Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.
Shooting from Retention
A discussion about in-fight weapons access, timing errors, dominant positioning, shooting from the “two,” and the dangers of floating the gun. These are the factors that are commonly misunderstood by well-meaning but ill-informed “instructors.” If you have been to one of my close quarters shooting classes, this should be a good review. If you have never worked with the concepts mentioned here, you have no business teaching “retention” shooting.
If you carry a concealed handgun, check to ensure you aren’t giving any of the listed “tells.” Keeping your armed status a surprise gives you more options than you will have if the world knows you are packing a gun.
What killed more people than rifles in 2018? Basically everything. Here’s the data.
Despite what the media may report, fewer than 500 people a year die from rifle gunfire.
Defensive Ammunition: Legal Considerations
Don’t buy gimmick ammo. There are lots of ammunition guides available that provide information on the most effective defensive ammunition. You cannot make a wrong decision with Speer Gold Dot and Federal HST in any caliber or any bullet weight.
If you need more evidence that the gimmick bullets perform poorly, check out Testing G2 R.I.P., Liberty Civil Defense, Inceptor, and Lehigh Defense Rounds – Part 6 – Conclusions.
Do What Your Stripes Can Handle
“I’m fortunate enough to know quite a few people who are good at violence. They’re capable people. The interesting common thread amongst all of them is that they don’t seem overly concerned with where they can and cannot carry a firearm. The ones that truly know and understand their own capabilities as fighters simply take the available tools into consideration. It may force them to adjust their tactics, but it won’t have a major impact on their survival. The ones that cling to the firearm as a thing of refuge tend to be the ones with less training, and limited experience pressure testing their abilities.”
The Problem With Revolvers For Concealed Carry
In my snub revolver classes, I tell my students that the snub is a “one bad guy gun.” I got this idea from Tom Givens, who calls a 1911 a “two bad guy gun.” Let’s look at the typical gunfight:
-Police gunfight hit rates average 20-30%. Armed citizen hit rates may be slightly higher than that.
-On average, it takes two hits from handgun rounds to incapacitate the suspect
-If the snubby carrier is a decent shot, he may hit with two out of five rounds fired
-Both of those rounds will likely be needed to stop the bad guy
-The average gunfight is over in around than five seconds
-A revolver reload with speedloaders under stress is four to five seconds for most competent revolver shooters
Do the math. You are probably going to be OK if you only face one attacker. You would have to be a very accurate shooter to effectively hit two different bad guys with the five rounds in your cylinder. You will quickly run out of bullets and the gunfight will be over before you get your gun reloaded.
It’s one of the reasons I like the .22 snubs. Having seven or eight shots makes the little .22 a bit closer to a “two bad guy gun.”
Be Aware: Situational Awareness Tactics To Spot Threats
Massad Ayoob provides some location specific advice for improving your situational awareness. Need some more Ayoob content? Read his article about locking the wrist when shooting.
December 2019 Rangemaster Newsletter
Tom’s monthly newsletter is one of the best free references available on the internet. Check out this issue. Tom talks about the Beretta 1301 shotgun and describes one of my favorite practice drills in his “Drill of the Month” column. Opens to PDF.
You should also pre-order Tom’s new book Concealed Carry Class: The ABCs of Self-Defense Tools and Tactics. It will be available by Christmas. Even though it’s not out yet, you should still pre-order. Numbers of pre-orders are one factor Amazon uses to calculate “best sellers” status and share the book with more customers.
AR Basics: Mastering The Nuances of Charging Handle And Bolt Release
Some of the nuances involved in operating an AR charging handle.
Pistol Drill: 3-Style
I like “par time” shooting drills like this one. Need another drill that might be especially fun for your kids? Try shooting the wings off a fly.
You can also Draw, shoot two, reload, shoot one for time.
In Which States Must You Notify an Officer You’re Carrying?
Useful information for you concealed carriers.
On Active Shooters And Risk Management: Framing The Problem And Assessing Potential Strategies
“Like I said before, the best risk management systems implement strategies in all three areas: seeking to prevent the initiating action, adding layers of defense between the action and the outcome, and mitigating the harm associated with the outcome when it occurs. There is no reason our approach to school shootings and other active shooter events should not follow the same principles. We absolutely should seek to prevent attacks in the first place, sure. But we can’t prevent them all, so we also need to defend against them reaching their intended victims as much as possible, and mitigate the harm when those efforts are unsuccessful.”
Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Out-of-Hospital Evaluation and Treatment of Accidental Hypothermia: 2019 Update
If you’ve attended my medical classes you’ve heard about the “MARCH” mnemonic to prioritize treatment for battlefield trauma triage. The “H” in MARCH stands for head injury/hypothermia. Here are the latest hypothermia treatment and prevention guidelines.
