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I consider it way outside my purview to comment on the Tony Blair election, but NPR has been whipping this idea to death recently: that he won but he really lost. Chrenkoff has some very good comments on this, with numbers to back it up.

This week's link collection are all for various holsters and carry gear.

Michaels of Oregon -- All kinds of holsters for all kinds of guns.
Welcome to The Wilderness -- Slings, holsters, belts, lights, and other tactical accessories.
Excalibur Enterprises Survival and Emergency Preparedness Supplies -- Holsters, fanny packs, optics, and other tactical gear.
Concealed carry handgun holsters by PagerPal -- Holsters mainly for smaller guns disguised with a fake pager. I don't know, a Bravo Plus pager these days would look pretty suspicious to me. (But then, I'm an ex-pager tech).
Pocket Holsters -- Hand crafted holsters for small handguns and derringers, carried in the pocket.
Action-Direct -- Holsters and carry gear, plus knives, sights, and other accessories.
Passport Holsters - Concealed Carry Holsters and Unique Handgun Concealment Products -- Holsters as well as briefcases, purses, etc., all designed for concealed carry.
Holsters from Fobus USA -- Fobus USA.
DeSantis Holster & Leather Goods
Holsters.com - SAFARILAND Holsters, Duty Gear, and more
Comp-tac [www.comp-tac.com] -- Maker of a "tuckable" holster for the XD40 that I am going to get pretty soon.

I guess I'm like most gun folks: I know much more than the average schmuk-in-the-street, but I don't know nearly as much as the real experts. Lately, since discovering the gun-blogging community, I have been picking up some new info here and there from blogs. But mostly, I get what I know from reading books and magazines. I can't go out and handle every gun I want to, but I can at least read about them from people who have.

This year's Combat Arms annual, published by Guns & Ammo Magazine, is just chock full of this kind of information that I doubt I would get anywhere else.

Iraq: Lessons from the Sandbox talks about some of the lessons that have been learned in Iraq, and how some of our military's weapons are holding up (or not holding up).

Combat Cartridge Trends is an interesting survey of the history of combat rifle cartridges.

A chopped down, submachine gun-sized AKS-74U is the topic of Osama's Carry Gun.

Police Weapons Today is an overview of weapons currently in use by police departments across the country. Likewise, Battle Pistols of the World covers handguns now in use by armies around the world.

These are only a few of the articles that really jumped out at me while I was reading. There are others covering FN's 5.7x28mm P90, various articles that each focus on a specific battle rifle, a "farewell to the Makarov" (sniff!), another on the Ruger PC carbines, yet another on the Beretta CX4 Storm carbine, and even one on Federal's Expanding Full Metal Jacket ammunition. Plus (as they say) much more.

I'd say it's a pretty good read for $6.99.