Because those in firefighting, law enforcement and the military have only one-ass-to-risk: The M16Æ in special colors and materials with Gary Paul Johnston’s 1* reminder logo. Gary Paul Johnston knows what it’s like to put your life on the line daily. He did it as a commander with the Shaker Heights Police Department, and tells the story of the creation of his 1* logo this way: “Back in 1986, my SWAT unit was fortunate during actual raids, but we seemed to average at least one minor injury per practice session. Other teams had similar problems, especially during SWAT competitions, so I decided to create something to remind everyone to be more careful. The idea for the 1* logo came from a joke I heard as a kid.” That joke has many variations, but perhaps the oldest version tells of the teacher in a one-room schoolhouse who first covered the American history lesson, and then went on to grammar and punctuation. She asked, “Can anyone here use the word ‘asterisk’ in a sentence.” A boy’s hand immediately shot up, and he blurted, “We just covered that in the history lesson. It was patriot Nathan Hale who said, ‘I regret that I have only one-ass-to-risk for my country.’”

Military M16-14M Features