How to Get people to Like You
A post from the former head of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Section. Social skills are an important and often neglected element of self protection training. If you can get people to like you, you can avoid many confrontations. Here’s how to do it. The author’s book It’s Not All About Me is a good read and explains more principles that the articles doesn’t get into.
Mauser 98K
Everything you may want to know about this workhorse rifle.
Book Review – Handguns and Self Defense
Another excellent reference for your gunfighting library. You can pick up a used copy on Amazon for less than $5. Get one.
Clint Smith’s Favorite Guns, Food, Films, and More: 20 Questions
An entertaining interview with Clint Smith.
Many Foreign Tourists—and Most Foreign Students—Are Barred from Going to Shooting Ranges
It’s important to understand these laws before you take a foreign friend or co-worker to the shooting range.
Family Safety Tips for Off-Duty Encounters
My solution is simple. I choose not to get involved in anything off duty unless it threatens the safety of myself or my loved ones. If you can’t exercise the same restraint, these are good guidelines.
Here’s one more for my police readers. Recent Trends in Terry Stops and Pat-Downs.
Tips & Suggestions For Covert Operators
Some ideas about how to best keep your covert surveillance hidden from your target.
Dopeworld: Adventures in Drug Lands
What I’m reading…
I travel through the illegal drug production countries several times a year. I deal with addicts almost daily at work. It’s important to me that I have a better understanding of the issues involved in the illicit drug trade.
Good Samaritan stabbed to death with his own knife on BART over shoe theft
Study incidents like this and pre-plan a response if a similar event happens to you. Not your people, not your problem.
Do you really think the best course of action is to pull a blade on a homeless dude who is trying to steal a sleeping passenger’s shoes on the train? No way would I get involved in this one. If the passenger was a friend or family member under my protection, that may be different. I would initiate the confrontation with a blast of pepper spray, not my Spyderco. A good shot of OC would have likely solved this problem very quickly.
Why don’t you carry OC? The Sabre Red, ASP Key Defender, and POM units are all solid choices. Read Pepper Spray- How to Choose It and How to Use It for more information.
And if you are carrying a knife with no training, you are likely to end up like this guy…stabbed to death with your own blade.
Something else to consider: you can intervene without force, using the “carrot” instead of the “stick.” As dude is trying to steal the shoes, discretely remove your wallet and pull out a $20. Stand up, holding $20 so it’s visible. Hands up in a defensive posture extending the money toward the shoe-thief.
“Hey brother. It looks like you’re in a bad place and need some shoes. This is all the cash I brought with me today, but I’m happy to give it to you so that you don’t have to take that dude’s kicks.”
It could go really well. It might not. Crazy people are unpredictable. I don’t think it would end up being worse than getting myself killed with my own knife. Twenty bucks is a lot cheaper than a funeral.
Earn It Then Burn It
“So earn your black belt — it demonstrates discipline and perseverance. Then burn it so you’re not constrained by it. And whatever you do, don’t drink the drink. “
Employee Wrestles Scattergat Away From Robber
A good look at a real-life weapons disarm. This is a skill most of you should learn. Merely drawing your weapon and shooting is often a poor strategy when the criminal has the drop on you.
RECALL NOTICE
If you reload with Accurate Powder, check your gunpowder and ensure it isn’t part of the recall.
Whiskey_Warrior_556 is the Mike Brown of the 2A Community
In the event you didn’t hear about this incident, a popular Instagram celebrity (who had a warrant for felony domestic violence) in the gun world created a barricade situation and began posting on social media, describing his barricade as being caused by cops trying to enforce the state’s ban on standard capacity AR-15 magazines. All of his communications were lies, but lots of people in the gun community believed the suspect. Those folks both responding to the scene in person and overwhelmed the dispatch center with phone calls, creating an incredibly dangerous situation.
From the article:
“Everyone involved in this incident really needs to sit down and take a long, hard look at what happened last night, and I mean everyone!
From my perspective, some lying sack of crap nearly kicked off a gun fight between two different groups, both of which I am a member – the cops, and the gun rights supporters.
I am pissed as hell at Whiskey_warrior_556, and you should be too, no matter which group you fall into. We all need to learn something from this incident.
Law enforcement agencies need to learn how to deal with things on social media. And I mean absolutely MUST get better about how they deal with things on social media. It is no longer an option. Social media drives so many things today that it is dangerous for everyone to not know how to properly communicate the right message.
Social media gun folks, you really need to be careful about what you say, and who you support, especially those who you support without question. Is some random Instragram dude who you don’t even know in real life so reliable you are willing to start the next civil war based solely on his word? You may not realize it, but many of you have a significant amount of influence over a great many people. To quote Spider-Man, with great power comes great responsibility. Please exercise your influence responsibly.”
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