Greetings Sheepdogs,
***** Mindset *****
"THE CRIMINAL IS NOT SCARED OF YOUR FIREARM.
If you plan to resolve any conflict with your
gun’s deterrent value, you are making some
very bad assumptions."
-- Greg Ellifritz
Who Dares Wins.
-- motto of the Special Air Service
Situational Awareness Training and Evaluating Human Behavior
https://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/article/situational-awareness-training-and-evaluating-human-behavior/
Avoidance, Deterrence, and De-escalation
-- John Farnam
“Disengage and Separate”
http://defense-training.com/2019/driveways-and-parking-lots-the-most-dangerous-places-you-go/
"In combat you will perform at 70% of your worst day on the range."
-- Paul Ford
***** Safety *****
“The fast and/or emphatic reholster
is an awesome way to shoot yourself.”
-- Chuck Haggard
Statistically speaking, holstering is the most dangerous
part of any training class. This is where students shoot themselves
in the leg or foot. This happens when the badly designed holster
or the worn out holster presses the trigger. This happens when
the person holsters his pistol with his finger on the trigger instead
of in the register position. This happens when something (shirt,
windbreaker drawstring, undershirt, necklace, etc.) gets caught
in the holster when holstering. All avoidable with competent
training.
***** Training *****
"The real value of training, though, is that it improves competence,
which leads to a higher level of confidence."
-- Rehn & Daub
Are You Out-shooting Your Brain? Jared Reston, Field Notes Ep. 29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YMA7Y7aer0
Yes, you can shoot faster than you can think. I've seen
it happen many times, always with negative outcomes.
Why do I need to train?
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and
offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique
to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if
that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for
that which could have been their finest hour."
-- Winston Churchill
Training Scars
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/training-scars
"You train for the people who love you."
-- Tatiana Whitlock
"Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice".
-- Claude Werner
***** Practice *****
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
Slow is smooth. Smooth is efficient. Efficient is fast.
***** Techniques *****
“Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it.”
-- Bruce Lee
Strategy for the Armed Citizen
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/4/26/avoidance-the-best-strategy-for-the-armed-citizen/
"I would like to see every
woman know how to handle
guns as naturally as they
know how to handle babies."
-- Annie Oakley
The rear sight is a window. You look through the rear sight
to see the front sight. The front sight is the object of interest.
Yes, I know that's counter intuitive. You're thinking the bad guy
should be the object of interest. But, if you focus on the bad
guy, the front sight will wander off and you'll never notice it
moving off the target. Then you'll wonder why you're not hitting
where you are aiming. It's because you are not aiming. Focusing
on the front sight is aiming. Focusing on the threat is not aiming.
Focus on the front sight!
To focus on the front sight, you must be able to focus on
the front sight. Do you need glasses? New glasses? Reading glasses?
[If you've got enough time to put on your glasses to check out that
cute person, you've got enough time to put on your glasses to check
out that active murderer.]
To focus on the front sight, you must practice focusing on
the front sight. If front sight focus does not happen automatically,
you haven't practiced enough.
But, what about all those instructors that teach "point shooting",
"target focused shooting", "instinctive shooting", etc., where you
don't focus on the front sight? They are wrong.
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
Accept your wobble. When you achieve a surprise trigger break,
you will get good hits, no matter how much your sights look like
they are wobbling. Yes, actually it is magic. (Any sufficiently
advanced technology will appear as magic to the ignorant. God's
creation, the human, is very advanced technology.)
***** Tactics *****
You win gunfights by not getting shot.
-- John Holschen
So, how do we avoid getting shot?
"Avoiding Stupidity is Easier than Seeking Brilliance"
https://fs.blog/2014/06/avoiding-stupidity/
That is to say, 'Avoiding getting shot is easier than getting
that A-Zone hit.'
We run away. (Retreat is a tactical maneuver. Retreat is not
surrender.) We use cover and concealment. We move. We shoot
whatever is visible without exposing ourselves (this may be the
enemy's foot or elbow); as opposed to taking the center of mass shot,
which necessitates exposing more of our body.
We know our limits and stay within our capabilities;
because we know that,
'In combat you will perform at 70% of your worst day on the range.'
-- Paul Ford
'In combat you'll be half as good as your best day on the range.'
-- Ignatius Piazza
So, we don't take that low probability shot (because we might miss
and hit an innocent bystander). Instead, we close with the enemy
to take the high probability shot.
In foil and epee fencing we learned special infighting
techniques to get our electric tips on the target, so we could
score. Our pistols are short, allowing us to make contact shots
without contortions. Strive for a shot at the side of the neck
down into the torso. The human skull is very hard. Your pistol
bullet might not penetrate it, even at contact. (Ya, I know
it always works in the movies, but that's fiction.)
Pull your elbow back away from the enemy. Do not press your
muzzle into the enemy, because that will push your slide out of
battery.
Avoiding mistakes wins.
"Audacity wins."
-- Carl von Clausewitz
I have been to many schools where they do exercises to
show you your inhibitions. Because once you recognize them,
you can overcome them. An inhibition that stops you from
getting a gun or taking the shot will get you killed.
***** Gear *****
Why Ballistics Gel Works and Caliber Arguments are Dumb
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/why-ballistics-gel-works/
Words of wisdom from experts.
No More Stinky Body Armor
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/no-more-stinky-body-armor
Not just for body armor.
Boberg XR9S & XR45S: The Bullpup Pistols
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YtFhLMJNzg
The narrator explains why cartridge crimp is critically
important with this type of pistol. Reducing the length of
the pistol without shortening the barrel. Brilliant!
***** Instructors *****
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God’s gift to our students.
Our students are God’s gift to us."
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
***** Pedagogy *****
Qui docet, discit. (Who teaches, learns.)
-- motto of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers
"Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
***** Education *****
Alex Sansone posted these After Action Reports on blocks of instruction
from this past Tactical Conference (2019 A.D.):
AAR Larry Lindenman: Saps & Jacks
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_BHKMblP9Nws7fgKGtrnZXjD1cX9UA6Izc8uqoAMa7s/edit?fbclid=IwAR0iKJFtvmAEcP_K0qxpsr3tJsLUPfJ0SBNV2MpfQytUVBtkHPjuxAMdb3o
AAR Chris Fry: Practical Folding Knife
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CvxZDjYheK6uq41643GDir5M1PFEx2kJZjzCQhQGTn0/edit?fbclid=IwAR1OXTaGLwyJcL0p_KiDgijICYDW2ku9xKurX3paQFkYoW3VXmuWUV1v7EM
AAR Lee Weems: Police Citizen Contacts
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f6da9TW_GO_TwpzrZiS5s6qJwgCzxzaiZLbVjRs0sLc/edit?fbclid=IwAR2wnNR4r8rIwUx1AKhgsuFlU5-K0G7EVQjn8qRPF9YgOX4NSlzrqsY2oX4
AAR Tom Givens: Social Shotgun
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jTkYTM7-DaK4YzeVRWwKACQZETs1ONuaIDOFvtysnXQ/edit?fbclid=IwAR1BXbGyEZV105gCzJejJ7IlhR_Fx-Yf8GbeRNJeBIXn5fXpvejSBEBYXvk
AAR Paul Sharp: Recoil Management
https://docs.google.com/document/d/189UF1NIPudGwyayKn7YoC23gKNWwQV4c8fK5ufql5Cs/edit?fbclid=IwAR0LHhSw6plK-YnSjL4uYKAVIKsFWLtV5Ttk1ecFQBgOzq3PZv0O6nZmAS4
AAR Gabe White: Technical Skills for Tactical Success
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TkUgBGqXpN--0vnKdMl0oVJnTX0e6KyodOO1WKXE6Tg/edit?fbclid=IwAR05JN64GQ5xwgGcwHWEUGpbclWL8ghOwGE8ppb3-r3TWBMBCfY1bSPVcLE
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
Sure Fire's Field Notes series of videos,
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGEq1uyckXhQ_KTQYuu8AZ-SfAt6WGs31
“Destiny doesn’t make appointments,
nor does she waste her time with the naive and unready!”
-- John Farnam
MODERN WARRIOR PROJECT
Black Label Report
Justifiable Homicides
Law Enforcement Officers Killed
Law Enforcement Officers Assaulted
Officer-Involved Shootings
Gunfights
https://myreadyroom.com/Modern-Warrior-Project-Black%20Label-Report-Volume-1-FINAL%20(1JAN19)reduced.pdf
Excerpts:
The 45 (49%) private citizen gunfights lasted on overage 9.2seconds,
ranging from 2 – 25 seconds with a difference of 23 seconds.
Out of 92 gunfights, multiple aggressors were involved in 28 (30.4%) cases.
Over 50% of officers experienced distortions in Visual Detail,
Slow Motion, or Tunnel Vision during a shooting event, with 80%
experiencing Diminished Sound.
Justifiable Homicide, 1996 and 2017:
Over the 22 year focus there were 14,207 total justifiable homicides,
averaging 646 per year.
Overall, law enforcement officers were responsible for 8,529 (60.0%) of all
justifiable homicides and private citizens were responsible for the
remaining 5,678 (40.0%).
Nearly 12% of justifiable homicides by private citizens being carried
out with edged weapons makes a strong case for every day carry knives and
proper training, particularly for locations that restrict 2nd amendment rights.
Please read the section on emotional and physical responses.
This is truth that you need to be aware of.
While this is not a peer reviewed journal paper, it does cite primary
sources and draws reasonable conclusion without statistical rigor.
***** News, Legal, Philosophical, and Political stuff *****
Mr. Farnam's suggestions on behaviors to avoid being entrapped
by the Red Flag laws.
http://defense-training.com/2019/red-flags/
President Trump at the 2019 NRA Annual Meeting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZquUWSsWoac
The testimonials of persons who used guns to defend
themselves and others will touch your heart.
How do you win a gunfight?
Don’t be there.
-– John Farnam
UPDATED: Compiling Cases where concealed handgun permit holders
have stopped mass public shootings and other mass attacks
https://crimeresearch.org/2019/04/uber-driver-in-chicago-stops-mass-public-shooting/
Female gun ownership and the rise of fashionable "carrywear"
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/female-gun-ownership-and-the-rise-of-fashionable-carrywear/
***** Survival *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
Don't go to stupid places.
Don't do stupid things.
Don't hang out with stupid people.
-- John Farnam
***** Basics *****
Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses.
-- Tom Givens
"Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
***** Miscellany *****
The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get.
-- John Holschen
Math is philosophy. Philosophy is pure thought (no experimentation).
Actually, Donald Knuth said,
Computer Science has nothing to do with computers or science.
[If I put the text in quotation marks with a citation, it's
something I read. If not, it's something someone said to me
that I am recalling from memory and should be considered a
paraphrase.] Which is true. Computer science is pure math.
Which is philosophy (as opposed to science). Which is pure thought,
no physical experiments need be done (Just as you don't need
a chess board and pieces to play chess. They are just
artificial conveniences.), just thought experiments.
For your entertainment:
The Halting Problem (Computer Science)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t37GQgUPa6k
Which is a special case of
Russell's Paradox (Set Theory)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xauCQpnbNAM
"What's your point, Staff?"
Self-Defense has nothing to do with self or defense.
Self-defense is often taught as a martial art form or as
a combat practice ("practice" in the sense that a doctor
has a medical practice). I suspect most of my audience
are Christians. So, death of self is no big deal.
As Tatiana Whitlock says, we practice for those who
love us. So, that we will be around for those who love us.
Not primarily to preserve self.
Defense is a losing proposition. So, we avoid it.
If your training is correct, you are learning techniques
that allow / cause you to never need to defend.
If your self-defense train is all about fighting
your way out of a bad situation, your instructor is doing
you a disservice in neglecting the teaching of the
techniques to avoid the bad situation.
Combat causes friendly casualties. So, it is best
avoided. That's why the Marine Corps teaches maneuver
warfare. That's why Fredrick the Great (of Prussia)
practiced maneuver warfare. A study of his campaigns
leads to the discover that he rarely engaged in combat.
Getting your subordinates killed doesn't accomplish
your goals. No, taking friendly casualties is not
necessary in war or any type of combat. Consider the
bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It avoided Operation
Olympic. More recently, Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Relatively few friendly casualties.
The point is, you have to have made the decision
to use the nuclear option before the start of hostilities,
if it is to be used in time to avoid friendly casualties.
[Remember the swatting the mosquito exercise?]
It is impossible to hide this decision. So, any competent
enemy will not start hostilities. Unfortunately, many
people on this planet are stupid. You will have to
stop them. (You should not get into a fight with them.
Just immediately incapacitate them.) The sooner you
incapacitate them, the less injury you and your loved ones
will suffer. This should be your mindset.
The police are public servants. They are your
servants. Be nice to your servants. They are scared
(because they have much less training than you do),
and their first priority is to protect themselves.
Aid them in their endeavor to do so by holstering your
pistol before they arrive.
Attorneys are hired guns. Hire the best you can,
and follow their advice. No, as a matter of fact, you
are not smarter than they are.
I once had to help a lady whose husband died without
life insurance. His failure to buy life insurance was
an act of irresponsibility. Be responsible. Buy self-
defense insurance. It's what responsible adults do to
protect their loved ones. The enemy bankrupting you
will affect your family. Remember,
"Life is hard. It's even harder if you're stupid." -- John Wayne
Don't be stupid. Buy life insurance, because you might
lose the fight. Buy self-defense insurance, because
you might win the fight.
[The young girls love the handsome champion surfers.
They may even marry them. But, in their next stage of
life, they live with the responsible ones. Responsible
nice guys win (in the end).]
When it’s least expected, you’re selected.
-- John Farnam
Semper Fidelis,
Jon
Jonathan D. Low
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
God can do more than we can hope or imagine.
Thursday, May 2, 2019
Saturday, April 20, 2019
CWP, 19 April MMXIX Anno Domini
With God, all things are possible.
Greetings Sheepdogs,
***** Mindset *****
Training Mindset
"Amateurs think equipment.
Students think techniques.
Experts think tactics."
-- John Holschen, InSights Training
---
You will only be able to buy equipment correctly if
you have had competent training. Because then you are
making informed intelligent decisions.
Through training and practice, techniques are learned
to an unconscious reflexive level. If you don't have to
think about the techniques, you will have the bandwidth to
think about tactics.
Good-guy tactics are entirely different from bad-guy
tactics. Because we care. We avoid endangering innocent
bystanders, much less injuring them. Good tactics is a
learned skill. There is nothing natural or instinctive
about combat tactics. Expert training is the only way
to learn good tactics.
[There really isn't any substitute for experience.
Teaching from 'first hand experience' is entirely
different from teaching from 'academic study'.
Sorry, but that's just truth. So, if you are going to
teach civilians concealed carry for self defense, you
should be carrying concealed every day. Otherwise, you
won't be able to answer simple questions.
"But, Staff, the simple questions are just common sense."
WRONG!
When my wife and I were applying for her U.S.
permanent residency, the immigration agent separated us and
asked simple questions that any couple living together
could easily answer, but were effectively impossible for
two people who did not live together to answer (with matching answers).
At Israeli airports, the security agents will strike
up casual conversations with passengers in the waiting
area. The questions will be friendly and simple. But, each
question will be based on the responses of the previous
questions. They go deep, not broad. If you haven't been
there, done that, you won't know the answer.
"What should I do when I have to use a public restroom?"
"What should I do when some one wants to hug me?"
An instructor should have a cogent answer that actually
worked in personal experience. Why?]
"Amateurs talk tactics.
Professionals talk logistics."
-- Napoleon
Napoleon is talking about regimental commanders,
senior field grade officers, colonels. But, it applies
to you. All the good tactics are for nought if you
don't have:
Health (which requires food, water, exercise,
and sleep [and proper dental and medical care]);
Tools (flashlight [at least 500 lumens], first
aid kit [a real one with tourniquet, etc.] pistol,
ammunition, holster, extra loaded magazines, etc.); and
Training. You have to know if it's appropriate
to apply the tourniquet. (If I apply a tourniquet
the limb will have to be amputated, WRONG!)
