, simplicity. It’s not one of those double-action crunch-n-ticker things that Jeff Cooper detests, and so do I and you probably do too.
G: His point was that there’s a place for them. In fact a lot of people in our class had Glocks and some of the better shooters were using Glocks. I also took a class from Massad Ayoob who you’ve probably also heard of. And we were in his classroom and he said, “What is a Glock armorer’s tool?” And the answer is: a tube of Super Glue.
R: Well, Massad is full of it and he has a strange sense of humor. I don’t see how you can call a throw-away gun something that routinely goes 350,000 rounds without breaking anything more than maybe a spring here and there. The torture tests these guns have been through are impressive. And performed by lots of people; people I know personally and people who publish the results of their documented torture tests and it’s just that these guns hold up far better than our beloved 1911 will to anything; to weather, to abuse to constant firing to firing under strenuous wartime conditions.
G: Another thing I like about the gun is it doesn’t have really nice pretty blued finish so if you should scratch it or something like that, this is an everyday carry gun and it’s not like a really fancy blued 1911 that you’re going to be really babying. So I agree with you and good luck on the book.
R: Thank you very much, Gary.
J: You know, the Glock people have just got to be thrilled with you.
R: Well, I don’t know if they are or not. They may be.
J: Well my God, you’re sitting here. I mean this is a major book that is just absolutely gorgeous and it’s all about Glock firearms.
R: It is. Well, there’s a lot to say about Glock firearms. Some people earlier on when they know I was doing the project who weren’t gun people said, “How can you write a whole book about one gun?” But it’s not one gun, it’s many guns and it replaces a whole class of firearms. It’s now carried by well-over 60% of all police forces and military forces worldwide. It’s the most popular civilian concealed-carry gun , and as Gary Gelson was just saying, there are other guns that people can fall in love with but this gun is practical, it’s built to save your life.
J: Did they pay you anything to …
R: No, they didn’t pay me anything.
J: Have they seen it yet?
R: I sent a copy to Gaston Glock, I haven’t heard back from him. I would like to talk to him and meet him one of these days. I would like his reaction but I have no idea what it will be. He’s known to be somewhat eccentric, so perhaps I’ll find out.
J: He’s got to be happy with this. Is every gun that Glock makes in this book?
R: Every single gun that Glock has ever made (up to 2002) is in that book.
J: My God.
K: Wow.
J: They’ve got to be ecstatic over there.
J: Back to the phones. Good morning, KIDO.
Stan: Well, Hi.
J: Good morning.
S: This is Stan. But they’re ugly! They’re ugly as sin.
R: You know, every time Mercedes comes out with a new model, I have the same feeling, “My God, they’re ugly!” But by the time a year has come and gone, they begin to define what beauty really is. It’s called “form follows function.”
S: Form follows function, yeah. But you can carry a good Sig or a Walther or a Beretta, they’re a lot prettier and they have the same thing.
R: But they don’t work as well because they’re double-action semi-autos which means you have one trigger pull for the first shot and another trigger pull for all the shots after that.
S: If you get the double-action-only, yeah, but I don’t like that, so I don’t carry those. I’ve used Glocks, I carry a Sig and I’ve used Berettas in the Army.
R: Sigs are fine guns and so are Berettas, I just find them too complicated for concealed carry.
S: Well, I don’t.
R: And too heavy.
S: For someone who carried a 1911 in the Army for all those years, their light to me.
R: I carried a 1911 beneath my jacket for years but I sure was happy to trade it in for a Glock.
S: Now, have you used the Walther 99?
R: I haven’t actually fired that weapon. It’s a combination of efforts between Walther and Smith & Wesson.
S: Right.
R: I doubt anything that Smith does these days and Walther is a pretty old-fashioned company. They invented the double-action mechanism and they’re in love with it. They make fine guns, but they’re so incredibly complicated that is something breaks, you have to send it into the armorer for two weeks.
S: Now, the 99 isn’t that way. Because I have a 99.
