[Capt. Charlie]

I don't like having to close other folk's threads, I really don't. Some of you may not believe that, seeing the number of threads I've closed over the last few days.

Back when Erick posted his "Pendulum and Scythe" thread, I wondered if perhaps he was being a mite rough on folks. I'm beginning to see the light.

The potential for the Tactics & Training Forum to impart genuine, usable knowledge is tremendous. Trouble is, lately, it's been only potential, with only a few passing on anything worthwhile.

I've scratched my head over this for some time now, and I've narrowed the culprit down to the endless, mindless scenarios. Now as Erick said, there's nothing wrong with an occasional scenario.... occasional. That, and based on real world, serious events.

What's the primary purpose of this forum? To learn. All else is secondary. We're not opposed to a little humor here, so long as it has a bearing on that purpose. Before you post a thread here in T&T, ask yourselves, what can be gained here by me and others? If you really have to think about that, it's probably not worth posting.

T&T is also not a newscast. Neither is it the "Armed Citizen" column in the American Rifleman. I like reading about good guys kicking bad guys' behinds as much as most here do. I, too, cheer when the armed citizen prevails over evil, but that's not our purpose here. Please! Refrain from posting these, unless it can bring forth fruitful discussion.

Bottom line is, if you have something worthwhile to share, by all means do so, but if your only purpose in posting here is to bask in the spotlight, don't bother. If the subject is silly or immature, don't bother. If you're thinking of posting a "shoot 'em all; let God sort 'em out" approach, don't bother.

If you're thinking of posting "screw the law, do it anyway" posts, don't bother, because you probably won't be around TFL long enough to read any replies.

It ain't rocket science, folks; it's just plain, common sense. Unfortunately, those without it can expect to see more of their threads locked.

As every staff member here has said over and over, think twice; post once.