If so, you have to know where to apply the tourniquet.
(2 to 3 inches above the wound, WRONG! That is not
modern best practice.) You have to know how to apply
the tourniquet. You have to be able to do it fast.
[That's real self defense.]
Talk to anyone who has served in infantry. They
are always willing to carry extra ammo and water.
That's logistics.
THE DANGERS OF INTERVENTION
http://www.stoppingpower.net/commentary/comm_dangers_in_intervention.asp
". . . personal defense is a lifestyle, not a hobby."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
Shooting in Self Defense: What to Do When the Police Arrive
https://www.range365.com/self-defense-shooting-what-to-do-when-police-arrive
EWR
http://defense-training.com/2019/ewr/
Excerpt:
Don’t fail the attitude test!
Costa Rica Store Owner Gets Shot, Stays in Fight, Kills Attacker
https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2019/03/costa-rica-store-owner-shoots-attacker/
Excerpt:
Had this Costa Rica store owner simply laid there in pain,
he probably would have died. He, however, refused to go silently
into the night. Instead, he protected his store, his customers,
and his life, and stopped a bad guy from ever doing something
similar again.
***** Safety *****
John Farnam says the primary cause of negligent discharges
is unnecessary gun handling. So, . . .
When you go to the bathroom, keep your pistol in its
holster. Keep your holster on your gun belt.
When you take your clothes off to take a bath or go to
bed, keep your pistol in its holster. If you need to lock it
up, put the holster and pistol in the safe and lock it. Don't
take the pistol out of the holster.
“The fast and/or emphatic reholster
is an awesome way to shoot yourself.”
-- Chuck Haggard
***** Training *****
"Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice".
-- Claude Werner
In Shape for Shooting: How Fit Do You Have To Be?
https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2019/4/5/in-shape-for-shooting-how-fit-do-you-have-to-be/
Yes, as a matter of fact, this is critically important.
Tactical Application of a Bianchi Plate Rack
by Dave Spaulding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR77XCjfICs&fbclid=IwAR2NRqBdZxwzvXAcx2b1VSmsUjEUdEnKWqbpPjJYF9b27VGmBXFBWPo9Ln0
“Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it.”
-- Bruce Lee
1998 NTI (National Tactical Invitational)
http://defense-training.com/1998/1998-nti-national-tactical-invitational/
Why do I need to train?
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and
offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique
to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if
that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for
that which could have been their finest hour."
-- Winston Churchill
Distance Shooting: Myth of the Average Engagement (December 2013)
by the late Patrick Rogers
https://www.swatmag.com/article/distance-shooting-myth-average-engagement/
[The laws for us, state licensed armed guards in Tennessee,
are much better these days. Still pretty bad in other states.
-- Jon Low]
Studying Self-Defense: Do Your Homework
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/4/5/studying-self-defense-do-your-homework/
9. Concealed Carry: Lethal Force Tactics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HilfliL8Lco
The rest of the episodes,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ju5GtzzgLE&list=PLkL2g0uY2GSduhVBwzGL2ROyN-TSdDGLq
I have taken classes from John Murphy. I highly recommend
you take classes from him.
"You train for the people who love you."
-- Tatiana Whitlock
Making space . . . before you need it!
https://godgalsgunsgrub.blogspot.com/2019/03/making-space-before-you-need-it.html
[This link does not seem to work anymore. The context is gas station
pumps.]
One more tip from [Greg Ellifritz]. Now that many pumps have video
screens that play advertisements while distributing gas, you should not
be staring at the screen clueless about your surroundings. Those video
screens are going to contribute to more robberies than anyone can even
imagine. Ignore them.
Extreme Close Quarters
https://www.mdtstraining.com/extreme-close-quarters/
Six questions you need to answer with training.
In combat you will perform at 70% of your worst day on the range.
-- Paul Ford
Skill Set: Another Look at Speed
https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/1bbb7dde-f641-4fe5-abf0-a1b108ccc1a2
Excerpts:
Time is an important consideration, but not in the way most people think.
Regardless of what you’re doing, there’s a limit on how fast you can perform.
Go too fast and things fall apart, mistakes occur – which consume more time.
Overall efficiency drops.
. . .
It’s not about the speed you perform;
it is about how quick you make the decision to act.
***** Practice *****
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
Four Key Systematic Drills for Handgun Skill Development
https://www.shooting-performance.com/four-key-systematic-drills-for-handgun-skill-developement/
My filling in the details of the article:
5 shots precisely with correct sight alignment, sight movie,
and trigger control. Strive for a tight group (bullet holes all touching).
5 shots carefully to the high thoracic cavity (triangle defined
by the nipples and notch at the top of the sternum). Strive for
a hand span sized group. If the group is smaller than a hand span,
speed up. If the group is larger than a hand span, slow down.
5 shots carefully to the cranio-ocular cavity. Slow down
until you can get all five within the eyes and nose. Then speed
up until you can't.
3 shots to the high thoracic cavity, 2 shots to the cranio-ocular
cavity. Slow down until you can get all 5 shots into the correct
areas. Then speed up until you can't.
A man's got to know his limits. -- Dirty Harry
Doesn't matter what those limits are. If you know what they are,
you can compensate accordingly by adjusting your distance, speed,
tactics (movement, cover, etc.), and techniques (standing, kneeling,
prone, etc.).
"How Should You Practice After Training?"
https://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/article/how-should-you-practice-after-training/
Excerpts:
The saying “Only perfect practice makes perfect” applies
not only to the physical skills involved but also to the
structure of what and how you practice.
. . .
The steps involved in developing your practice plan might look like:
Gather information
Recreate incidents
Prepare a practice plan: Drills and Scenarios
Document your results and plan your next session
Practicing in the Resource-Constrained Environment
https://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/article/practicing-in-the-resource-constrained-environment/
Excerpt:
There are several ways to maximize the resources we do have:
Visualization
Dry fire
Effective range use
Inert guns
Lasers and laser training devices
Role play
Shooting events
6 Defensive Handgun Drills to Master
https://gundigest.com/more/how-to/training/6-defensive-handgun-drills-to-master
***** Techniques *****
"I would like to see every
woman know how to handle
guns as naturally as they
know how to handle babies."
-- Annie Oakley
Three Pistol Breaking Points
http://www.forcenecessary.com/three-pistol-breaking-points/
by Hock Hochheim of Force Necessary
http://www.forcenecessary.com/
Email: HockHochheim@ForceNecessary.com
He did a class at Royal Range in Nashville, TN recently.
Excerpt:
* Hand sizes are different. Gun sizes are different.
* Understand the stress grab and drawing from awkward positions.
* Find your best finger position for a squeeze, gun-by-gun.
* You cannot/should not always shoot with two-hands.
* You cannot/should not always shoot with one hand.
* You cannot always shoot with an acquisition of sights.
* There is probably a good chance you are doing too much
shooting with two-hands in comparison to close quarter
incidents/statistics.
* Through experiments, know the best distances for single
and double-hand, pistol grips.
* Train with simulated ammo in likely situations.
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
Rangemanster April 2019 newsletter
https://rangemaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-04_RFTS-Newsletter.pdf
Slow is smooth. Smooth is efficient. Efficient is fast.
How to Master the Double Action Trigger
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/how-to-master-the-double-action-trigger/
It may cost you not to pay attention
http://www.recoilweb.com/it-may-cost-you-not-to-pay-attention-40343.html
As Dave Spaulding likes to remind us,
“It’s not new. It’s just new to you.”
***** Tactics *****
Audacity wins.
-- Carl von Clausewitz
Who Dares Wins.
-- motto of the Special Air Service
***** Gear *****
Avoidance, Deterrence, and De-escalation
-- John Farnam
If you're going to carry pepper spray, take a class and learn
how to do it properly.
You have to practice with inert units, otherwise you won't
know the trajectory of your stream, fog, or spray; and you won't
know how the wind can blow it back in your face.
You have to experience it in your eyes, otherwise you won't
know how it affects you. You have to see how it affects the
other students in your class, otherwise you just won't understand.
In my military police training, I learned that pepper spray
debilitates me. I observed that it had no effect on about 10%
of the Marines in my class. I saw that about half of the Marines
could fight through the effects and accomplish the mission
in spite of the pepper spray. [So, as a civilian, I made the
decision not to carry pepper spray, because it has
100% effect on me (when the wind blows it back in my face)
and stops only 50% of my assailants. This may not be a
reasonable decision for you.]
If you decide to carry pepper spray and refuse to take a
class from an expert, you should at least know to spray across
the assailant's eyes from left to right. If he is wearing glasses,
spray across his forehead from left to right. Of course, you're
not going to know at what distance you can do this, because you
never took the class.
If you're going to carry pepper spray, get some of the real
stuff, not the cheap junk. The cheap junk don't work, because
the Scoville Heat Units are too low. That's a measure of the
concentration of the oleoresin capsicum.
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/181655.pdf
One of the Marines in my MP unit (Provost Marshal's
Office, Marine Corps Air Station New River) sprayed a door knob
as a joke. The Provost Marshal, Captain Cook (Major Cook the
last time I heard of him), took his pepper spray, revoked his
certification to use pepper spray, and other disciplinary action.
If you are the type of person who would think that using pepper
spray as a joke would be funny, please don't carry pepper spray.
Tactica Concealed Carry Corset Holster
https://tacticafashion.com/tactica-corset-holster
Exactly what I need to hold my pot belly in.
How Often Should You Clean Your Carry Gun?
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/04/05/how-often-should-you-clean-your-carry-gun/
Don't be a goof. Clean your pistol weekly, whether she
needs cleaning or not. That means field stripping, spraying with
cleaner, scrubbing all surfaces, bronze bore brush with bore solvent,
Q-tip and pipe cleaners for areas your brush can't reach,
lubricating with oil, blow off excess with compressed air and
clean rag.
And then at least once a year, a detailed cleaning. This
requires disassembly. If you don't know how to do this,
take it to a competent gunsmith.
It is during cleaning that you will discover all the things
that need to be replaced before they break. Finding out during
combat, because they break, would be bad.
A clean pistol will function correctly, as opposed to intermittent
malfunctions. A clean pistol is capable of tight groups because
the rifling is not covered with fouling.
If you can't get the commercially available shooting glasses
to fit you, try the "Asia Fit" glasses from Oakley Standard Issue at
https://www.oakleysi.com/en-us/product/W0OX8142
or on the regular Oakley web site at
https://www.oakley.com/en-us/search?text=asia+fit
or ESS at
https://www.esseyepro.com/
search for "asian fit"
As Bruce Lee says, “Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it.”
If you have small or thin feet, check out the women's section
of the shoe store. If you're uncomfortable doing this, you need to
fix your attitude. If you have large or wide feet, check out
the men's section for shoes. No shame. Just do it.
Similarly for pistols. Similarly for everything.
Remember, average is not normal. You are normal for you.
You are not average.
Why Carry a Spare Magazine?
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/why-carry-a-spare-magazine/
Carry More Comfortably
https://www.concealedcarry.com/gear/carry-more-comfortably/
***** Instructors *****
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God’s gift to our students.
Our students are God’s gift to us."
Teaching Tips: Vocal Range Commands
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/teaching-tips-vocal-range-commands
"There is no such thing as a bad regiment.
Just bad colonels." -- Napoleon
Stop and think about why this is true. Any population
(such as a regiment) has a normal distribution (technical term
from statistics) with regards to any characteristic. So as a
unit will function as any other regiment.
But, the leaders are individuals with character traits
and personalities. When I was with Marine Forces Pacific, G2,
we had every Iranian regiment plotted on a wall map with its
effectiveness. Yes, personnel and equipment were factors.
But, the dominant factor was the quality of the regiment's
commander. We maintained detailed dossiers on these men,
because the leadership is what really mattered.
"Hey, Staff, how does this relate to us?"
There is no such thing as a bad class. Just bad instructors.
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
***** Pedagogy *****
Qui docet, discit. (Who teaches, learns.)
-- motto of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers
How Does Failure in Training Enable Learning?
http://fieldgradeleader.themilitaryleader.com/failure-wasilewski/
"Train, Practice, Compete are the key elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
***** Education *****
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
Beyond the One Percent (part 1)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-1/
Beyond the One Percent (part 2)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-2/
Deep psychological truth in this article.
Beyond the One Percent (part 3)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-3/
Beyond the One Percent (part 4)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-4/
Excerpt:
On one of the Facebook forums I’m on, my standard response to
“what kind of new gun should I buy?” is “spend that money on training,
range time and practice ammo with the gun you already have, or at
least spare mags, better sights, and good quality carry gear for the
gun you carry most often.” That response is never well received.
There’s a sizable chunk of the armed citizen community that will spend
$500, $1000 or more on a new gun that will not spend a dollar on
training, and the new gun they wanted will spend 364 days a year in
the safe alongside all the other New Guns that were briefly
interesting also.
Beyond the One Percent (part 5)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-5/
Beyond the One Percent (part 6)
Excerpt:
Train to a real standard.
Dry fire weekly.
Live fire monthly.
One class per year.
Beyond the One Percent (part 7)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-7/
Beyond the One Percent (part 8)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-8/
The official blog of KR Training, Karl Rehn Music and Karl Rehn.
http://blog.krtraining.com/
Self-Defense Gun Owner Insurance Programs Compared
https://www.concealedcarry.com/self-defense-gun-owner-insurance-programs-compared/
Watch the video that pops up before the text
of the article.
Only one of the programs listed is a reimbursement
program. What "reimbursement" means is the policy will
reimburse up to the specified monetary amounts if you
are acquitted. Now stop and think about that. What
about a conviction? mistrial? dismissal with prejudice?
dismissal without prejudice? plea bargain? or any number
of other possibilities? No money.
The NRA states that they set up the policy that
way because they can't be paying for illegal activity.
They obviously don't understand the concept of "innocent
until proven guilty". Without the money "upfront",
you're screwed. No competent attorney will take your
case without payment in full upfront. (Because after
the case, the client has no incentive to pay the attorney.)
As attorney Andrew Branca alludes to in the video
introduction, there are some subtle and nasty details
that you have to be aware of, because they will bite
you.
--------------------------------------------------------
I speak from first hand experience. In the
years before these insurance programs existed, I fronted
$50,000 in legal fees to get the charges tossed,
$800 to get the arrest record expunged, and
then had to hire a different attorney ($6000) to force
the Cherry Hill (New Jersey) Police to return my guns.
If my attorneys had not been able to convince the
prosecutor to drop the charges, I would have had to
front $250,000 before the trial started, plus whatever
expenses the defense team incurred during the trial.
The only reason I didn't have to post bail was
that my OIC (Officer-in-Charge) drove from Pennsylvania
down to the police station in the middle of the night
with an attorney friend of his to convince the police
to release me.
What if I didn't have the money to pay these
expenses? What if didn't have a loyal responsible
commanding officer?
Why? Because my son wrote an essay in high school
about how he wanted to be a Marine Corps sniper. His
English teacher panicked and called the police. The
police raided our apartment without a warrant (because
it was an emergency). [My son did not threaten anyone
or anything in the essay.] The police make mistakes.
We pay for their mistakes, not the tax payer.
Legal Boundaries By State,
The Travel Guide For American Gun Owners
https://amedia.concealedcarry.com/resources/Law+Summary+E-Book-20190304.pdf
Thanks to Joe at Concealed Carry Inc. The material
at the end of this document is well worth reading.
“Destiny doesn’t make appointments,
nor does she waste her time with the naive and unready!”
-- John Farnam
This is the text of the Firearms Safety Course for the
state of Wisconsin.
https://www.doj.state.wi.us/sites/default/files/dles/ccw/student-manual.pdf
There is a gut wrenching story, starting on page 18, of
Michael Lesnick (former federal police officer) and how his
negligence and his wife's negligence contributed to the death
of their son, Joshua.
