Written by: Greg Ellifritz A short post today containing my observations about two recent active killer attacks. The first was an attack on a police station in Vermont. In that case, a man (who had likely just murdered someone) drove up to the front door of a local police station at 5:30 am. […]
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News and Tactical Advice
Active Killer Ambush Tactics for Unarmed Defenders
Written by: Greg Ellifritz You can prevail against an active killer even if you are unarmed. One of the most famous cases where unarmed men stopped an active killer was on a train traveling between Amsterdam and Paris a few years ago. Four unarmed Americans and one unarmed Brit teamed up to take […]
Active Killer Pre-Assault Behavior
Written by: Greg Ellifritz I found a couple articles yesterday that I would like to share and comment upon. Both articles cover some behavioral characteristics two recent active killers displayed before their attack. The first one is about the active killer in Dayton. Surveillance Video Shows Shooter Preparing to Carry Out Mass […]
A Critical (but often overlooked) Holster Function
Written by: Greg Ellifritz While reading my news feeds in the past few weeks, I’ve seen accounts of a couple preventable accidental shootings. I’d really prefer to see that my readers and students learn to better secure their weapons so that people aren’t injured or killed by unintentional gunfire. Let’s examine these negligent discharges […]
Throwing Water on the Police
Written by: Greg Ellifritz Cops around the country have recently been targeted by members of the community who have thrown buckets of water on the officers as they are making arrests. If you haven’t seen the news and videos about this new trend, check out Dangerous new viral challenge: Assault police officers with water […]
Taking a Look at the Athens, Georgia Police Shooting
Written by Greg Ellifritz My cop friends should watch this police body camera video footage. It highlights many of the problems created by poor officer selection practices and subpar training. What can we do differently to create a better outcome? – When responding to the call of a man threatening people […]
Women and Violent Crime
Written by: Greg Ellifritz You ladies are better behaved than us men. It’s somewhat rare to see female violent criminals. Depending on the type of crime and the study, you’ll find that about 95% of violent criminals have a Y chromosome. Does that mean all women are angels? No. Far from it. […]
The Bag Trick…How to Easily Conceal a Weapon in Public
Written by: Greg Ellifritz Students who have taken my knife fighting class will likely remember “The Bag Trick”. I demonstrate it in every 2-day class I teach. My students all give me the same feedback after seeing it “That’s so simple, but it’s genius! Learning that one technique was worth the price of the […]
Shooting Through Doors and Walls
Written by: Greg Ellifritz As I was scanning my news feed last week, I came across yet another mistaken identity shooting where the “defender” fired through a door or wall. Dad mistakes daughter for intruder, shoots her to death According to the article: “Pressley’s father told investigators he fired through a door […]
Guns, Gear, and Training Issues in Last Weekend’s Shotgun Class
Written by: Greg Ellifritz Last Saturday, I taught Active Response Training’s very first open enrollment shotgun course. It’s kind of odd that I’ve never done one, considering that the very first firearms instructor certification I got was Phil Singelton’s Benelli shotgun instructor class. I’ve been teaching cops how to shoot shotguns since the year […]
Tourniquet Musings
Written by: Greg Ellifritz I spent some of my day off today working with three of the new CoTCCC-recommended tourniquets. I self applied the TMT (Tactical Mechanical Tourniquet), RevMed TX2, and RevMed TX3 to each limb. I was able to achieve full occlusion (no distal pulse) on all applications. I like the extra […]
Compliance Doesn’t Always Ensure Your Safety
Written by: Greg Ellifritz Many of my students tell me that, should they ever be robbed, they plan on complying with the robbers’ demands. While I can’t presume to tell anyone the individual best course of action during a dangerous situation, I can provide some general statistics about past events. Statistically, complying […]
When the Criminal Doesn’t Obey Your Commands
Written by: Greg Ellifritz It’s a rewarding thing to watch my firearms students as they learn and progress. They start with safe gun handling skills, the basics of marksmanship, and learning when it is legally appropriate to shoot someone. If they continue training, they might learn more “tactical” or combative shooting skills. As […]
The Gas Station Clerk
Written by: Greg Ellifritz *I posted the article below on my Facebook page a couple days ago. I got a lot of feedback and the post generated a massive amount of commentary. Several people asked me to expand upon my original post and turn it into an article on my site for those who […]
Can a Walking Cane be an Effective Weapon?
I’ve taught hundreds of people how to fight with a cane. I genuinely believe that a cane can be an excellent “low profile” weapon in the right hands…assuming the person wielding the cane has a little training or practice. Before I talk about how best to use the cane, let’s take a look at […]
The Asian Bistro Active Killer Attack
Written by: Greg Ellifritz On Tuesday, a man shot up a restaurant in San Diego. He fired through the windows from outside the restaurant. Although he fired approximately 20 rounds out of an AR-15 rifle, miraculously none of the nine restaurant patrons were hit. The gun was recovered and the suspect was arrested a […]
Group Identity Concepts
Written by: Greg Ellifritz Do you know about “Social Identity Theory” and “Identity Fusion?” If not, it might be beneficial for you to read the article linked below. It’s about an Army doctor who struggled with PTSD after his retirement. Abandoning the tribe: The psychology behind why veterans struggle to transition to civilian life […]
“Unprepared and Overwhelmed”
Written by: Greg Ellifritz On Friday, the SunSentinel newspaper published a damning criticism of the response to last February’s Parkland school shooting. Take the time to read the article Unprepared and Overwhelmed. When you read this, you will be absolutely sickened by the ineptitude displayed by both school staff and sheriff’s deputies. The […]
When Misses Hit- A Look at Real World Backstop Issues
Written by: Greg Ellifritz “It is wonderful, in the event of a street fight, how few bullets seem to hit the men they are aimed at.”– Theodore Roosevelt The most recent study on police hit rates found that only 35% of police rounds fired in gunfights hit the intended target. That statistic is surprising […]
School Security Done Right
Written by: Greg Ellifritz In the past two decades doing this work, I’ve spoken with a whole lot of school teachers and administrators about school safety issues. While well-intentioned, I’ve generally found that most school administrators have a “it won’t happen here” attitude and will not devote the necessary time and resources to […]