Op-Ed

Op-Ed: Firearm safety rules apply to everyone. Don’t be an idiot.

The United States has long been, and will likely forever continue to be, embroiled in a debate about firearms. What firearms are okay to own, where is it okay to carry them, and how to prevent nefarious types from getting their hands on them are the subject of polarizing arguments around every national election – […]

Opinion: Lack of support at the top makes first responders’ jobs even harder

After I finished college, I spent a few years as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) working for a busy 9-1-1 ambulance service in the Florida Panhandle. I learned a lot about myself (like my irrational fear of umbilical cords), and a lot about our society as a whole. It’s an experience I am incredibly grateful […]

Let there be light: Why making a flashlight part of your EDC is worth it

From the earliest days of mankind, one of the few things that separated our particular breed of big-brained monkey from the rest of the competition in the wild was our ability to harness light, in the form of fire. Fire, of course, was paramount to our success as a species for a number of other […]

Opinion: Let’s talk about what ‘real men’ do.

Masculinity is a tough topic to discuss in an open forum nowadays. Invariably, within the first few sentences (which makes up the preview seen on most social media platforms), everyone that takes the time to scan the headline above will place me into one of two categories: the man’s man (or purveyor of toxic masculinity) […]

Winning the fight: The biggest, strongest guy in the bar usually isn’t the one you need to worry about

For the security conscious, walking into a crowded bar usually isn’t your idea of a good time. Crowds are exceptionally good at concealing threats, and those who have built careers (either legitimate or otherwise) by being a threat know that. These days, I’m a pretty big fella. At six feet tall and around 245 pounds, […]

Op-Ed: ‘Call of Duty’ peddles us some more amoral nihilism about ‘Modern Warfare’

Editor’s note: This piece was written by NEWSREP Editor-in-Chief and Special Operations veteran, Jack Murphy. You can purchase his new memoir, “Murhpy’s Law,” here. The “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” video game series has always included scenes that are intentionally controversial. In “Modern Warfare 2,” one level sees the protagonist acting as an undercover operative […]

Op-Ed: So why exactly do you need so many guns?

As the gun debate continues to rage in this country, the social media conversation has been dominated by memes and straw man arguments bandied about by the most hard headed among both groups — with gun control and gun rights advocates both circling their proverbial wagons and congratulating one another on the new and witty […]

Former Green Beret reviews Jack Murphy’s new memoir, ‘Murphy’s Law’

Editor’s note: This review was written by Steve Balestrieri, a former Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer that now serves as the Editor of SpecialOperations.com I always balk at when someone I know writes something and I’m asked to give an opinion on it. As my circle of friends has grown smaller, I have erred […]

Teaching an old dog new tricks: I may not be the Marine I once was but I’m cool with that

Since becoming a dad, there’s been a running joke among my friends and family about how fatherhood is making me soft. It’s a fair observation to make: I do spend a lot more time watching animated animals sing nursery rhymes now, and words like “cute” and “adorable” are now a part of my day-to-day vocabulary… […]

Choosing between the AR-15 and the AK-47

The debate between AK-47s and AR-15s is perhaps a bit more civil than the digital spats between the likes of Glock fanboys and 1911 historians in your Facebook newsfeed, but there are certainly some similarities. Arguments about stopping power, reliability, and accuracy get touted about by both sides in such generalized and exaggerated ways that […]