Excerpt:
“Familiarity breeds contempt and complacency.
Cops are handling guns all the time. Sometimes you
get lax wearing body armor, and I just want to
remind everybody of the safety procedures.”
In June 2008, Lesnick was sentenced to one year of probation
after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge for keeping a
loaded firearm near a child, as a party to the crime. A judge
also ordered him to pay a $500 fine and have counseling.
Lesnick’s wife, Jessica, 35, pleaded guilty to the same
crime and was sentenced to 18 months probation in August 2008.
Don't be "that guy". Secure your weapons any time they
are not strapped to your body.
We all have friends who are less trained and less educated
than we are. So, it is our duty to evangelize.
"Indiana Man Shoots Self in Genitals Due to Holster-Less Carry"
https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2019/03/holster-less-carry-causes-genital-shot/
***** News, Legal, Philosophical, and Political stuff *****
How do you win a gunfight?
Don’t be there.
-– John Farnam
“Gun Safety”
http://defense-training.com/2018/gun-safety-3/
Colorado Sheriff Says He’ll Go to Jail Before Enforcing Gun Confiscation Law
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/04/03/co-sheriff-says-hell-go-to-jail-before-enforcing-gun-confiscation-law/
Pittsburgh passes gun safety legislation
https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/breaking-pittsburgh-passes-gun-safety-legislation/1894655452
The full text of ordinance is given in the article.
§ 1101.04 USE OF WEAPONS BY DISCHARGE
1. Firearms
2. Air guns
3. Bows defined in § 1101.01(D)(1) through § 1101.01(D)(4)
1. A crossbow;
2. A recurve bow;
3. A compound bow; and
4. A longbow.
---
Ya, I know the legalese is hard to read. Politicians do that intentionally.
The point is, it's not just gun control. They have regulated bows and
arrows, and air guns. Knives were already regulated. (Unlike Tennessee
where there is no such thing as an illegal knife.) So, we can correctly
conclude that it is not gun control, it is people control.
Remember, the purpose of such laws is to criminalize the behavior of
political opponents, so that they can be arrested, prosecuted, disenfranchised, and
imprisoned. That's why the Founding Fathers insisted on the 2nd Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution before they would vote for it. There will always be
enemies of the Constitution. The 2nd Amendment allows us to identify them,
and holds them at bay, and will continue to do so, as long as you support the
2nd Amendment.
You spent much of your career fighting the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,
the Chinese Communists, the National Socialists (Nazi), Korean Communists,
Vietnamese Communists, etc. You don't want the U.S. to end up like Venezuela.
You are intelligent enough to see the connection.
On the bright side -
Federal Court Rules California Magazine Ban Unconstitutional
http://www.gunsandtactics.com/federal-court-rules-california-magazine-ban-unconstitutional
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT for the SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
Judge Benitez's opinion,
https://d3uwh8jpzww49g.cloudfront.net/sharedmedia/1510684/2064261_2019-03-29-order-granting-plaintiffs_-msj.pdf
Latest News of Self-Defense With Firearms Contradicts Gun Control Rhetoric
http://tennesseestar.com/2019/04/11/latest-news-of-self-defense-with-firearms-contradicts-gun-control-rhetoric/
Attorney Question of the Month
1. What are a citizen’s options when the police knock on the door
with a warrant and want to confiscate the citizen’s guns?
2. Assuming the guns are securely locked in a gun safe,
do you advise the citizen to comply and open the safe?
3. What consequences do you anticipate would result
from refusing to open a safe?
https://armedcitizensnetwork.org/en/april-2019-attorney-question
IDPA Africa Champ Van der Bank shares his secrets to success
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/article/2001320659/idpa-africa-champ-van-der-bank-shares-his-secrets-to-success
Excerpt:
. . . Chapter 114 of the laws of Kenya require that every licensed
firearm owner be proficient . . .
---
Now stop and think about that. In the United States of America,
we have a Constitutional Right to keep and bear arms, but no legal
requirement to be proficient. How many of your fellow country men
are proficient? I'm not talking about the 1%, like the guys and gals
you see at the Tactical Conference, or the people you see at the range
when you go to practice. I'm talking about the guys who have grown
up with guns but never practice, have never taken a real class and
don't need to because shooting is natural / instinctive.
With rights come responsibilities. But, this symbiosis is
not obvious. It must be taught. It must be learned.
***** Survival *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
10 Tips to Prepare Your Family for a Possible House Fire
https://ayearwithoutthegrocerystore.com/2018/11/02/10-ways-prep-house-fire/
Preparation for female and pediatric emergencies,
https://www.americanpartisan.org/2019/03/the-parts-of-shtf-medicine-you-might-be-forgetting/
You should know how to insert a nose tube (nasopharyngeal, not a
nasogastric intubation). You should have lubricant for inserting it.
You should have at least three of these tubes of different diameters.
You have to take a class on this. It's not common sense obvious. If
your tube isn't the right length, you have to know how to measure from
nostril to ear lobe to trim it to the correct length. You have to know
which nostril to put it in; a human's right nostril is generally larger
than his left nostril (no, as a matter of fact, humans are not
bilaterally symmetric). You have to know how to put the victim into a
recovery position. Otherwise, the victim will suffocate.
How to Survive (and Prevent) a Carjacking
https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/what-to-do-in-carjacking/
Don't go to stupid places.
Don't do stupid things.
Don't hang out with stupid people.
-- John Farnam
***** Basics *****
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."
-- Tom Givens
Prof. Edward Melkonian asked me to solve a problem
(an ODE, Ordinary Differential Equation, as I remember).
As I was working on it, he asked me if I were trying to
solve this particular problem or if I were applying a general
method that would solve all problems of this type.
I told him that I had only learned one method (having only
completed one course in ODE's), so I didn't know how to
answer his question.
He explained to me that the general method would not
work on this type of equation (which modeled a physical
process that we were interested in). We would have to try
something more sophisticated.
An infantry officer told me that they learn the
frontal assault, flanking maneuvers, enfilade, etc.
But, as the enemy also knows them, it would be foolish
to use such. You have to know how to do them, so if
the opportunity presents itself you can do it. But,
in real combat against a well trained enemy, you have
to be more sophisticated.
Sometimes the tactics that they teach you in school
(military, police, and civilian) won't work in your particular
situation. So, you have to adapt, improvise, and overcome.
Search for instructors who will teach you how to. Remember,
there are no rules; there are only inhibitions. That's why
Clausewitz said, the more audacious will win.
"Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
***** Miscellany *****
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
A nice place to train,
Boondocks Firearms Training Academy
11771 Hwy 18, Raymond, MS, United States
https://www.boondocksfta.com/
Electronically Remote-Controlled Weapon System
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/04/04/potd-electronically-remote-controlled-weapon-system/
When it’s least expected, you’re selected.
-- John Farnam
Semper Fidelis,
Jon
Jonathan D. Low
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
God can do more than we can hope or imagine.
Greetings Sheepdogs,
***** Mindset *****
Training Mindset
"Amateurs think equipment.
Students think techniques.
Experts think tactics."
-- John Holschen, InSights Training
---
You will only be able to buy equipment correctly if
you have had competent training. Because then you are
making informed intelligent decisions.
Through training and practice, techniques are learned
to an unconscious reflexive level. If you don't have to
think about the techniques, you will have the bandwidth to
think about tactics.
Good-guy tactics are entirely different from bad-guy
tactics. Because we care. We avoid endangering innocent
bystanders, much less injuring them. Good tactics is a
learned skill. There is nothing natural or instinctive
about combat tactics. Expert training is the only way
to learn good tactics.
[There really isn't any substitute for experience.
Teaching from 'first hand experience' is entirely
different from teaching from 'academic study'.
Sorry, but that's just truth. So, if you are going to
teach civilians concealed carry for self defense, you
should be carrying concealed every day. Otherwise, you
won't be able to answer simple questions.
"But, Staff, the simple questions are just common sense."
WRONG!
When my wife and I were applying for her U.S.
permanent residency, the immigration agent separated us and
asked simple questions that any couple living together
could easily answer, but were effectively impossible for
two people who did not live together to answer (with matching answers).
At Israeli airports, the security agents will strike
up casual conversations with passengers in the waiting
area. The questions will be friendly and simple. But, each
question will be based on the responses of the previous
questions. They go deep, not broad. If you haven't been
there, done that, you won't know the answer.
"What should I do when I have to use a public restroom?"
"What should I do when some one wants to hug me?"
An instructor should have a cogent answer that actually
worked in personal experience. Why?]
"Amateurs talk tactics.
Professionals talk logistics."
-- Napoleon
Napoleon is talking about regimental commanders,
senior field grade officers, colonels. But, it applies
to you. All the good tactics are for nought if you
don't have:
Health (which requires food, water, exercise,
and sleep [and proper dental and medical care]);
Tools (flashlight [at least 500 lumens], first
aid kit [a real one with tourniquet, etc.] pistol,
ammunition, holster, extra loaded magazines, etc.); and
Training. You have to know if it's appropriate
to apply the tourniquet. (If I apply a tourniquet
the limb will have to be amputated, WRONG!)
If so, you have to know where to apply the tourniquet.
(2 to 3 inches above the wound, WRONG! That is not
modern best practice.) You have to know how to apply
the tourniquet. You have to be able to do it fast.
[That's real self defense.]
Talk to anyone who has served in infantry. They
are always willing to carry extra ammo and water.
That's logistics.
THE DANGERS OF INTERVENTION
http://www.stoppingpower.net/commentary/comm_dangers_in_intervention.asp
". . . personal defense is a lifestyle, not a hobby."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
Shooting in Self Defense: What to Do When the Police Arrive
https://www.range365.com/self-defense-shooting-what-to-do-when-police-arrive
EWR
http://defense-training.com/2019/ewr/
Excerpt:
Don’t fail the attitude test!
Costa Rica Store Owner Gets Shot, Stays in Fight, Kills Attacker
https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2019/03/costa-rica-store-owner-shoots-attacker/
Excerpt:
Had this Costa Rica store owner simply laid there in pain,
he probably would have died. He, however, refused to go silently
into the night. Instead, he protected his store, his customers,
and his life, and stopped a bad guy from ever doing something
similar again.
***** Safety *****
John Farnam says the primary cause of negligent discharges
is unnecessary gun handling. So, . . .
When you go to the bathroom, keep your pistol in its
holster. Keep your holster on your gun belt.
When you take your clothes off to take a bath or go to
bed, keep your pistol in its holster. If you need to lock it
up, put the holster and pistol in the safe and lock it. Don't
take the pistol out of the holster.
“The fast and/or emphatic reholster
is an awesome way to shoot yourself.”
-- Chuck Haggard
***** Training *****
"Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice".
-- Claude Werner
In Shape for Shooting: How Fit Do You Have To Be?
https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2019/4/5/in-shape-for-shooting-how-fit-do-you-have-to-be/
Yes, as a matter of fact, this is critically important.
Tactical Application of a Bianchi Plate Rack
by Dave Spaulding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR77XCjfICs&fbclid=IwAR2NRqBdZxwzvXAcx2b1VSmsUjEUdEnKWqbpPjJYF9b27VGmBXFBWPo9Ln0
“Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it.”
-- Bruce Lee
1998 NTI (National Tactical Invitational)
http://defense-training.com/1998/1998-nti-national-tactical-invitational/
Why do I need to train?
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and
offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique
to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if
that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for
that which could have been their finest hour."
-- Winston Churchill
Distance Shooting: Myth of the Average Engagement (December 2013)
by the late Patrick Rogers
https://www.swatmag.com/article/distance-shooting-myth-average-engagement/
[The laws for us, state licensed armed guards in Tennessee,
are much better these days. Still pretty bad in other states.
-- Jon Low]
Studying Self-Defense: Do Your Homework
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/4/5/studying-self-defense-do-your-homework/
9. Concealed Carry: Lethal Force Tactics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HilfliL8Lco
The rest of the episodes,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ju5GtzzgLE&list=PLkL2g0uY2GSduhVBwzGL2ROyN-TSdDGLq
I have taken classes from John Murphy. I highly recommend
you take classes from him.
"You train for the people who love you."
-- Tatiana Whitlock
Making space . . . before you need it!
https://godgalsgunsgrub.blogspot.com/2019/03/making-space-before-you-need-it.html
[This link does not seem to work anymore. The context is gas station
pumps.]
One more tip from [Greg Ellifritz]. Now that many pumps have video
screens that play advertisements while distributing gas, you should not
be staring at the screen clueless about your surroundings. Those video
screens are going to contribute to more robberies than anyone can even
imagine. Ignore them.
Extreme Close Quarters
https://www.mdtstraining.com/extreme-close-quarters/
Six questions you need to answer with training.
In combat you will perform at 70% of your worst day on the range.
-- Paul Ford
Skill Set: Another Look at Speed
https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/1bbb7dde-f641-4fe5-abf0-a1b108ccc1a2
Excerpts:
Time is an important consideration, but not in the way most people think.
Regardless of what you’re doing, there’s a limit on how fast you can perform.
Go too fast and things fall apart, mistakes occur – which consume more time.
Overall efficiency drops.
. . .
It’s not about the speed you perform;
it is about how quick you make the decision to act.
***** Practice *****
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
Four Key Systematic Drills for Handgun Skill Development
https://www.shooting-performance.com/four-key-systematic-drills-for-handgun-skill-developement/
My filling in the details of the article:
5 shots precisely with correct sight alignment, sight movie,
and trigger control. Strive for a tight group (bullet holes all touching).
5 shots carefully to the high thoracic cavity (triangle defined
by the nipples and notch at the top of the sternum). Strive for
a hand span sized group. If the group is smaller than a hand span,
speed up. If the group is larger than a hand span, slow down.
5 shots carefully to the cranio-ocular cavity. Slow down
until you can get all five within the eyes and nose. Then speed
up until you can't.
3 shots to the high thoracic cavity, 2 shots to the cranio-ocular
cavity. Slow down until you can get all 5 shots into the correct
areas. Then speed up until you can't.
A man's got to know his limits. -- Dirty Harry
Doesn't matter what those limits are. If you know what they are,
you can compensate accordingly by adjusting your distance, speed,
tactics (movement, cover, etc.), and techniques (standing, kneeling,
prone, etc.).
"How Should You Practice After Training?"
https://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/article/how-should-you-practice-after-training/
Excerpts:
The saying “Only perfect practice makes perfect” applies
not only to the physical skills involved but also to the
structure of what and how you practice.
. . .
The steps involved in developing your practice plan might look like:
Gather information
Recreate incidents
Prepare a practice plan: Drills and Scenarios
Document your results and plan your next session
Practicing in the Resource-Constrained Environment
https://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/article/practicing-in-the-resource-constrained-environment/
Excerpt:
There are several ways to maximize the resources we do have:
Visualization
Dry fire
Effective range use
Inert guns
Lasers and laser training devices
Role play
Shooting events
6 Defensive Handgun Drills to Master
https://gundigest.com/more/how-to/training/6-defensive-handgun-drills-to-master
***** Techniques *****
"I would like to see every
woman know how to handle
guns as naturally as they
know how to handle babies."
-- Annie Oakley
Three Pistol Breaking Points
http://www.forcenecessary.com/three-pistol-breaking-points/
by Hock Hochheim of Force Necessary
http://www.forcenecessary.com/
Email: HockHochheim@ForceNecessary.com
He did a class at Royal Range in Nashville, TN recently.
Excerpt:
* Hand sizes are different. Gun sizes are different.
* Understand the stress grab and drawing from awkward positions.
* Find your best finger position for a squeeze, gun-by-gun.
* You cannot/should not always shoot with two-hands.
* You cannot/should not always shoot with one hand.
* You cannot always shoot with an acquisition of sights.
* There is probably a good chance you are doing too much
shooting with two-hands in comparison to close quarter
incidents/statistics.
