Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.
How to Barricade a Door
These are good skills to know.
Concealed Carry Firearms Laws For The 50 U.S. States (A Quick Overview)
A thumbnail sketch of the gun laws in every state.
Internet Hyperbole and Lessons in Reality
Informed commentary on last week’s Law Vegas vehicle shooting.
For more information on the topic, please read: Tactical considerations for shooting while driving.
Mythbusting: “Tampons stop bleeding” and other Fairytales
Don’t believe the hype.
Concealed-Carry Holsters: Separating Good from Bad
Tamara Keel talks about some of the characteristics you want to see in your defensive pistol holster.
Situational Awareness for Couples
I regularly get requests for more articles about family safety or partner tactics. This podcast does a deep dive on the topic. If the subject matter interests you, please listen to it. I do, however, have some slight reservations about some of the material. Without question, the tactics mentioned here will keep you safe. They also straddle the line between safety and paranoia depending on the context and situation. Trying to maintain this level of awareness and preparedness in all public situations will lead very quickly to hypervigilence and a case of PTSD.
Listen to their recommendations and then think about where those recommendations should be reasonably added to your family safety plan.
Concealed Carrier Can’t Keep Hold of Gun, Attacker Got Away With New Piece
Why would a gun owner want to take a class in close quarters shooting and weapon retention? How about for situations like this?
That gun you carry in your pocket isn’t as impressive to the criminal as you think it is. When you pull it at close range, the bad guy just might take it away from you if you aren’t skilled enough to keep it.
This dude is lucky the criminal didn’t shoot him before walking away with his new gun.
Can you really overdose from fentanyl in the air? Here’s what medical experts say.
For my first responder friends’ education. You are not going to die if you come into contact with fentanyl.
What about if a police K9 sniffs powdered opiates? Check out: Police Dogs at Risk: Symptoms and Treatment of Opioid Exposure in Canine Officers.
Be Careful Stepping Into Third Party Encounters
Say it with me folks: “Not my people. Not my problem.”
Five habits of responsible gun owners
Good basic advice from Ralph Mroz.
A catastrophe journal
Many of the problems I see in people during my cop job involve what psychologists call “catastrophizing.” It’s the irrational thought that any situation will actually turn out far worse than you can imagine.
If you are prone to such adverse thought processes, this might be a useful solution.
Why Baltimore Police Have ‘Stopped Noticing Crime’
“De-policing” is a trend that is happening nationwide. Here is another useful article explaining the concept.
The Burden of Saying “NO!”
Why are cops so easy to hate? Here is one police attorney’s answer…
RG101: The Universal Revolver Reload – Left-Handed Edition
Some options for reloading your defensive revolver as a lefty. For more revolver goodness, check out this article that explains the various nuances of revolver triggers.
Is Contact and Cover Dead?
I’m seeing fewer and fewer cops embracing this life-saving tactic.
How To Spot A Terrorist
What does a “terrorist” look like and how can you tell him apart from the crowd he is targeting?
Slang Terms and Code Words: A Reference for Law Enforcement Personnel
Although some of the slang terms are amusing and likely not actually being used, this is an authoritative list of drug slang. It may be useful for you parents of teens or you cops who aren’t up to speed on the local drug lingo. The alphabetical list of street names is more useful than the first part of the document. Opens to PDF.
Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed
“The ultimate tool for corporations to sustain a culture of this sort is to develop the 40-hour workweek as the normal lifestyle. Under these working conditions people have to build a life in the evenings and on weekends. This arrangement makes us naturally more inclined to spend heavily on entertainment and conveniences because our free time is so scarce.”
Your Most Powerful Weapon: Using Your Mind to Stay Safe
What I’m reading…
I’ve took a couple of classes from the author more than a decade ago. I was impressed with both his skills and his teaching style. Looking forward to digging in to this one.
T-Drill Speed Exercise
This drill looks to be both valuable and fun…assuming you have a range that can accommodate lots of movement.
JAMES HORTON v. FRANK POBJECKY GARY CARUANA WINNEBAGO COUNTY
This case resulted from a gunfight that had a lot of moving parts.
An off-duty and unarmed cop orders a pizza from his friend’s pizza shop and he goes to pick it up. He and the owner of the shop were talking behind the counter while the pizza was baking. The pizza shop owner was armed and the cop knew that he was.
Four guys come in to rob the place. One of the armed robbers charged the counter area with gun in hand. The shop owner slammed him up against the wall and started fighting him for the gun. As the two men were struggling, the cop draws the shop owner’s gun and shoots all four robbers. One dies. The other three all got convicted of “felony murder” for causing a death in the commission of a crime.
Read the court opinion of the wrongful death lawsuit that was filed against the officer. The narrative describes some conditions that most of you are probably not practicing. How many of you work on:
- Four on one multiple attacker drills?
- Deflecting/Disarming an armed criminal in a contact distance struggle?
- Drawing and shooting a weapon carried by another individual?
- The issue of shooting fleeing felons?
The court opinion is worth a read if you are a cop. It provides a good discussion about how Graham v. Conner and Tennessee v. Garner are actually applied to real cases.
Concealed Carry: Force of Numbers in Self-Defense
Speaking about multiple attackers, in this article Massad Ayoob talks about disparity of force legal issues when multiple attackers are involved.
Shoot the DHS Qualification Test
This should be a fairly easy test for most of you to pass.
Is 10mm a Viable Self-Defense Caliber?
In last week’s Knowledge Dump, I linked to some 10mm gelatin testing results and commented that the 10mm round is not likely the best choice one could make for a self defense load against humans. I’m glad to see that I’m not the lone voice in the wilderness. The good folks at Lucky Gunner come to essentially the same conclusion in this article.
Some of the above links (from Amazon.com) are affiliate links. If you purchase these items, I get a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.
