Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend. Choosing Your First AR-15: A Practical Guide Very valuable information for those of you contemplating buying your first AR-15 rifle. Elmer Keith On Combat Quick Draw I love studying the history of […]
What if your Backstop is a Freeway?
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Written by Greg Ellifritz Click the link below and watch the body camera video of a police officer shooting an active killer. Newly released body cam video shows deadly officer-involved shooting A suspect shot victims at two different public locations, threatened a hotel employee with a gun, and then ran out onto […]
Guns, Gear, and Training Issues in Last Weekend’s Shotgun Class
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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 […]
Upcoming Medical Classes
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I have two medical classes scheduled in June and July. Both classes are nine hours long (with a short lunch break). In addition to the description below, the classes will also cover material on using the new tourniquets most recently recommended by the Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care. There will also be a block […]
Weekend Knowledge Dump- May 17, 2019
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Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend. Data on the Rate of Shootings and Accidents in Schools that allow Teachers to Carry Click “download this paper” in the upper left corner of the linked article to get a free full text […]
Tourniquet Musings
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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 […]
Highlands Ranch Stem Shooting
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Written by: Greg Ellifritz On May 7, 2019 two students conducted an attack on their classmates at the Highlands Ranch STEM School in Colorado. The shooting was quite unusual and doesn’t fit the normal narrative for an active killer who shoots up a school (that’s probably why the story disappeared from the media so […]
Weekend Knowledge Dump- May 10, 2019
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Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend. Criminals Often Carry Ineffectual Guns that are Broken, Unloaded, or Toys An article about the types of guns carried by criminals, including a link and discussion of my research on the topic. […]
Lock Your Damn Doors- 2019 Edition
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Written by: Greg Ellifritz Five years ago, I wrote an article titled Lock Your Damn Doors. In that article I looked at a month’s worth of burglary and theft reports from the city where I worked and tracked how many theft victims had left their houses or cars unlocked before the thefts occurred. […]
Weekend Knowledge Dump- May 3, 2019
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Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend. 3 Ways to Escape Zip Ties: An Illustrated Guide An informative infographic about escaping zip tie restraints. This is useful, but the best advice I can provide is to AVOID BEING RESTRAINED! I don’t […]
Compliance Doesn’t Always Ensure Your Safety
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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
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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 […]
Drawing Attention Away From Your Concealed Carry Gun
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Written by: Greg Ellifritz There are a lot of folks who say that deep concealment of your carry pistol isn’t necessary. Those folks will tell you that people aren’t very observant and that most of the humans you encounter as you go about your daily life wouldn’t notice if you were open carrying a […]
Weekend Knowledge Dump- April 26, 2019
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Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend. DIY Revolver Grip Modifications If you want to reload your revolver with speed loaders, you may have to break out the Dremel tool to reduce your grips. Speaking of revolver modifications, you will definitely be […]
Shooting Drill- Diminishing Dots
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Written by: Greg Ellifritz Different sized targets require a differing level of precision with regards to sight alignment. This issue is often described by instructors as “seeing what you need to see to make the shot.” When shooting at a human torso at five feet, no sights are even necessary. When shooting at a […]
Greg Goes to the Gun Store
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Written by: Greg Ellifritz I made a rare trip to the gun store last week. I decided to replace what Recoil Magazine calls “the ugliest gun on the planet” with a new Gen 5 model 19. I’ve been carrying the old ugly 19 since 2001 and have almost 70K rounds through it. I have […]
Don’t Dig the Rig- Special Pocket Holster Edition
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Written by Greg Ellifritz When the weather is nice, I like to get out of my police car and do some foot patrols as often as possible. Every day (if calls allow) I’ll do at least one foot patrol around a shopping center, park, or school. Last week, a school in my patrol […]
Bugging Out With Your Pet
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Written by Lauren Pugliese, DVM Most of you reading this article plan ahead in case of emergency or disaster. This involves preparing for a short or somewhat longer term collapse of access to normal health care systems, resources, and access to day to day life necessities or potentially needing evacuation from your home. The […]
Weekend Knowledge Dump- April 19, 2019
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Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend. Active Shooter Medicine: Are Tourniquets as Important as Everyone Thinks? In an active killer event, chest seals may be more important than tourniquets. Children and Violence 101: Overview “Bottom Line Up front: […]
Training Scars
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Written by: Greg Ellifritz Training scars … we all have them. I’m not talking about training scars like the black eye you get when your partner goes a little too hard while sparring or the scars you get when you cut your finger trying to quickly open your fighting knife. The training scars […]