* Through experiments, know the best distances for single
and double-hand, pistol grips.
* Train with simulated ammo in likely situations.
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
Rangemanster April 2019 newsletter
https://rangemaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/2019-04_RFTS-Newsletter.pdf
Slow is smooth. Smooth is efficient. Efficient is fast.
How to Master the Double Action Trigger
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/how-to-master-the-double-action-trigger/
It may cost you not to pay attention
http://www.recoilweb.com/it-may-cost-you-not-to-pay-attention-40343.html
As Dave Spaulding likes to remind us,
“It’s not new. It’s just new to you.”
***** Tactics *****
Audacity wins.
-- Carl von Clausewitz
Who Dares Wins.
-- motto of the Special Air Service
***** Gear *****
Avoidance, Deterrence, and De-escalation
-- John Farnam
If you're going to carry pepper spray, take a class and learn
how to do it properly.
You have to practice with inert units, otherwise you won't
know the trajectory of your stream, fog, or spray; and you won't
know how the wind can blow it back in your face.
You have to experience it in your eyes, otherwise you won't
know how it affects you. You have to see how it affects the
other students in your class, otherwise you just won't understand.
In my military police training, I learned that pepper spray
debilitates me. I observed that it had no effect on about 10%
of the Marines in my class. I saw that about half of the Marines
could fight through the effects and accomplish the mission
in spite of the pepper spray. [So, as a civilian, I made the
decision not to carry pepper spray, because it has
100% effect on me (when the wind blows it back in my face)
and stops only 50% of my assailants. This may not be a
reasonable decision for you.]
If you decide to carry pepper spray and refuse to take a
class from an expert, you should at least know to spray across
the assailant's eyes from left to right. If he is wearing glasses,
spray across his forehead from left to right. Of course, you're
not going to know at what distance you can do this, because you
never took the class.
If you're going to carry pepper spray, get some of the real
stuff, not the cheap junk. The cheap junk don't work, because
the Scoville Heat Units are too low. That's a measure of the
concentration of the oleoresin capsicum.
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/181655.pdf
One of the Marines in my MP unit (Provost Marshal's
Office, Marine Corps Air Station New River) sprayed a door knob
as a joke. The Provost Marshal, Captain Cook (Major Cook the
last time I heard of him), took his pepper spray, revoked his
certification to use pepper spray, and other disciplinary action.
If you are the type of person who would think that using pepper
spray as a joke would be funny, please don't carry pepper spray.
Tactica Concealed Carry Corset Holster
https://tacticafashion.com/tactica-corset-holster
Exactly what I need to hold my pot belly in.
How Often Should You Clean Your Carry Gun?
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/04/05/how-often-should-you-clean-your-carry-gun/
Don't be a goof. Clean your pistol weekly, whether she
needs cleaning or not. That means field stripping, spraying with
cleaner, scrubbing all surfaces, bronze bore brush with bore solvent,
Q-tip and pipe cleaners for areas your brush can't reach,
lubricating with oil, blow off excess with compressed air and
clean rag.
And then at least once a year, a detailed cleaning. This
requires disassembly. If you don't know how to do this,
take it to a competent gunsmith.
It is during cleaning that you will discover all the things
that need to be replaced before they break. Finding out during
combat, because they break, would be bad.
A clean pistol will function correctly, as opposed to intermittent
malfunctions. A clean pistol is capable of tight groups because
the rifling is not covered with fouling.
If you can't get the commercially available shooting glasses
to fit you, try the "Asia Fit" glasses from Oakley Standard Issue at
https://www.oakleysi.com/en-us/product/W0OX8142
or on the regular Oakley web site at
https://www.oakley.com/en-us/search?text=asia+fit
or ESS at
https://www.esseyepro.com/
search for "asian fit"
As Bruce Lee says, “Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it.”
If you have small or thin feet, check out the women's section
of the shoe store. If you're uncomfortable doing this, you need to
fix your attitude. If you have large or wide feet, check out
the men's section for shoes. No shame. Just do it.
Similarly for pistols. Similarly for everything.
Remember, average is not normal. You are normal for you.
You are not average.
Why Carry a Spare Magazine?
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/why-carry-a-spare-magazine/
Carry More Comfortably
https://www.concealedcarry.com/gear/carry-more-comfortably/
***** Instructors *****
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God’s gift to our students.
Our students are God’s gift to us."
Teaching Tips: Vocal Range Commands
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/teaching-tips-vocal-range-commands
"There is no such thing as a bad regiment.
Just bad colonels." -- Napoleon
Stop and think about why this is true. Any population
(such as a regiment) has a normal distribution (technical term
from statistics) with regards to any characteristic. So as a
unit will function as any other regiment.
But, the leaders are individuals with character traits
and personalities. When I was with Marine Forces Pacific, G2,
we had every Iranian regiment plotted on a wall map with its
effectiveness. Yes, personnel and equipment were factors.
But, the dominant factor was the quality of the regiment's
commander. We maintained detailed dossiers on these men,
because the leadership is what really mattered.
"Hey, Staff, how does this relate to us?"
There is no such thing as a bad class. Just bad instructors.
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
***** Pedagogy *****
Qui docet, discit. (Who teaches, learns.)
-- motto of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers
How Does Failure in Training Enable Learning?
http://fieldgradeleader.themilitaryleader.com/failure-wasilewski/
"Train, Practice, Compete are the key elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
***** Education *****
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
Beyond the One Percent (part 1)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-1/
Beyond the One Percent (part 2)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-2/
Deep psychological truth in this article.
Beyond the One Percent (part 3)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-3/
Beyond the One Percent (part 4)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-4/
Excerpt:
On one of the Facebook forums I’m on, my standard response to
“what kind of new gun should I buy?” is “spend that money on training,
range time and practice ammo with the gun you already have, or at
least spare mags, better sights, and good quality carry gear for the
gun you carry most often.” That response is never well received.
There’s a sizable chunk of the armed citizen community that will spend
$500, $1000 or more on a new gun that will not spend a dollar on
training, and the new gun they wanted will spend 364 days a year in
the safe alongside all the other New Guns that were briefly
interesting also.
Beyond the One Percent (part 5)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-5/
Beyond the One Percent (part 6)
Excerpt:
Train to a real standard.
Dry fire weekly.
Live fire monthly.
One class per year.
Beyond the One Percent (part 7)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-7/
Beyond the One Percent (part 8)
http://blog.krtraining.com/beyond-the-one-percent-part-8/
The official blog of KR Training, Karl Rehn Music and Karl Rehn.
http://blog.krtraining.com/
Self-Defense Gun Owner Insurance Programs Compared
https://www.concealedcarry.com/self-defense-gun-owner-insurance-programs-compared/
Watch the video that pops up before the text
of the article.
Only one of the programs listed is a reimbursement
program. What "reimbursement" means is the policy will
reimburse up to the specified monetary amounts if you
are acquitted. Now stop and think about that. What
about a conviction? mistrial? dismissal with prejudice?
dismissal without prejudice? plea bargain? or any number
of other possibilities? No money.
The NRA states that they set up the policy that
way because they can't be paying for illegal activity.
They obviously don't understand the concept of "innocent
until proven guilty". Without the money "upfront",
you're screwed. No competent attorney will take your
case without payment in full upfront. (Because after
the case, the client has no incentive to pay the attorney.)
As attorney Andrew Branca alludes to in the video
introduction, there are some subtle and nasty details
that you have to be aware of, because they will bite
you.
--------------------------------------------------------
I speak from first hand experience. In the
years before these insurance programs existed, I fronted
$50,000 in legal fees to get the charges tossed,
$800 to get the arrest record expunged, and
then had to hire a different attorney ($6000) to force
the Cherry Hill (New Jersey) Police to return my guns.
If my attorneys had not been able to convince the
prosecutor to drop the charges, I would have had to
front $250,000 before the trial started, plus whatever
expenses the defense team incurred during the trial.
The only reason I didn't have to post bail was
that my OIC (Officer-in-Charge) drove from Pennsylvania
down to the police station in the middle of the night
with an attorney friend of his to convince the police
to release me.
What if I didn't have the money to pay these
expenses? What if didn't have a loyal responsible
commanding officer?
Why? Because my son wrote an essay in high school
about how he wanted to be a Marine Corps sniper. His
English teacher panicked and called the police. The
police raided our apartment without a warrant (because
it was an emergency). [My son did not threaten anyone
or anything in the essay.] The police make mistakes.
We pay for their mistakes, not the tax payer.
Legal Boundaries By State,
The Travel Guide For American Gun Owners
https://amedia.concealedcarry.com/resources/Law+Summary+E-Book-20190304.pdf
Thanks to Joe at Concealed Carry Inc. The material
at the end of this document is well worth reading.
“Destiny doesn’t make appointments,
nor does she waste her time with the naive and unready!”
-- John Farnam
This is the text of the Firearms Safety Course for the
state of Wisconsin.
https://www.doj.state.wi.us/sites/default/files/dles/ccw/student-manual.pdf
There is a gut wrenching story, starting on page 18, of
Michael Lesnick (former federal police officer) and how his
negligence and his wife's negligence contributed to the death
of their son, Joshua.
Excerpt:
“Familiarity breeds contempt and complacency.
Cops are handling guns all the time. Sometimes you
get lax wearing body armor, and I just want to
remind everybody of the safety procedures.”
In June 2008, Lesnick was sentenced to one year of probation
after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge for keeping a
loaded firearm near a child, as a party to the crime. A judge
also ordered him to pay a $500 fine and have counseling.
Lesnick’s wife, Jessica, 35, pleaded guilty to the same
crime and was sentenced to 18 months probation in August 2008.
Don't be "that guy". Secure your weapons any time they
are not strapped to your body.
We all have friends who are less trained and less educated
than we are. So, it is our duty to evangelize.
"Indiana Man Shoots Self in Genitals Due to Holster-Less Carry"
https://www.personaldefenseworld.com/2019/03/holster-less-carry-causes-genital-shot/
***** News, Legal, Philosophical, and Political stuff *****
How do you win a gunfight?
Don’t be there.
-– John Farnam
“Gun Safety”
http://defense-training.com/2018/gun-safety-3/
Colorado Sheriff Says He’ll Go to Jail Before Enforcing Gun Confiscation Law
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/04/03/co-sheriff-says-hell-go-to-jail-before-enforcing-gun-confiscation-law/
Pittsburgh passes gun safety legislation
https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/breaking-pittsburgh-passes-gun-safety-legislation/1894655452
The full text of ordinance is given in the article.
§ 1101.04 USE OF WEAPONS BY DISCHARGE
1. Firearms
2. Air guns
3. Bows defined in § 1101.01(D)(1) through § 1101.01(D)(4)
1. A crossbow;
2. A recurve bow;
3. A compound bow; and
4. A longbow.
---
Ya, I know the legalese is hard to read. Politicians do that intentionally.
The point is, it's not just gun control. They have regulated bows and
arrows, and air guns. Knives were already regulated. (Unlike Tennessee
where there is no such thing as an illegal knife.) So, we can correctly
conclude that it is not gun control, it is people control.
Remember, the purpose of such laws is to criminalize the behavior of
political opponents, so that they can be arrested, prosecuted, disenfranchised, and
imprisoned. That's why the Founding Fathers insisted on the 2nd Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution before they would vote for it. There will always be
enemies of the Constitution. The 2nd Amendment allows us to identify them,
and holds them at bay, and will continue to do so, as long as you support the
2nd Amendment.
You spent much of your career fighting the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,
the Chinese Communists, the National Socialists (Nazi), Korean Communists,
Vietnamese Communists, etc. You don't want the U.S. to end up like Venezuela.
You are intelligent enough to see the connection.
On the bright side -
Federal Court Rules California Magazine Ban Unconstitutional
http://www.gunsandtactics.com/federal-court-rules-california-magazine-ban-unconstitutional
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT for the SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
Judge Benitez's opinion,
https://d3uwh8jpzww49g.cloudfront.net/sharedmedia/1510684/2064261_2019-03-29-order-granting-plaintiffs_-msj.pdf
Latest News of Self-Defense With Firearms Contradicts Gun Control Rhetoric
http://tennesseestar.com/2019/04/11/latest-news-of-self-defense-with-firearms-contradicts-gun-control-rhetoric/
Attorney Question of the Month
1. What are a citizen’s options when the police knock on the door
with a warrant and want to confiscate the citizen’s guns?
2. Assuming the guns are securely locked in a gun safe,
do you advise the citizen to comply and open the safe?
3. What consequences do you anticipate would result
from refusing to open a safe?
https://armedcitizensnetwork.org/en/april-2019-attorney-question
IDPA Africa Champ Van der Bank shares his secrets to success
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/sports/article/2001320659/idpa-africa-champ-van-der-bank-shares-his-secrets-to-success
Excerpt:
. . . Chapter 114 of the laws of Kenya require that every licensed
firearm owner be proficient . . .
---
Now stop and think about that. In the United States of America,
we have a Constitutional Right to keep and bear arms, but no legal
requirement to be proficient. How many of your fellow country men
are proficient? I'm not talking about the 1%, like the guys and gals
you see at the Tactical Conference, or the people you see at the range
when you go to practice. I'm talking about the guys who have grown
up with guns but never practice, have never taken a real class and
don't need to because shooting is natural / instinctive.
With rights come responsibilities. But, this symbiosis is
not obvious. It must be taught. It must be learned.
***** Survival *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
10 Tips to Prepare Your Family for a Possible House Fire
https://ayearwithoutthegrocerystore.com/2018/11/02/10-ways-prep-house-fire/
Preparation for female and pediatric emergencies,
https://www.americanpartisan.org/2019/03/the-parts-of-shtf-medicine-you-might-be-forgetting/
You should know how to insert a nose tube (nasopharyngeal, not a
nasogastric intubation). You should have lubricant for inserting it.
You should have at least three of these tubes of different diameters.
You have to take a class on this. It's not common sense obvious. If
your tube isn't the right length, you have to know how to measure from
nostril to ear lobe to trim it to the correct length. You have to know
which nostril to put it in; a human's right nostril is generally larger
than his left nostril (no, as a matter of fact, humans are not
bilaterally symmetric). You have to know how to put the victim into a
recovery position. Otherwise, the victim will suffocate.
How to Survive (and Prevent) a Carjacking
https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/what-to-do-in-carjacking/
Don't go to stupid places.
Don't do stupid things.
Don't hang out with stupid people.
-- John Farnam
***** Basics *****
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."
-- Tom Givens
Prof. Edward Melkonian asked me to solve a problem
(an ODE, Ordinary Differential Equation, as I remember).
As I was working on it, he asked me if I were trying to
solve this particular problem or if I were applying a general
method that would solve all problems of this type.
I told him that I had only learned one method (having only
completed one course in ODE's), so I didn't know how to
answer his question.
He explained to me that the general method would not
work on this type of equation (which modeled a physical
process that we were interested in). We would have to try
something more sophisticated.
An infantry officer told me that they learn the
frontal assault, flanking maneuvers, enfilade, etc.
But, as the enemy also knows them, it would be foolish
to use such. You have to know how to do them, so if
the opportunity presents itself you can do it. But,
in real combat against a well trained enemy, you have
to be more sophisticated.
Sometimes the tactics that they teach you in school
(military, police, and civilian) won't work in your particular
situation. So, you have to adapt, improvise, and overcome.
Search for instructors who will teach you how to. Remember,
there are no rules; there are only inhibitions. That's why
Clausewitz said, the more audacious will win.
"Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
***** Miscellany *****
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
A nice place to train,
Boondocks Firearms Training Academy
11771 Hwy 18, Raymond, MS, United States
https://www.boondocksfta.com/
Electronically Remote-Controlled Weapon System
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2019/04/04/potd-electronically-remote-controlled-weapon-system/
When it’s least expected, you’re selected.