R: Do you like it?
S: I do. I like it. It’s light. It’s compact. It’s polymer, just like the Glock.
R: Yeah.
S: I personally have not had anything break on it, but I of course have torn it down and I don’t find it all that particularly complicated.
Stan: Well, Hi.
J: Good morning.
S: This is Stan. But they’re ugly! They’re ugly as sin.
R: You know, every time Mercedes comes out with a new model, I have the same feeling, “My God, they’re ugly!” But by the time a year has come and gone, they begin to define what beauty really is. It’s called “form follows function.”
S: Form follows function, yeah. But you can carry a good Sig or a Walther or a Beretta, they’re a lot prettier and they have the same thing.
R: But they don’t work as well because they’re double-action semi-autos which means you have one trigger pull for the first shot and another trigger pull for all the shots after that.
S: If you get the double-action-only, yeah, but I don’t like that, so I don’t carry those. I’ve used Glocks, I carry a Sig and I’ve used Berettas in the Army.
R: Sigs are fine guns and so are Berettas, I just find them too complicated for concealed carry.
S: Well, I don’t.
R: And too heavy.
S: For someone who carried a 1911 in the Army for all those years, their light to me.
R: I carried a 1911 beneath my jacket for years but I sure was happy to trade it in for a Glock.
S: Now, have you used the Walther 99?
R: I haven’t actually fired that weapon. It’s a combination of efforts between Walther and Smith & Wesson.
S: Right.
R: I doubt anything that Smith does these days and Walther is a pretty old-fashioned company. They invented the double-action mechanism and they’re in love with it. They make fine guns, but they’re so incredibly complicated that is something breaks, you have to send it into the armorer for two weeks.
S: Now, the 99 isn’t that way. Because I have a 99.
R: Do you like it?
S: I do. I like it. It’s light. It’s compact. It’s polymer, just like the Glock.
R: Yeah.
S: I personally have not had anything break on it, but I of course have torn it down and I don’t find it all that particularly complicated.
J: So what’s next for you Robert? You’re no longer in the managing newspaper business. You just want to write books?
R: I just want to write books. I have a contract with Paladin for another book about .50 caliber rifles and by the time that’s finished it’ll be time for another Glock book. I’m also writing a novel set mostly in Owyhee County about the ongoing battles between the ranchers and the BLM.
J: It’s going to be a novel or is it fiction (sic)?
R: It’s going to be in novel form, but I’m going to deal with the real issues that are happening out there.
J: The characters are going to be fictional or are you going to use real people?
R: The characters are going to be fictional. Any resemblance will be purely coincidental.
J: Yeah, it will be purely the guy that lives right down the street from you. Robert, good luck with the book. Thanks for coming in and sharing this information with us.
K: Thanks for coming in.
R: Thanks very much. Thanks you guys.
J: Hopefully people have picked up a little more information about the old Glock. I’m going to have to get one of these and see what they shoot like.
R: Here Jon, try this one.
J: I know you’ve got it, I can see it there.
R: I just want to write books. I have a contract with Paladin for another book about .50 caliber rifles and by the time that’s finished it’ll be time for another Glock book. I’m also writing a novel set mostly in Owyhee County about the ongoing battles between the ranchers and the BLM.
J: It’s going to be a novel or is it fiction (sic)?
R: It’s going to be in novel form, but I’m going to deal with the real issues that are happening out there.
J: The characters are going to be fictional or are you going to use real people?
R: The characters are going to be fictional. Any resemblance will be purely coincidental.
J: Yeah, it will be purely the guy that lives right down the street from you. Robert, good luck with the book. Thanks for coming in and sharing this information with us.
K: Thanks for coming in.
R: Thanks very much. Thanks you guys.
J: Hopefully people have picked up a little more information about the old Glock. I’m going to have to get one of these and see what they shoot like.
R: Here Jon, try this one.
J: I know you’ve got it, I can see it there.
