Knowledge to make your life better. If you have some free time, check out some of these links this weekend.
With the upcoming presidential election, the current worldwide military conflicts, and the extensive damage done by recent storms, the USA is in a very turbulent place right now. Until things calm down, I’m going to start each week’s knowledge dump with a few articles covering current events and how you can best avoid becoming a victim.
Check out the links below for some excellent advice related to our world’s crazy current events.
Building a Bug Out or Get Home Bag
CASH STASH: Squirreling Away Money for Tough Times
A Checklist For the Prepared Citizen
Natural Disaster Preparedness Lessons Learned – Swift | Silent | Deadly
Working Through a Major Disaster: Helene
Is It Too Late To Start Preparing?
Staying Safe In Open Space Gatherings — What You Need to Know – American Cop
Things to think about when you are in a large public gathering.
Don’t be ‘that guy.’
Gunsite’s Ken Campbell gives us the cheat codes for successfully completing classes at a commercial shooting school.
Drop It!
This is a skill that you should be practicing at least a couple times a year. You should also read Hock’s article The Perceptions of Your Fight.
Venezuelan gang linked to the rape and murder of Jocelyn Nungaray
This article covers some of the visual indicators that might help you identify a member of the lethal Tren de Aragua gang members operating in US territory.
DRILL OF THE MONTH: Thrive at Twenty-Five
Tatiana shares a drill to try out during your next range session. After that, you should also try The Wizard Drill and Skills Check: A Hot Time.
Setting Up Your Revolver EDC [2024] ⋆ Primer Peak
Great information for those of you who are new to the revolver world.
The Bell-Curve: Shooting Practice by the Odds
A must-read article about how to structure your training session to prioritize the most likely attacks that you will face. Mike Seeklander’s You’re Going To Be In A Gunfight Tomorrow! covers similar material with a different angle.
What I’m reading…
Who’s going to do this job?
Have you thought about the societal consequences when no one wants to do the police job anymore? This article shows my predictions about the future of American policing are proceeding on schedule.
Kids and Shooting
Tips for safely teaching the little ones how to shoot.
Shot Placement: Simple But Realistic Targeting
Dave Spaulding discusses the finer points of shot placement. If you are interested in more information about the topic, several of my instructor friends will be teaching The Tactical Anatomy Summit in Ft. Worth, Texas. I attended the instructor training class with these gentlemen and can personally vouch for both the instructors’ teaching abilities and the excellence of the curriculum. I hope some of you can attend.
How to Build Your Self-Defense & CCW Skills
How much training in firearms and the combative arts are you getting every year? Most people will do zero training in hand to hand combatives and take nothing more than a CCW class for firearms training. Quite honestly, that isn’t enough. Jeff Gonzales details his observations of the students he teaches:
“The first level of competency is 1 to 6 hours of formal instruction, the next level is 12-plus hours and lastly, 40-plus hours. I can see a significant difference between students at these various levels. “
Most of you reading this could easily jump into his second category with a weekend class once a year. Why aren’t you at least committing to this level of in-service training?
I’ve been doing this stuff professionally for over 25 years. I’ve amassed more than 4500 hours of professional instruction in the field (not including the additional thousands of hours of martial arts practice). I still take at least 80 hours a year of training from other instructors to keep my skills sharp. You may not want to buy in at that level, but you need more than a simple CCW class and a plinking session at your local range a couple times a year to be truly competent.
Self-Defense and the Law: Common Mistakes that Make a Good Shoot Look Bad
Mas shares some excellent advice. My last expert witness case had my client violating every one of these recommendations. Despite the fact that his actions were completely reasonable self defense, the jurors could not get over the factors that Mas shares here. My client was convicted of murder and sentenced to 70 years in prison. Look for an article about the crazy court proceedings in this case for my Patreon subscribers once the county pays my expert witness fees.
WHY STUDENTS SHOULD LEARN THE IMPORTANCE OF MOVEMENT – FTA Protect
“If it is smart to use movement anytime that the student is unarmed, then it is no less smart to use movement when they are armed. I am not ashamed to proclaim that the act of promptly “running away” occupies some space in my tactical toolbox.”
Elements Of Concealed Carry – American Handgunner
Clint Smith shares important factors to consider when evaluating a CCW system.
An NRA Shooting Sports Journal | Ultralight Loads For Revolvers
I used both of these technologies in my police academy class almost 30 years ago. It’s nice to know everything old is new again.
Second Trump Assassin Left a Note Confirming Attempt, Evidence Released in Court
Information about the gun and tactics used in the most recent assassination attempt of former president Trump.
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