-- John Farnam
Semper Fidelis,
Jon
Jonathan D. Low
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
God can do more than we can hope or imagine.
Monday, April 1, 2019
CWP, 1 April MMXIX Anno Domini
God can do more than we can hope or imagine.
Greetings Sheepdogs,
If I have incorrectly paraphrased the instructors at the
2019 Tactical Conference, the fault is completely mine.
***** Mindset *****
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
“When the Unexpected Meets the Unprepared”
http://defense-training.com/2018/when-the-unexpected-meets-the-unprepared/
Not Everyone Should Conceal Carry – Train, or Don’t Carry
https://lockedback.com/not-everyone-should-conceal-carry-train-or-dont-carry/
Excerpt:
"If you're not willing to practice, don't carry a firearm."
". . . personal defense is a lifestyle, not a hobby."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
Criminals don't think the way we do. To think that they do
is a fatal mistake.
Never beg for mercy. They won't show any, and doing so excites
and emboldens them.
Never bargain. Because they won't keep their end of the bargain.
Never cooperate with a criminal. It will only get worse
for you. The secondary crime scene is always better for him and
worse for you because it is more secluded.
The only thing they understand and fear is force. The sooner
you initiate (without telegraphing your intentions) an explosive
counter attack, the better your odds of survival.
If you take pity on the criminal because of his background,
you are wrong. And he will take advantage of your stupidity.
"Life is hard. It's even harder if you're stupid." -- John Wayne
Sensei Cat Fitzgerald says, "Be the pussy. Don't be the balls.
Pussies are tough. You can push a baby through a pussy. Balls
are fragile. Ever been hit in your balls? So, when the conflict
comes, walk away. If he calls you a pussy, be the pussy."
***** Safety *****
“The fast and/or emphatic reholster
is an awesome way to shoot yourself.”
-- Chuck Haggard
***** Training *****
“You don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to your level of training.”
-- J. Bridger
CCW Training: Are We Practicing the Wrong Skills?
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/3/5/ccw-training-are-we-practicing-the-wrong-skills/
“Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it.”
-- Bruce Lee
Meta : Critical Skills and Goals for Personal Protection
https://www.growingupguns.com/2017/08/30/meta-critical-skills-and-goals-for-personal-protection/
Why do I need to train?
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and
offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique
to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if
that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for
that which could have been their finest hour."
-- Winston Churchill
Minimum Competency for Defensive Pistol
https://blog.hsoi.com/2013/07/11/minimum-competency-for-defensive-pistol/
"You train for the people who love you."
-- Tatiana Whitlock
THE CONCEALED CARRY TRAP – ARE YOU CAUGHT IN IT?
https://www.shooting-performance.com/the-concealed-carry-trap-are-you-caught-in-it/
If you don't get 100% on the 10 question test,
you need training. Because what you don't know will
kill you.
11 Exercises That Will Enhance Your Shooting Technique and Your Core
https://www.ballisticmag.com/2019/03/06/fitness-shooting-technique-core/
***** Tactics *****
Audacity wins.
-- Carl von Clausewitz
The presentation spectrum (from low to high level threat) –
[Times given are for someone who practices a lot, when nothing goes wrong.
In combat, things go wrong to foul the presentation.]
Open hands up in front of your head to protect your face and head.
Verbal commands to “STOP!”, “GET BACK!”, as appropriate. You are 2.0
seconds from firing.
Clear concealment garment and establish a correct grip on your pistol.
Keep the pistol in holster and issue verbal commands if appropriate.
You are 1.5 seconds from firing.
Establish a correct grip on the pistol before removing it from the
holster. Remove the pistol from the holster. Hold the pistol inside a
jacket pocket, inside your jacket, behind your thigh, under the table,
or some place out of sight (because you don't want the bad guy to see
your pistol). At this point you are 1.0 seconds from firing.
Present your pistol to a ready position. If the bad guy is close
enough to grab your pistol (about 7 yards, 1.5 seconds), use a compressed
ready position. If the bad guy is far enough away to require sighted
fire, use a low ready position (because you want the bad guys to see
your pistol). In any event, keep your field of view clear and don't
point your pistol at anything you are not willing to destroy. Keep your
pistol low enough to see his hands. You are 0.7 seconds from firing.
Present to the target (sights aligned, slack out of the trigger).
You are 0.3 seconds from firing, depending on how accurate you need to
be to make the shot. (We are assuming you stop at this point to assess
and make the decision “not to fire” or “to fire”. If you've made the
decision to fire previously, then the time is much less.)
Thanks to Gabe White at the 2019 Tactical Conference
in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
Who Dares Wins.
-- motto of the Special Air Service
***** Technique *****
"I would like to see every
woman know how to handle
guns as naturally as they
know how to handle babies."
-- Annie Oakley
More Than CCW: Self-Defense Beyond the Firearm
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/2/28/more-than-ccw-self-defense-beyond-the-firearm/
Excerpt:
. . . Walking out to car, grocery bags in one hand,
you reach into your pocket and turn on a super-bright
flashlight, lighting up the path to your car and
sending out a clear signal to everyone around that
you know how to deal with a dark parking lot. Does
turning on that light also send a signal to any bad
guys around you that you’re ready to deal with them
as well? I’d say it does.
. . . The rough-and-tumble nature of a close-quarters
situation meant that it may not be possible to draw a
concealed firearm in time to dealt with a threat,
or it could be wrestled away, out of the fight, and
became irrelevant to the outcome.
. . . self-defense means more than just defending your
life with a firearm. It means living safely and securely,
no matter what happens, by using all the skills and
tools available to you.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is efficient. Efficient is fast.
Involuntary Hand Clenches Leading to Accidental Discharge
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/involuntary-hand-clenches-leading-to-accidental-discharge
The document referred to in Greg's article,
https://fortress.wa.gov/cjtc/www/images/docs/classes/Firearms_Patrol_Rifle_Instructor_2014/Section%2015%20Resources.pdf
Actually, this document covers all kinds of things.
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
7 Simple Follow-Through Tips to Improve Your Accuracy (Right Now!)
https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2019/3/6/7-simple-follow-through-tips-to-improve-your-accuracy-right-now/
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
Movement & Distance in Self-Defense
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/3/22/movement-distance-in-self-defense/
Carrying your pistol without a round it the chamber is wrong.
You won't have time to load. If you think you will, your imagined
scenario is unrealistic. No mugger is going to initiate an attack
from across the parking lot. They are going to use devious techniques
to get close to you, within conversational distance. "Got any
spare change, Mister?", "Can you give me a light, Ma'am?", "Do you
know where the Wal Mart is?", "Let me help you with your groceries,
ma'am.", etc.
At 7 yards you will have 1.5 seconds to present to the target
and fire (if you have practiced a lot and decided to act). No time
to load.
At conversational distances, 1 to 2 yards, you won't have time
to present your pistol, much less load.
So, you have to have a loaded pistol and unarmed skills. Of course,
if you are aware, you avoid the situation in the first place.
***** Gear *****
Avoidance, Deterrence, and De-escalation
-- John Farnam
Everyone is different. So, the chances your new from the factory pistol
is correctly sighted in for you is negligible. So, yes, you have to adjust
your sights to move your point of impact to your point of aim.
If you are not shooting tight groups, it's you, not your pistol. If you
are right handed and scattering low left (or left handed and scattering low
right) it's you anticipating the recoil and pushing against it (not getting
a surprise break). Don't move your sights until you can shoot a tight group
on demand.
Use a proper sight adjustment tool to move your rear sight left or
right to correct for windage. [For $120 from Brownells, you can't go wrong.
https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/sight-scope-installation-tools/sight-movers/armorers-handgun-sight-tool-prod104737.aspx
] Move the rear sight in the direction that you want to move the point
of impact. [Don't move the rear sight with a punch and a hammer.
How would I know this?]
Grind the front sight down to move the point of impact up. Replace
the front sight with a taller front sight to move the point of impact down.
And then grind to perfection. And then coat with flat black.
We assume you are using fixed sights, because adjustable
sight are too fragile for combat. Self defense is combat. [If you bang
your adjustable sights or use them to rack your slide, you will throw them
out of zero.]
Carrying Concealed While Working Out
https://www.concealedcarry.com/firearms-ownership/carrying-concealed-working-out/
***** Instructors *****
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God’s gift to our students.
Our students are God’s gift to us."
Instructors, you have a duty to your profession or calling as it may be,
to maintain a professional appearance. If you're going to be pulling up
your concealment garment to present your pistol, you must wear an undershirt.
Exposing your skin or underwear is inappropriate.
Your clothing should be clean.
Your students should not be able to smell you. Maintain a
high standard of personal hygiene and avoid perfumes. This is also
tactically correct. It is also correct for hunting.
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
***** Pedagogy *****
Qui docet, discit. (He who teaches learns.)
-- motto of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers
My math professor, Dr. Adolf Mader, told me that there were two
ways to learn a subject: study it or teach it. Teaching it is by
far the better method, because your students will ask you questions,
forcing you to do the research to answer their questions.
"Train, Practice, Compete are the key elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
***** Education *****
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
[ Hey, Staff, that's an awkward translation.
Having studied Latin only a little bit, I tend to transliterate
rather than translate.]
In order to win the conflict, John Farnam advises you to:
Divide the enemy's focus.
Disrupt the enemy's plan.
Disable the enemy's body.
Destroy the enemy's will to fight.
Attacking the Central Nervous System is optimal, but that
target is very difficult to hit. So, we usually use our
bullets to attack the Circulatory System. Be aware that
even if you destroy the enemy's heart, he will have 5 or more
seconds of animation before blood pressure drops to the
point where he is incapacitated. [Five seconds is more than
enough time for him to kill you and many others. So, you
have to stay in the fight.]
Thanks to John Farnam at the 2019 Tactical Conference
in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
Dr. Martin Topper says it takes about 0.6 seconds from
your decision to fire, to actually causing your finger to
start moving. And then it takes about 0.3 seconds to go
through your trigger control process. So, you need to do
force-on-force training to reduce the amount of time that it
takes you to make your decision. And, you need to do dry
practice to reduce the amount of time it takes you to press
correctly to get that surprise break (essential for accuracy
on demand).
The bullet must generate an over pressure of at least
2 atmospheres in order to cause remote tissue damage. Pistol
bullets generally won't do this. So, you can't expect to
cause brain damage by shooting the enemy in the torso, as you
might see with center fire rifle bullets.
Thanks to Martin Topper at the 2019 Tactical Conference
in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
Chief Lee Weems explained the three levels of citizen-police
interaction:
Consensual encounter. Nothing required to initiate such a contact.
Investigative detention. Requires Reasonable Articulable Suspicion.
Custodial arrest. Requires Probable Cause.
There are 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the U.S.
17,984 are state, local, and tribal.
Thanks to Chief Lee Weems at the 2019 Tactical Conference
in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
John Holschen says bullets will splatter at 12 to 20 degrees
from the hard surface that they hit, no matter what the incident
angle is. So, stay away from walls!
Stay back away from anything you are using as cover.
If the target is identified as an enemy, shoot the first
part of the target that comes into view. Don't wait to get
the center of mass shot in the A-zone. If you can see the
enemy's A-zone, he can see you. If you shoot his elbow or
foot, when it's all you can see, he probably can't see you
at all. Of course, you have to lean way over to get your
eye out in front of any other part of your body. [Of course,
we are assuming that you have previously positively identified
the target.]
Thanks to John Holschen at the 2019 Tactical Conference
in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
History of SAAMI: How Ammunition Is Standardized
https://www.tacretailer.com/2019/01/15/history-saami-ammunition-standardized/
The Appearance of Target Size
https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2019/3/19/the-appearance-of-target-size/
Looking through your glasses at any angle other than perpendicular
to the lens will cause distortion. So, turn your head, so that you are
looking out of the center of your eye socket and you are looking through
your lens perpendicular to the plane in which your lens was ground.
Yes, it's important. Visual distortion may prevent you from
correctly identifying your target. Visual distortion may prevent you
from aiming correctly.
Read the other articles by Dr. Wong linked to at the end of the
article.
“Destiny doesn’t make appointments,
nor does she waste her time with the naive and unready!”
-- John Farnam
***** News, Legal, Philosophical, and Political stuff *****
GOA Defends Bump Stocks and AR-15s in Court
https://gunowners.org/alert3719/
Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear
the case.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-guns-idUSKCN1R9230
How do you win a gunfight? Don’t be there.
-– John Farnam
I bought a U.S. Law Shield insurance policy. I'm not
recommending them to you. There are so many policies and
they are all very different. You have to do your homework
and figure out which one works best for you and your family.
But, you ought to have a policy. It's cheap, because
statistically speaking, we are more law abiding than police.
And police have to pass background checks, psychological tests,
and all kinds of screening for honesty.
The policy should give you money up front to post bail,
hire an attorney, private investigators, and expert witnesses.
(As opposed to, "might give you money after review", or
"if they like the facts of the case".) You get as much justice
as you pay for in the real world.
The policy should have a 24/7 phone number that you can
call for help. If they are not willing and able to help you
on Christmas Eve, what good are they?
The policy should have a list of competent, vetted
attorneys who will take your case. (As opposed to, "who might
take your case after review", or "if they like the facts of your
case".)
Policies that reimburse you afterwards only if you are
acquitted, are a total scam. Such policies have a huge
financial incentive to ensure you are convicted. This is
a conflict of interest, which is a violation of fiduciary
duty, which is why such policies have been declared illegal
in many states by the Attorneys General of those states.
[Yes, those AG's are rabid anti-gun liberals and hate the NRA,
but that doesn't change the facts on which the orders are based.]
The Continuing Expansion of Permitless Carry
https://gunculture2point0.wordpress.com/2019/03/05/the-continuing-expansion-of-permitless-carry/
Every Picture Tells A Story, Part VIII
http://onlygunsandmoney.blogspot.com/2019/02/every-picture-tells-story-part-viii.html
Concealed Weapon Carry Laws in the US: A Primer
https://guncurious.wordpress.com/2019/03/06/concealed-weapon-carry-laws-in-the-us-a-primer/
***** Survival Tips *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
"Life is hard. It's even harder if you're stupid."
-- John Wayne
Don't go to stupid places.
Don't do stupid things.
Don't hang out with stupid people.
-- John Farnam
***** Basics *****
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."
-- Tom Givens
Tips For Your First Training Class
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/tips-for-your-first-training-class
"Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
***** Miscellany *****
Coolest Shooting Ranges in the United States
https://www.range365.com/coolest-shooting-ranges-in-united-states
Rock Castle is within driving distance for me.
I'm going to check it out next weekend.
15 Shootouts: Lessons From Ralph Friedman
https://americanhandgunner.com/our-experts/15-shootouts-lessons-from-ralph-friedman
Excerpt:
Friedman at that time was single and playing the field.
The time came when he was hit on by a beautiful young woman
who invited him to her place after work for feast and frolic.
A busy day in the precinct left him working late and unable
to keep the date, and she was furious when he phoned to tell
her so. Shortly thereafter, he learned how close a call he’d
escaped: the woman was the half-sister of the knife-man
Friedman had killed on the rooftop, and waiting in her
apartment were multiple male friends of the deceased. They
had planned to ambush Friedman when he arrived, torture him
to death, dismember his corpse, and dispose of the pieces.
A guest pastor at my church spoke to this point in a
recent sermon. If you stay close to God by doing what
you're suppose to do, as opposed to chasing sex, you will be
okay. King David was supposed to be out in the field waging
war as was his duty at that time of the year. But, instead
he was at home looking at naked women. This lead to all
sorts of horrors in his court and family.
Ahhhhh, Texas
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Hawaiiccw/permalink/2256192604404124/
Emerson Knives
https://emersonknives.com/
20% discount, use code "flashbang".
Cheers,
Jon
Jonathan D. Low
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
With God, all things are possible.