J: What do you guys do in the morning? Do sit there with a collection of guns on your dresser and you figure out which one you’re going to carry for the day? Is it like picking out a tie for a suit?
S: You know, it’s almost exactly that way. I say, ok, what am I going to be wearing today. How am I going to be dressed. What’s the temperature going to be like. OK, maybe I need to carry this one today. That’s almost exactly right.
R: There are people who do that, and I did that when I first started carrying a gun. It’s better not to do that. It’s better to carry the same gun in the same place every single day of your life so you know what it is and you know where it is, you know what it’s loaded with. You don’t have to wonder what color tie you’re wearing that day, you know it’s always the same one you always wear.
S: I never wonder, I always know what I’ve got.
J: Hey, when you guys get stopped by the police for a routine speeding check, or maybe you haven’t ever been stopped for whatever it might be, do you tell them you have a gun?
R: I don’t. Some people recommend that you do.
S: The rules are, I can tell you the rules of the police are that you do tell them.
R: That varies from district to district and certainly from state to state.
S: Around here, I know they want you to tell them and they may ask to see your concealed permit because of that. I’ve just learned over the years that when I’m carrying and somebody who’s wearing a badge asks me, I say, ‘Yes, I am,’ and show them my permit.
R: I’ll tell you what I do, I carry my concealed-weapons permit right next to my driver’s license.
S: Yeah, so do I.
R: When I open my wallet, they can clearly see that I have a choice of which to give them so if they ask, I give them both. The last time that happened, I couldn’t remember which position was which. I didn’t have my glasses on, and I couldn’t read. I didn’t know which one was which. And the cop said, “Now, give me the right one.” So I had to pull it out and stare at it and give him my driver’s license. So clearly knew I had a concealed-weapons permit.
S: I’ve got to ask you a question. Does anybody ever ask you why you carry a gun? Because they ask me. And I’ve got the one stock answer.
R: Go ahead and give me your answer and I’ll give you mine.
S: My answer now is I’ve always carried a gun just because I’ve been in situations in my life where I’ve either had to live, work or go through some seedy areas and I just felt safer. Most recently I tell them that the reason I do now is because I know someone who kidnapped and murdered a girl off the streets of Boise in broad daylight and had I been there I don’t know if I could have done anything about it but maybe somebody with a gun had been there and had been a little bit more aware maybe they could have stopped it.
R: I spend a lot of time in the book answering that question and basically, my conclusion is that it is your responsibility as a citizen to be able to protect not only yourself but anybody else around you who may be in trouble.
S: Exactly. In fact, back when I was in the Guard, one of my last assignments was with the Rapid Reaction Unit, you know, for riots and whatever.
R: Yes.
S: We went through a great deal of training with the local police agency and when we finished, they said, “If you don’t have a concealed-carry permit, get one. And from now on, carry a gun because you are now responsible with the training you’ve had for helping us protect the public.
R: Exactly. People say, “Well do you expect someone to walk up armed and do some damage to somebody?” Of course you don’t expect it. The reason you carry a gun is so you’re prepared for the unexpected.
S: Well, yeah. Who expected a bunch of people to fly airplanes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon?
R: Exactly.
J: You guys are talking a foreign language on a lot of these gun to a lot of these people including me.
S: Yes we are.
J: I mean I’m a gun advocate you know, I have guns, but I really probably couldn’t tell you what I have. I know I have a Remington and a Winchester. And a couple of rifles and a couple of pistols. And I have one that was made in China.
R: What?
S: A Norinco 45.
J: There you are. That’s it. Yep, and that’ll put a hole in something, right?
S: Oh yeah. Those are actually very good guns.
J: How’d you know that? See I couldn’t even tell you what brand it was.
S: Because the Norinco stands for North China Industries and they’re the only importer making .45s right now from China.
J: Alright. Got to let you go Stan.
S: OK.
J: Thanks for the call, appreciate it.