Greetings Sheepdogs,
If I have incorrectly paraphrased the instructors at the
2019 Tactical Conference, the fault is completely mine.
***** Mindset *****
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
“When the Unexpected Meets the Unprepared”
http://defense-training.com/2018/when-the-unexpected-meets-the-unprepared/
Not Everyone Should Conceal Carry – Train, or Don’t Carry
https://lockedback.com/not-everyone-should-conceal-carry-train-or-dont-carry/
Excerpt:
"If you're not willing to practice, don't carry a firearm."
". . . personal defense is a lifestyle, not a hobby."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
Criminals don't think the way we do. To think that they do
is a fatal mistake.
Never beg for mercy. They won't show any, and doing so excites
and emboldens them.
Never bargain. Because they won't keep their end of the bargain.
Never cooperate with a criminal. It will only get worse
for you. The secondary crime scene is always better for him and
worse for you because it is more secluded.
The only thing they understand and fear is force. The sooner
you initiate (without telegraphing your intentions) an explosive
counter attack, the better your odds of survival.
If you take pity on the criminal because of his background,
you are wrong. And he will take advantage of your stupidity.
"Life is hard. It's even harder if you're stupid." -- John Wayne
Sensei Cat Fitzgerald says, "Be the pussy. Don't be the balls.
Pussies are tough. You can push a baby through a pussy. Balls
are fragile. Ever been hit in your balls? So, when the conflict
comes, walk away. If he calls you a pussy, be the pussy."
***** Safety *****
“The fast and/or emphatic reholster
is an awesome way to shoot yourself.”
-- Chuck Haggard
***** Training *****
“You don’t rise to the occasion, you fall to your level of training.”
-- J. Bridger
CCW Training: Are We Practicing the Wrong Skills?
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/3/5/ccw-training-are-we-practicing-the-wrong-skills/
“Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it.”
-- Bruce Lee
Meta : Critical Skills and Goals for Personal Protection
https://www.growingupguns.com/2017/08/30/meta-critical-skills-and-goals-for-personal-protection/
Why do I need to train?
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and
offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique
to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if
that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for
that which could have been their finest hour."
-- Winston Churchill
Minimum Competency for Defensive Pistol
https://blog.hsoi.com/2013/07/11/minimum-competency-for-defensive-pistol/
"You train for the people who love you."
-- Tatiana Whitlock
THE CONCEALED CARRY TRAP – ARE YOU CAUGHT IN IT?
https://www.shooting-performance.com/the-concealed-carry-trap-are-you-caught-in-it/
If you don't get 100% on the 10 question test,
you need training. Because what you don't know will
kill you.
11 Exercises That Will Enhance Your Shooting Technique and Your Core
https://www.ballisticmag.com/2019/03/06/fitness-shooting-technique-core/
***** Tactics *****
Audacity wins.
-- Carl von Clausewitz
The presentation spectrum (from low to high level threat) –
[Times given are for someone who practices a lot, when nothing goes wrong.
In combat, things go wrong to foul the presentation.]
Open hands up in front of your head to protect your face and head.
Verbal commands to “STOP!”, “GET BACK!”, as appropriate. You are 2.0
seconds from firing.
Clear concealment garment and establish a correct grip on your pistol.
Keep the pistol in holster and issue verbal commands if appropriate.
You are 1.5 seconds from firing.
Establish a correct grip on the pistol before removing it from the
holster. Remove the pistol from the holster. Hold the pistol inside a
jacket pocket, inside your jacket, behind your thigh, under the table,
or some place out of sight (because you don't want the bad guy to see
your pistol). At this point you are 1.0 seconds from firing.
Present your pistol to a ready position. If the bad guy is close
enough to grab your pistol (about 7 yards, 1.5 seconds), use a compressed
ready position. If the bad guy is far enough away to require sighted
fire, use a low ready position (because you want the bad guys to see
your pistol). In any event, keep your field of view clear and don't
point your pistol at anything you are not willing to destroy. Keep your
pistol low enough to see his hands. You are 0.7 seconds from firing.
Present to the target (sights aligned, slack out of the trigger).
You are 0.3 seconds from firing, depending on how accurate you need to
be to make the shot. (We are assuming you stop at this point to assess
and make the decision “not to fire” or “to fire”. If you've made the
decision to fire previously, then the time is much less.)
Thanks to Gabe White at the 2019 Tactical Conference
in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
Who Dares Wins.
-- motto of the Special Air Service
***** Technique *****
"I would like to see every
woman know how to handle
guns as naturally as they
know how to handle babies."
-- Annie Oakley
More Than CCW: Self-Defense Beyond the Firearm
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/2/28/more-than-ccw-self-defense-beyond-the-firearm/
Excerpt:
. . . Walking out to car, grocery bags in one hand,
you reach into your pocket and turn on a super-bright
flashlight, lighting up the path to your car and
sending out a clear signal to everyone around that
you know how to deal with a dark parking lot. Does
turning on that light also send a signal to any bad
guys around you that you’re ready to deal with them
as well? I’d say it does.
. . . The rough-and-tumble nature of a close-quarters
situation meant that it may not be possible to draw a
concealed firearm in time to dealt with a threat,
or it could be wrestled away, out of the fight, and
became irrelevant to the outcome.
. . . self-defense means more than just defending your
life with a firearm. It means living safely and securely,
no matter what happens, by using all the skills and
tools available to you.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is efficient. Efficient is fast.
Involuntary Hand Clenches Leading to Accidental Discharge
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/involuntary-hand-clenches-leading-to-accidental-discharge
The document referred to in Greg's article,
https://fortress.wa.gov/cjtc/www/images/docs/classes/Firearms_Patrol_Rifle_Instructor_2014/Section%2015%20Resources.pdf
Actually, this document covers all kinds of things.
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
7 Simple Follow-Through Tips to Improve Your Accuracy (Right Now!)
https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2019/3/6/7-simple-follow-through-tips-to-improve-your-accuracy-right-now/
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
Movement & Distance in Self-Defense
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/3/22/movement-distance-in-self-defense/
Carrying your pistol without a round it the chamber is wrong.
You won't have time to load. If you think you will, your imagined
scenario is unrealistic. No mugger is going to initiate an attack
from across the parking lot. They are going to use devious techniques
to get close to you, within conversational distance. "Got any
spare change, Mister?", "Can you give me a light, Ma'am?", "Do you
know where the Wal Mart is?", "Let me help you with your groceries,
ma'am.", etc.
At 7 yards you will have 1.5 seconds to present to the target
and fire (if you have practiced a lot and decided to act). No time
to load.
At conversational distances, 1 to 2 yards, you won't have time
to present your pistol, much less load.
So, you have to have a loaded pistol and unarmed skills. Of course,
if you are aware, you avoid the situation in the first place.
***** Gear *****
Avoidance, Deterrence, and De-escalation
-- John Farnam
Everyone is different. So, the chances your new from the factory pistol
is correctly sighted in for you is negligible. So, yes, you have to adjust
your sights to move your point of impact to your point of aim.
If you are not shooting tight groups, it's you, not your pistol. If you
are right handed and scattering low left (or left handed and scattering low
right) it's you anticipating the recoil and pushing against it (not getting
a surprise break). Don't move your sights until you can shoot a tight group
on demand.
Use a proper sight adjustment tool to move your rear sight left or
right to correct for windage. [For $120 from Brownells, you can't go wrong.
https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/sight-scope-installation-tools/sight-movers/armorers-handgun-sight-tool-prod104737.aspx
] Move the rear sight in the direction that you want to move the point
of impact. [Don't move the rear sight with a punch and a hammer.
How would I know this?]
Grind the front sight down to move the point of impact up. Replace
the front sight with a taller front sight to move the point of impact down.
And then grind to perfection. And then coat with flat black.
We assume you are using fixed sights, because adjustable
sight are too fragile for combat. Self defense is combat. [If you bang
your adjustable sights or use them to rack your slide, you will throw them
out of zero.]
Carrying Concealed While Working Out
https://www.concealedcarry.com/firearms-ownership/carrying-concealed-working-out/
***** Instructors *****
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God’s gift to our students.
Our students are God’s gift to us."
Instructors, you have a duty to your profession or calling as it may be,
to maintain a professional appearance. If you're going to be pulling up
your concealment garment to present your pistol, you must wear an undershirt.
Exposing your skin or underwear is inappropriate.
Your clothing should be clean.
Your students should not be able to smell you. Maintain a
high standard of personal hygiene and avoid perfumes. This is also
tactically correct. It is also correct for hunting.
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
***** Pedagogy *****
Qui docet, discit. (He who teaches learns.)
-- motto of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers
My math professor, Dr. Adolf Mader, told me that there were two
ways to learn a subject: study it or teach it. Teaching it is by
far the better method, because your students will ask you questions,
forcing you to do the research to answer their questions.
"Train, Practice, Compete are the key elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
***** Education *****
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
[ Hey, Staff, that's an awkward translation.
Having studied Latin only a little bit, I tend to transliterate
rather than translate.]
In order to win the conflict, John Farnam advises you to:
Divide the enemy's focus.
Disrupt the enemy's plan.
Disable the enemy's body.
Destroy the enemy's will to fight.
Attacking the Central Nervous System is optimal, but that
target is very difficult to hit. So, we usually use our
bullets to attack the Circulatory System. Be aware that
even if you destroy the enemy's heart, he will have 5 or more
seconds of animation before blood pressure drops to the
point where he is incapacitated. [Five seconds is more than
enough time for him to kill you and many others. So, you
have to stay in the fight.]
Thanks to John Farnam at the 2019 Tactical Conference
in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
Dr. Martin Topper says it takes about 0.6 seconds from
your decision to fire, to actually causing your finger to
start moving. And then it takes about 0.3 seconds to go
through your trigger control process. So, you need to do
force-on-force training to reduce the amount of time that it
takes you to make your decision. And, you need to do dry
practice to reduce the amount of time it takes you to press
correctly to get that surprise break (essential for accuracy
on demand).
The bullet must generate an over pressure of at least
2 atmospheres in order to cause remote tissue damage. Pistol
bullets generally won't do this. So, you can't expect to
cause brain damage by shooting the enemy in the torso, as you
might see with center fire rifle bullets.
Thanks to Martin Topper at the 2019 Tactical Conference
in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
Chief Lee Weems explained the three levels of citizen-police
interaction:
Consensual encounter. Nothing required to initiate such a contact.
Investigative detention. Requires Reasonable Articulable Suspicion.
Custodial arrest. Requires Probable Cause.
There are 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the U.S.
17,984 are state, local, and tribal.
Thanks to Chief Lee Weems at the 2019 Tactical Conference
in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
John Holschen says bullets will splatter at 12 to 20 degrees
from the hard surface that they hit, no matter what the incident
angle is. So, stay away from walls!
Stay back away from anything you are using as cover.
If the target is identified as an enemy, shoot the first
part of the target that comes into view. Don't wait to get
the center of mass shot in the A-zone. If you can see the
enemy's A-zone, he can see you. If you shoot his elbow or
foot, when it's all you can see, he probably can't see you
at all. Of course, you have to lean way over to get your
eye out in front of any other part of your body. [Of course,
we are assuming that you have previously positively identified
the target.]
Thanks to John Holschen at the 2019 Tactical Conference
in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A.
History of SAAMI: How Ammunition Is Standardized
https://www.tacretailer.com/2019/01/15/history-saami-ammunition-standardized/
The Appearance of Target Size
https://www.ssusa.org/articles/2019/3/19/the-appearance-of-target-size/
Looking through your glasses at any angle other than perpendicular
to the lens will cause distortion. So, turn your head, so that you are
looking out of the center of your eye socket and you are looking through
your lens perpendicular to the plane in which your lens was ground.
Yes, it's important. Visual distortion may prevent you from
correctly identifying your target. Visual distortion may prevent you
from aiming correctly.
Read the other articles by Dr. Wong linked to at the end of the
article.
“Destiny doesn’t make appointments,
nor does she waste her time with the naive and unready!”
-- John Farnam
***** News, Legal, Philosophical, and Political stuff *****
GOA Defends Bump Stocks and AR-15s in Court
https://gunowners.org/alert3719/
Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear
the case.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-guns-idUSKCN1R9230
How do you win a gunfight? Don’t be there.
-– John Farnam
I bought a U.S. Law Shield insurance policy. I'm not
recommending them to you. There are so many policies and
they are all very different. You have to do your homework
and figure out which one works best for you and your family.
But, you ought to have a policy. It's cheap, because
statistically speaking, we are more law abiding than police.
And police have to pass background checks, psychological tests,
and all kinds of screening for honesty.
The policy should give you money up front to post bail,
hire an attorney, private investigators, and expert witnesses.
(As opposed to, "might give you money after review", or
"if they like the facts of the case".) You get as much justice
as you pay for in the real world.
The policy should have a 24/7 phone number that you can
call for help. If they are not willing and able to help you
on Christmas Eve, what good are they?
The policy should have a list of competent, vetted
attorneys who will take your case. (As opposed to, "who might
take your case after review", or "if they like the facts of your
case".)
Policies that reimburse you afterwards only if you are
acquitted, are a total scam. Such policies have a huge
financial incentive to ensure you are convicted. This is
a conflict of interest, which is a violation of fiduciary
duty, which is why such policies have been declared illegal
in many states by the Attorneys General of those states.
[Yes, those AG's are rabid anti-gun liberals and hate the NRA,
but that doesn't change the facts on which the orders are based.]
The Continuing Expansion of Permitless Carry
https://gunculture2point0.wordpress.com/2019/03/05/the-continuing-expansion-of-permitless-carry/
Every Picture Tells A Story, Part VIII
http://onlygunsandmoney.blogspot.com/2019/02/every-picture-tells-story-part-viii.html
Concealed Weapon Carry Laws in the US: A Primer
https://guncurious.wordpress.com/2019/03/06/concealed-weapon-carry-laws-in-the-us-a-primer/
***** Survival Tips *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
"Life is hard. It's even harder if you're stupid."
-- John Wayne
Don't go to stupid places.
Don't do stupid things.
Don't hang out with stupid people.
-- John Farnam
***** Basics *****
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."
-- Tom Givens
Tips For Your First Training Class
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/tips-for-your-first-training-class
"Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
***** Miscellany *****
Coolest Shooting Ranges in the United States
https://www.range365.com/coolest-shooting-ranges-in-united-states
Rock Castle is within driving distance for me.
I'm going to check it out next weekend.
15 Shootouts: Lessons From Ralph Friedman
https://americanhandgunner.com/our-experts/15-shootouts-lessons-from-ralph-friedman
Excerpt:
Friedman at that time was single and playing the field.
The time came when he was hit on by a beautiful young woman
who invited him to her place after work for feast and frolic.
A busy day in the precinct left him working late and unable
to keep the date, and she was furious when he phoned to tell
her so. Shortly thereafter, he learned how close a call he’d
escaped: the woman was the half-sister of the knife-man
Friedman had killed on the rooftop, and waiting in her
apartment were multiple male friends of the deceased. They
had planned to ambush Friedman when he arrived, torture him
to death, dismember his corpse, and dispose of the pieces.
A guest pastor at my church spoke to this point in a
recent sermon. If you stay close to God by doing what
you're suppose to do, as opposed to chasing sex, you will be
okay. King David was supposed to be out in the field waging
war as was his duty at that time of the year. But, instead
he was at home looking at naked women. This lead to all
sorts of horrors in his court and family.
Ahhhhh, Texas
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Hawaiiccw/permalink/2256192604404124/
Emerson Knives
https://emersonknives.com/
20% discount, use code "flashbang".
Cheers,
Jon
Jonathan D. Low
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
With God, all things are possible.
Saturday, March 9, 2019
CWP, 9 March 2019 Anno Domini
Greetings Sheepdogs,
***** Mindset *****
My father taught me never to flash money. It attracts
criminals. Similarly, never flash your gun. That is to say,
never open carry. Always carry concealed. Guns are criminal
magnets. Not believing that shows ignorance of the criminal
mind. Criminals do not think the way we do. To think they
do is a fatal mistake.
Manufactured Drama!
http://defense-training.com/2018/manufactured-drama/
THE DECISION TO DEFEND ONESELF
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/decision-defend-oneself-william-a-art-cason/
DEFENSIVE GUN USE / THE DECISION TO DEFEND ONESELF
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/defensive-gun-use-decision-defend-oneself-william-a-art-cason
Surviving an Attack: Stay Calm & Take Care of Business
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/3/1/surviving-an-attack-stay-calm-take-care-of-business/
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
***** Safety *****
". . . personal defense is a lifestyle, not a hobby."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
Subtle CCW: Keep It Concealed
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/2/22/subtle-ccw-keep-it-concealed/
The U.S. Navy never confirms nor denies that any particular ship
is carrying nuclear weapons. Revealing such information is wrong on
many levels. Similarly for you.
Years ago when I flew commercial airlines under orders,
I filled out the forms at check in, signed the papers, and
carried my pistol onboard the airplane. Never met the other
armed persons onboard. Didn't know who they were, or if they
existed. Now days, they all meet face to face (including the
Air Marshals), to ensure they don't shoot each other.
Similarly, make sure everyone on your church security
team meets face to face before going on duty. Make sure
your pastor announces that the church has a dedicated security
team and to leave the conflict resolution to them.
Thanks to FBI Special Agent Jeff Dale.
“The fast and/or emphatic reholster
is an awesome way to shoot yourself.”
-- Chuck Haggard
***** Training *****
Why do I need to train?
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and
offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique
to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if
that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for
that which could have been their finest hour."
-- Winston Churchill
Dry Practice
Dr. Ignatius Piazza says, "Live fire is just to confirm
what you have learned in dry practice. It is in dry practice,
without the distraction of recoil and report, that you hone
your skills. You should be practicing 10 dry rounds for every
live round you fire."
Naish is correct. Trigger control is 90% of accuracy.
And it is only in dry practice that you can break that nasty
habit of your trigger finger flying off the trigger after
every shot. In dry practice you can engrain proper trigger control:
Touch the trigger.
Take the slack out of the trigger.
Press. (Slow controlled steady increasing pressure.)
Bang! (Was it a surprise break?)
Keep pressing. (Trap the trigger to the rear.)
Get the sights back on target.
Reset the trigger.
Take the slack out of the trigger. (Yes, there is slack after reset.)
Press. (1/8th pressure, 2/8th, 3/8th, . . . )
Bang! (Did you get a surprise break?)
Trap the trigger to the rear.
Sights back on target.
Reset.
Slack out.
Press. (While maintaining your hard focus on the front sight.)
. . .
So, you should always have two sight pictures. One before
the shot and one after the shot.
'Sight alignment and sight picture' determine where the
pistol is pointed when the firing pin strikes the primer.
'Follow through' determines where the pistol is pointed
when the bullet exists the muzzle, a millisecond later.
A millisecond is more than enough time to move your sights off
the target and get a "miss"; excuse me, "unintentional hit"
which could cost your treasure and freedom. So, keep aiming
and keep pressing the trigger, until your sights are back
on target.
The proper way to dry practice
http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/the-proper-way-to-dry-practice/recreation-leisure
One-Handed Shooting and Why You Should Learn How to Do It Efficiently
https://www.ballisticmag.com/2019/02/21/one-handed-shooting-guide/
Excerpt:
"The key to becoming better at fighting is practicing what you need,
not just what you like. You get to choose whether to shoot or not, but
you seldom get to choose when. Assume it will be the least favorable
situation. One of my favorite quotes from Bruce Lee is
“Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.”
"You train for the people who love you."
-- Tatiana Whitlock
***** Tactics *****
Audacity wins.
-- Carl von Clausewitz
Craig Douglas of Shivworks talks about how to manage a strangers approach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwCtu79iMDs
Who Dares Wins.
-- motto of the Special Air Service
***** Technique *****
"I would like to see every
woman know how to handle
guns as naturally as they
know how to handle babies."
-- Annie Oakley
Verbal Skills During An Armed Encounter
http://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/verbal-skills-during-an-armed-encounter/137712
Verbal Agility! with Craig Douglas of Shivworks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwKvve8pXWU
Register Position, and Finger Placement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1asDqdVoH-U
Why Slow is Fast
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/why-slow-is-fast/
I preach,
Slow is correct. Correct is efficient. Efficient is fast.
As Tom Givens says, you get fast by eliminating all the
extraneous motion.
Good English prose is succinct. Your writing gets better
by rewriting. Every time you rewrite, you eliminate extraneous
words. After 13 rewrites your prose are pithy. (Herman Melville
rewrote parts of "Moby Dick" 13 times.)
The movie and TV actors are performing for your entertainment.
Real gun fights (with at least one competent operator)
are not entertaining, because they are very short.
(As Bruce Lee said, real fights are short.) You won't see
the subtlety and efficiency unless you replay it in slow
motion.
The best fight is the one that is over before the
other guy realizes that he has bitten off more than he
can chew. (Paraphrase of a comment by Jeff Cooper.)
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
6 Things You Can Do To Improve Your Recoil Control With A Handgun
https://www.shooting-performance.com/tips-to-building-the-perfect-high-performance-grip-handgun/
***** Gear *****
Avoidance, Deterrence, and De-escalation
-- John Farnam
Critical Rules of Home Emergency Firearm Storage
https://www.concealedcarry.com/safety/critical-rules-of-home-emergency-firearm-storage/
Access security requires 3 things:
1. something you have (a physical key, or a fob that generates a
specific time dependent pseudo-random number, or etc. that can be
changed if it is compromised),
2. something you know (a number, a pass word or pass phrase, or
correct non-obvious answers to context sensitive questions, or etc.),
3. something that only you can derive based on information that
the system gives you at the time of the attempted access.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The third item usually isn't feasible for humans in real time.
For example a zero knowledge proof protocol. An example of which
would be proving you know a graph isomorphism between two known
graphs, X and Y. The canonical protocol would be as follows.
You randomly rename the vertices of graph X. Let's call the
renamed graph, G. You give graph G to the system.
The system, with probability 1/2, asks you to either:
Prove that G is isomorphic to X.
Or
Prove that G is isomorphic to Y.
You answer the first question by giving the mapping
X -> G that you used to create G. Or, you answer the second
question by using the graph isomorphism that you know to convert
G to Y and give the mapping G -> Y to the system.
The system checks that the mapping you gave it is in
fact an isomorphism. (But, never tells you if it found an
error.)
You and the system repeat the above game N times, where
N is the level of security the system desires. If the system
determines success at every iteration of the game, the
system grants access. The system never mentions any failures.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The second item is easily guessed by the enemy if it is
trivial. If it is not trivial, it's going to require high
order intellectual activity to recall. In a high stress
situation, that might be difficult. So, it needs to be
practiced.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The first item is a token. Tokens can be lost or stolen.
So, you must be able to replace the token. Because once the
token is compromised, it must be locked out of the system.
So, once the hacker has the digital imprint of your fingerprint
or the scan of your iris, you can't use them anymore. You
can't replace your fingerprint or your eyeball, or any bio-metric
of your body.
Why would you be accessing your weapon? Because an
emergency situation has occurred. In such a situation, your
hands may be covered with blood or cut. Will your bio-metrics
work in such a situation? Rub a little ketchup on your hands
and test it. Disappointed? Better now than in combat.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Protecting and Securing Firearms
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/protecting-and-securing-firearms/
Making The Case For .45 ACP ‘Hardball’ (copper jacketed round nose bullets)
https://gundigest.com/gear-ammo/ammunition/making-the-case-for-45-acp-hardball
A friend of ours had to shoot a dog that attacked him.
He fired 4 shots (.45 ACP hardball). None of the bullets
exited the dog's body.
Over-penetration is not a concern in the real world.
Reliability of feeding (from the magazine) and chambering
(into the chamber) are more important than terminal ballistics.
The gun must go bang when you pull the trigger. Hardball feeds
and chambers more reliably than any other bullet type.
Farnam's suggestions for pistols for persons with small
hands and dress restrictions.
http://defense-training.com/2018/the-sage/
The article "Capacity for Truth" explains why you should use
high capacity magazines.
https://rangemaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019-03_RFTS-Newsletter.pdf
Excerpt:
"The purpose of higher capacity magazines is not to let you shoot more."
The purpose is to allow you to fight longer before having to
reload. You reload less often.
That's why you should not carry a revolver. (Reloading is slow,
difficult, and needs to be done too often.)
Tom Givens makes the case for carrying a backup gun by
sharing a story of his friend who had a Federal Hydra-Shok .40 S&W
suffer a full case head separation in his .40 caliber Shield.
Had to disassemble the gun and pry the remainder of the case out
of the chamber. No apparent damage to the pistol, but it was out
of action until time and tools were applied.
George Shootaire comments that this is why you must make
the first shot count.
Why I don’t use the “best” ammo
https://thestreetstandards.wordpress.com/2019/02/21/why-i-dont-use-the-best-ammo/
Defensive Shooting: How to Find a Gun That “Fits” You
https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/handgun-defensive-shooting/
***** Instructors *****
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
A young lady contacted me asking for training and recommendations
for a self defense pistol. She had already obtained an order of
protection, which he had walked through. So, she called the police
(who took 13 minutes to arrive) who arrested him. The police released
him shortly thereafter.
She had originally called me from a secure ward in the burn center
of a large hospital. I had a hard time getting to her because she
was not listed in the patient register, for security reasons. I had
to tell the nurse that I was a Court Appointed Special Advocate for
Children with the Wilson County Courts.
She did not want to carry the pistol. She just wanted to have
a pistol in the house in case he broke in again and tried to hurt her.
She has several small children under her care. So, we had to
decide on a strategy for safe storage while allowing quick access.
Every situation is different. Be flexible. Listen.
I tailored the training for her; dispensing with things concerned
with concealed carry, and keeping things as simple as possible. After
the safety rules, we concentrated on the basics:
1. from secure storage to ready position (25 seconds, hopefully
practice will reduce this time, but stress will increase the time)
2. from compressed ready to target using the sights
3. firing from compressed ready using body index (as this was
her expected scenario)
4. reloading
5. clearing malfunctions
Once we got the manual of arms done (because that is what
she thought was important), I dove into the mindset and self defense
law (because I thought it was important).
She would not do the after action drills, because she thought
they were stupid. She would not assume the standard standing shooting
positions, Weaver and Isosceles, because she thought they made her
look retarded.
Everyone is different. Your obligation is to help your student
within the constraints of the student's background, knowledge base,
intellectual capacity, and physical capacity. We should not try to
change people for the better (because our better may not be their
better). We should strive to give them skills that they can use to
defend themselves.
Maintain professional distance. Pray for your students.
Sinister Studies: Serious Scrutiny into Southpaw Shooting
Part 1
http://adaptivedefenseconcepts.com/sinister-studies-serious-scrutiny-into-southpaw-shooting-part-1/
How to do it left handed with two hands.
Part 2
http://adaptivedefenseconcepts.com/sinister-studies-serious-scrutiny-into-southpaw-shooting-part-2/
How to do it with the left hand only. Useful non-obvious techniques.
Part 3
http://adaptivedefenseconcepts.com/sinister-studies-serious-scrutiny-into-southpaw-shooting-part-iii/
Left handed manipulation of right handed revolvers. (Yes, I
know left handed revolvers exist, but the are rare.)
This is a deep dive into left handed manipulation. So,
it may be clumsy at first. Make sure the pistol or revolver
is unloaded. Never allow the firearm to point at you during
the operations.
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God’s gift to our students.
Our students are God’s gift to us."
***** Pedagogy *****
Qui docet, discit. (He who teaches learns.)
-- motto of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers
The Simple Phrase that Increases Effort 40%
http://danielcoyle.com/2013/12/13/the-simple-phrase-that-increases-effort-40/
The primary source,
"Breaking the Cycle of Mistrust:
Wise Interventions to Provide Critical Feedback Across the Racial Divide"
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
Vol. 143, No. 2, Pages 804–824, 2014 A.D.,
American Psychological Association
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xge-a0033906.pdf
Excerpt:
". . . Three double-blind randomized field experiments . . ."
Such an experiment is not easy to execute. Check out their
statistical analysis and graphs. That's the way it's supposed to
be done.
"Train, Practice, Compete are the key
elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
***** Education *****
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
– John Farnam
FBI Special Agent Jeff Dale addressed the Tennessee Firearms
Association meeting last night. He told us that 120 innocent
persons died last year from gun shot wounds (including police fire,
friendly fire, and self fire) in criminal attack incidents. While
drunken drivers killed 58,000 innocent persons last year.
So, if your are spending a great deal of time practicing
your self defense gun skills, while neglecting your defensive driving
skills, you're not operating in reality.
Armed Citizens Are Successful 94% Of The Time At Active Shooter Events [FBI]
https://www.concealedcarry.com/news/armed-citizens-are-successful-95-of-the-time-at-active-shooter-events-fbi/
Excerpts:
". . . there were zero situations at which the Armed Citizen
injured or killed an innocent person."
Please note that the primary sources are cited at the end
of the article. Propaganda articles don't do that.
“Destiny doesn’t make appointments,
nor does she waste her time with the naive and unready!”
-- John Farnam
***** News, Legal, Philosophical, and Political stuff *****
How do you win a gunfight? Don’t be there.
-–John Farnam
----- The Good News -----
Oklahoma Governor Signs Bill Eliminating Concealed Permit Requirement
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/02/27/oklahoma-governor-signs-bill-eliminating-concealed-permit-requirement/
Dear Jonathan: 2 March 2019 A.D.
On Wednesday, I was the first witness before the Kentucky
state House Judiciary Committee about their Constitutional Carry
bill. The committee vote was the most challenging vote that the
legislation faced, and the final vote was
12 for - 8 against - 3 abstentions.
Several judiciary committee members told me that my testimony
made a real difference. On Friday, the bill passed the state
House by a 60-to-37 vote and heads to the governor, who has
promised to sign it. When signed Kentucky will become the
17th state that allows concealed carry without a permit in
all or virtually all the state.
John R. Lott, Jr.
johnrlott@crimeresearch.org
President, Crime Prevention Research Center
http://crimeresearch.org
(484) 802-5373
Matt Bevin: ‘Great Celebration’ over Eliminating Concealed Permit Requirement
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/03/06/matt-bevin-great-celebration-eliminating-concealed-permit-requirement/
‘Second Amendment Sanctuaries’: 21 of New Mexico’s 33 Counties Refuse to Enforce Gun Control
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/03/02/second-amendment-sanctuaries-21-new-mexicos-33-counties-refuse-enforce-gun-control/
More Colorado Counties Declare Themselves ‘2nd Amendment Sanctuaries’
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/03/08/more-colorado-counties-declare-themselves-2nd-amendment-sanctuaries/
Concealed Carry Permit Reciprocity Maps
https://www.usacarry.com/concealed_carry_permit_reciprocity_maps.html
----- The Bad News -----
Say Goodby to Your guns!
http://defense-training.com/2018/say-goodby-to-your-guns/
Excerpt:
"CA, NJ, MA, CT, MD, and now IL are a few examples of
all-inclusive gun-bans, in various stages of completion."
[Those who said, "Gun confiscation could never
happen in America.", were naive. Now, they are wrong.
Because, it's already happening. -- Jon Low]
Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo Signs Gun Confiscation into Law in NY
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/02/26/democrat-andrew-cuomo-signs-gun-confiscation-law-ny/
----- Other News -----
When Felony Murder Is not Felony Murder
https://lawofselfdefense.com/potd-when-felony-murder-isnt-felony-murder/
Law of Self Defense Blog
https://lawofselfdefense.com/blog/
The most recent articles are freely available.
Older stuff requires membership.
King George III
http://defense-training.com/2018/king-george-iii/
Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog
https://gunselfdefense.blogspot.com/
Documenting civilians using guns in self-defense.