S: You know, it’s almost exactly that way. I say, ok, what am I going to be wearing today. How am I going to be dressed. What’s the temperature going to be like. OK, maybe I need to carry this one today. That’s almost exactly right.
R: There are people who do that, and I did that when I first started carrying a gun. It’s better not to do that. It’s better to carry the same gun in the same place every single day of your life so you know what it is and you know where it is, you know what it’s loaded with. You don’t have to wonder what color tie you’re wearing that day, you know it’s always the same one you always wear.
S: I never wonder, I always know what I’ve got.
J: Hey, when you guys get stopped by the police for a routine speeding check, or maybe you haven’t ever been stopped for whatever it might be, do you tell them you have a gun?
R: I don’t. Some people recommend that you do.
S: The rules are, I can tell you the rules of the police are that you do tell them.
R: That varies from district to district and certainly from state to state.
S: Around here, I know they want you to tell them and they may ask to see your concealed permit because of that. I’ve just learned over the years that when I’m carrying and somebody who’s wearing a badge asks me, I say, ‘Yes, I am,’ and show them my permit.
R: I’ll tell you what I do, I carry my concealed-weapons permit right next to my driver’s license.
S: Yeah, so do I.
R: When I open my wallet, they can clearly see that I have a choice of which to give them so if they ask, I give them both. The last time that happened, I couldn’t remember which position was which. I didn’t have my glasses on, and I couldn’t read. I didn’t know which one was which. And the cop said, “Now, give me the right one.” So I had to pull it out and stare at it and give him my driver’s license. So clearly knew I had a concealed-weapons permit.
S: I’ve got to ask you a question. Does anybody ever ask you why you carry a gun? Because they ask me. And I’ve got the one stock answer.
R: Go ahead and give me your answer and I’ll give you mine.
S: My answer now is I’ve always carried a gun just because I’ve been in situations in my life where I’ve either had to live, work or go through some seedy areas and I just felt safer. Most recently I tell them that the reason I do now is because I know someone who kidnapped and murdered a girl off the streets of Boise in broad daylight and had I been there I don’t know if I could have done anything about it but maybe somebody with a gun had been there and had been a little bit more aware maybe they could have stopped it.
R: I spend a lot of time in the book answering that question and basically, my conclusion is that it is your responsibility as a citizen to be able to protect not only yourself but anybody else around you who may be in trouble.
S: Exactly. In fact, back when I was in the Guard, one of my last assignments was with the Rapid Reaction Unit, you know, for riots and whatever.
R: Yes.
S: We went through a great deal of training with the local police agency and when we finished, they said, “If you don’t have a concealed-carry permit, get one. And from now on, carry a gun because you are now responsible with the training you’ve had for helping us protect the public.
R: Exactly. People say, “Well do you expect someone to walk up armed and do some damage to somebody?” Of course you don’t expect it. The reason you carry a gun is so you’re prepared for the unexpected.
S: Well, yeah. Who expected a bunch of people to fly airplanes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon?
R: Exactly.
J: You guys are talking a foreign language on a lot of these gun to a lot of these people including me.
S: Yes we are.
J: I mean I’m a gun advocate you know, I have guns, but I really probably couldn’t tell you what I have. I know I have a Remington and a Winchester. And a couple of rifles and a couple of pistols. And I have one that was made in China.
R: What?
S: A Norinco 45.
J: There you are. That’s it. Yep, and that’ll put a hole in something, right?
S: Oh yeah. Those are actually very good guns.
J: How’d you know that? See I couldn’t even tell you what brand it was.
S: Because the Norinco stands for North China Industries and they’re the only importer making .45s right now from China.
J: Alright. Got to let you go Stan.
S: OK.
J: Thanks for the call, appreciate it.
I, Morgan Boatman, "Glock Books" and GlockBooks.com, BoatmanBooks.com and Winter Communication, LLC are not associated in any way with GLOCK, Inc. or GLOCK GmbH.
Copyright 2010 Winter Communication, LLC
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