Largely because a well-known gun control activist
insisted to me that defensive use of guns by
civilians was very rare: "maybe once in ten years."
"We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence is not an act.
It is a habit."
-- Aristotle
***** Survival Tips *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Dr. Sherman House
Run 3 miles a day.
You must warm up. Stretch to avoid injury and to create
proper muscle tonus. Preparation process:
1. Pulse raiser exercise.
2. General mobility exercise.
3. Specific stretching.
4. Progressive buildup.
Hold the stretch on the inhale. Press a little further on the
exhale. Continue for 7 minutes or more, because it takes that
long for the muscle to release and relax. Don't bounce. Bouncing
causes micro tears in the muscles. Steady pressure.
If it hurts, breathe. Inhale over a slow count of 4.
Hold the air in over a slow count of 4. Exhale over a slow count of 4.
Inhale over a slow count of 4. Repeat over the 7 minutes of the stretch.
Regardless of your level of fitness or strength, technique
is always the deciding factor . . .
[No citation because I forgot who to attribute it to.]
When you run, 5 minutes at a jog to warm up. Twenty minutes
at full blast, as if the life of a loved one depended on you getting
there [or technically, to raise your pulse rate to 80% of maximum
(Maximum is when you feel you're going to vomit.)], and then 5
minutes at a jog to cool down. Three miles in 30 minutes. Easy.
Doing it 5 days a week takes self discipline, not so easy.
Doing it every day in all weather conditions, you're training for
the Olympics, or to ensure your loved ones survive.
Three minutes without oxygen, 3 days without water, or 3 weeks
without food will generally kill a human. Some medical types will
tell you that after severing an artery, you will bleed to death
in 3 minutes. That may be technically true, but you will pass out
in 17 seconds from loss of blood. So, you have to be able to put
your tourniquet on yourself in less than 17 seconds. Because, once
you are unconscious, you won't be able to do anything.
If you think you can improvise a tourniquet from stuff around
you, you are WRONG. If you think you can correctly apply a
tourniquet without training, you are WRONG. If you think a cheap
tourniquet (not SOFT or CAT) will work, you are WRONG. (Why do
you think they are not certified? It's because they don't work.)
If you don't know how to test to see if you have applied your
tourniquet correctly, you may have stopped veinal flow, but failed
to stop arterial flow, which means blood is piling up in the limb.
This condition will cause the limb to eventually be amputated.
Whereas, a correctly applied tourniquet can be on for many hours
without ill effect. Ignorance can cause injury or death.
Failure to prepare is not ignorance, it is stupidity. Don't
be stupid. Get training. Dr. House will train you at a very
reasonable cost. https://civiliandefender.com/
"Life is hard. It's even harder if you're stupid."
-- John Wayne
Don't go to stupid places.
Don't do stupid things.
Don't hang out with stupid people.
-- John Farnam
***** Basics *****
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."
-- Tom Givens
"Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
***** Miscellany *****
I attended an Appleseed event at the Arlington United
Methodist Church this past Thursday night. It was just the
lectures, no shooting. The lectures were on the events that
started the American Revolutionary War and the stories of
individuals who participated in those events. Inspiring.
We should never forget the sacrifices others have
made for our freedom.
Cheers,
Jon
Jonathan D. Low
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
***** Mindset *****
My father taught me never to flash money. It attracts
criminals. Similarly, never flash your gun. That is to say,
never open carry. Always carry concealed. Guns are criminal
magnets. Not believing that shows ignorance of the criminal
mind. Criminals do not think the way we do. To think they
do is a fatal mistake.
Manufactured Drama!
http://defense-training.com/2018/manufactured-drama/
THE DECISION TO DEFEND ONESELF
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/decision-defend-oneself-william-a-art-cason/
DEFENSIVE GUN USE / THE DECISION TO DEFEND ONESELF
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/defensive-gun-use-decision-defend-oneself-william-a-art-cason
Surviving an Attack: Stay Calm & Take Care of Business
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/3/1/surviving-an-attack-stay-calm-take-care-of-business/
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
***** Safety *****
". . . personal defense is a lifestyle, not a hobby."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
Subtle CCW: Keep It Concealed
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2019/2/22/subtle-ccw-keep-it-concealed/
The U.S. Navy never confirms nor denies that any particular ship
is carrying nuclear weapons. Revealing such information is wrong on
many levels. Similarly for you.
Years ago when I flew commercial airlines under orders,
I filled out the forms at check in, signed the papers, and
carried my pistol onboard the airplane. Never met the other
armed persons onboard. Didn't know who they were, or if they
existed. Now days, they all meet face to face (including the
Air Marshals), to ensure they don't shoot each other.
Similarly, make sure everyone on your church security
team meets face to face before going on duty. Make sure
your pastor announces that the church has a dedicated security
team and to leave the conflict resolution to them.
Thanks to FBI Special Agent Jeff Dale.
“The fast and/or emphatic reholster
is an awesome way to shoot yourself.”
-- Chuck Haggard
***** Training *****
Why do I need to train?
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and
offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique
to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if
that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for
that which could have been their finest hour."
-- Winston Churchill
Dry Practice
Dr. Ignatius Piazza says, "Live fire is just to confirm
what you have learned in dry practice. It is in dry practice,
without the distraction of recoil and report, that you hone
your skills. You should be practicing 10 dry rounds for every
live round you fire."
Naish is correct. Trigger control is 90% of accuracy.
And it is only in dry practice that you can break that nasty
habit of your trigger finger flying off the trigger after
every shot. In dry practice you can engrain proper trigger control:
Touch the trigger.
Take the slack out of the trigger.
Press. (Slow controlled steady increasing pressure.)
Bang! (Was it a surprise break?)
Keep pressing. (Trap the trigger to the rear.)
Get the sights back on target.
Reset the trigger.
Take the slack out of the trigger. (Yes, there is slack after reset.)
Press. (1/8th pressure, 2/8th, 3/8th, . . . )
Bang! (Did you get a surprise break?)
Trap the trigger to the rear.
Sights back on target.
Reset.
Slack out.
Press. (While maintaining your hard focus on the front sight.)
. . .
So, you should always have two sight pictures. One before
the shot and one after the shot.
'Sight alignment and sight picture' determine where the
pistol is pointed when the firing pin strikes the primer.
'Follow through' determines where the pistol is pointed
when the bullet exists the muzzle, a millisecond later.
A millisecond is more than enough time to move your sights off
the target and get a "miss"; excuse me, "unintentional hit"
which could cost your treasure and freedom. So, keep aiming
and keep pressing the trigger, until your sights are back
on target.
The proper way to dry practice
http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/the-proper-way-to-dry-practice/recreation-leisure
One-Handed Shooting and Why You Should Learn How to Do It Efficiently
https://www.ballisticmag.com/2019/02/21/one-handed-shooting-guide/
Excerpt:
"The key to becoming better at fighting is practicing what you need,
not just what you like. You get to choose whether to shoot or not, but
you seldom get to choose when. Assume it will be the least favorable
situation. One of my favorite quotes from Bruce Lee is
“Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it.”
"You train for the people who love you."
-- Tatiana Whitlock
***** Tactics *****
Audacity wins.
-- Carl von Clausewitz
Craig Douglas of Shivworks talks about how to manage a strangers approach.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwCtu79iMDs
Who Dares Wins.
-- motto of the Special Air Service
***** Technique *****
"I would like to see every
woman know how to handle
guns as naturally as they
know how to handle babies."
-- Annie Oakley
Verbal Skills During An Armed Encounter
http://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/verbal-skills-during-an-armed-encounter/137712
Verbal Agility! with Craig Douglas of Shivworks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwKvve8pXWU
Register Position, and Finger Placement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1asDqdVoH-U
Why Slow is Fast
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/why-slow-is-fast/
I preach,
Slow is correct. Correct is efficient. Efficient is fast.
As Tom Givens says, you get fast by eliminating all the
extraneous motion.
Good English prose is succinct. Your writing gets better
by rewriting. Every time you rewrite, you eliminate extraneous
words. After 13 rewrites your prose are pithy. (Herman Melville
rewrote parts of "Moby Dick" 13 times.)
The movie and TV actors are performing for your entertainment.
Real gun fights (with at least one competent operator)
are not entertaining, because they are very short.
(As Bruce Lee said, real fights are short.) You won't see
the subtlety and efficiency unless you replay it in slow
motion.
The best fight is the one that is over before the
other guy realizes that he has bitten off more than he
can chew. (Paraphrase of a comment by Jeff Cooper.)
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
6 Things You Can Do To Improve Your Recoil Control With A Handgun
https://www.shooting-performance.com/tips-to-building-the-perfect-high-performance-grip-handgun/
***** Gear *****
Avoidance, Deterrence, and De-escalation
-- John Farnam
Critical Rules of Home Emergency Firearm Storage
https://www.concealedcarry.com/safety/critical-rules-of-home-emergency-firearm-storage/
Access security requires 3 things:
1. something you have (a physical key, or a fob that generates a
specific time dependent pseudo-random number, or etc. that can be
changed if it is compromised),
2. something you know (a number, a pass word or pass phrase, or
correct non-obvious answers to context sensitive questions, or etc.),
3. something that only you can derive based on information that
the system gives you at the time of the attempted access.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The third item usually isn't feasible for humans in real time.
For example a zero knowledge proof protocol. An example of which
would be proving you know a graph isomorphism between two known
graphs, X and Y. The canonical protocol would be as follows.
You randomly rename the vertices of graph X. Let's call the
renamed graph, G. You give graph G to the system.
The system, with probability 1/2, asks you to either:
Prove that G is isomorphic to X.
Or
Prove that G is isomorphic to Y.
You answer the first question by giving the mapping
X -> G that you used to create G. Or, you answer the second
question by using the graph isomorphism that you know to convert
G to Y and give the mapping G -> Y to the system.
The system checks that the mapping you gave it is in
fact an isomorphism. (But, never tells you if it found an
error.)
You and the system repeat the above game N times, where
N is the level of security the system desires. If the system
determines success at every iteration of the game, the
system grants access. The system never mentions any failures.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The second item is easily guessed by the enemy if it is
trivial. If it is not trivial, it's going to require high
order intellectual activity to recall. In a high stress
situation, that might be difficult. So, it needs to be
practiced.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The first item is a token. Tokens can be lost or stolen.
So, you must be able to replace the token. Because once the
token is compromised, it must be locked out of the system.
So, once the hacker has the digital imprint of your fingerprint
or the scan of your iris, you can't use them anymore. You
can't replace your fingerprint or your eyeball, or any bio-metric
of your body.
Why would you be accessing your weapon? Because an
emergency situation has occurred. In such a situation, your
hands may be covered with blood or cut. Will your bio-metrics
work in such a situation? Rub a little ketchup on your hands
and test it. Disappointed? Better now than in combat.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Protecting and Securing Firearms
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/protecting-and-securing-firearms/
Making The Case For .45 ACP ‘Hardball’ (copper jacketed round nose bullets)
https://gundigest.com/gear-ammo/ammunition/making-the-case-for-45-acp-hardball
A friend of ours had to shoot a dog that attacked him.
He fired 4 shots (.45 ACP hardball). None of the bullets
exited the dog's body.
Over-penetration is not a concern in the real world.
Reliability of feeding (from the magazine) and chambering
(into the chamber) are more important than terminal ballistics.
The gun must go bang when you pull the trigger. Hardball feeds
and chambers more reliably than any other bullet type.
Farnam's suggestions for pistols for persons with small
hands and dress restrictions.
http://defense-training.com/2018/the-sage/
The article "Capacity for Truth" explains why you should use
high capacity magazines.
https://rangemaster.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/2019-03_RFTS-Newsletter.pdf
Excerpt:
"The purpose of higher capacity magazines is not to let you shoot more."
The purpose is to allow you to fight longer before having to
reload. You reload less often.
That's why you should not carry a revolver. (Reloading is slow,
difficult, and needs to be done too often.)
Tom Givens makes the case for carrying a backup gun by
sharing a story of his friend who had a Federal Hydra-Shok .40 S&W
suffer a full case head separation in his .40 caliber Shield.
Had to disassemble the gun and pry the remainder of the case out
of the chamber. No apparent damage to the pistol, but it was out
of action until time and tools were applied.
George Shootaire comments that this is why you must make
the first shot count.
Why I don’t use the “best” ammo
https://thestreetstandards.wordpress.com/2019/02/21/why-i-dont-use-the-best-ammo/
Defensive Shooting: How to Find a Gun That “Fits” You
https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/handgun-defensive-shooting/
***** Instructors *****
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
A young lady contacted me asking for training and recommendations
for a self defense pistol. She had already obtained an order of
protection, which he had walked through. So, she called the police
(who took 13 minutes to arrive) who arrested him. The police released
him shortly thereafter.
She had originally called me from a secure ward in the burn center
of a large hospital. I had a hard time getting to her because she
was not listed in the patient register, for security reasons. I had
to tell the nurse that I was a Court Appointed Special Advocate for
Children with the Wilson County Courts.
She did not want to carry the pistol. She just wanted to have
a pistol in the house in case he broke in again and tried to hurt her.
She has several small children under her care. So, we had to
decide on a strategy for safe storage while allowing quick access.
Every situation is different. Be flexible. Listen.
I tailored the training for her; dispensing with things concerned
with concealed carry, and keeping things as simple as possible. After
the safety rules, we concentrated on the basics:
1. from secure storage to ready position (25 seconds, hopefully
practice will reduce this time, but stress will increase the time)
2. from compressed ready to target using the sights
3. firing from compressed ready using body index (as this was
her expected scenario)
4. reloading
5. clearing malfunctions
Once we got the manual of arms done (because that is what
she thought was important), I dove into the mindset and self defense
law (because I thought it was important).
She would not do the after action drills, because she thought
they were stupid. She would not assume the standard standing shooting
positions, Weaver and Isosceles, because she thought they made her
look retarded.
Everyone is different. Your obligation is to help your student
within the constraints of the student's background, knowledge base,
intellectual capacity, and physical capacity. We should not try to
change people for the better (because our better may not be their
better). We should strive to give them skills that they can use to
defend themselves.
Maintain professional distance. Pray for your students.
Sinister Studies: Serious Scrutiny into Southpaw Shooting
Part 1
http://adaptivedefenseconcepts.com/sinister-studies-serious-scrutiny-into-southpaw-shooting-part-1/
How to do it left handed with two hands.
Part 2
http://adaptivedefenseconcepts.com/sinister-studies-serious-scrutiny-into-southpaw-shooting-part-2/
How to do it with the left hand only. Useful non-obvious techniques.
Part 3
http://adaptivedefenseconcepts.com/sinister-studies-serious-scrutiny-into-southpaw-shooting-part-iii/
Left handed manipulation of right handed revolvers. (Yes, I
know left handed revolvers exist, but the are rare.)
This is a deep dive into left handed manipulation. So,
it may be clumsy at first. Make sure the pistol or revolver
is unloaded. Never allow the firearm to point at you during
the operations.
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God’s gift to our students.
Our students are God’s gift to us."
***** Pedagogy *****
Qui docet, discit. (He who teaches learns.)
-- motto of the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers
The Simple Phrase that Increases Effort 40%
http://danielcoyle.com/2013/12/13/the-simple-phrase-that-increases-effort-40/
The primary source,
"Breaking the Cycle of Mistrust:
Wise Interventions to Provide Critical Feedback Across the Racial Divide"
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
Vol. 143, No. 2, Pages 804–824, 2014 A.D.,
American Psychological Association
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xge-a0033906.pdf
Excerpt:
". . . Three double-blind randomized field experiments . . ."
Such an experiment is not easy to execute. Check out their
statistical analysis and graphs. That's the way it's supposed to
be done.
"Train, Practice, Compete are the key
elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
***** Education *****
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
– John Farnam
FBI Special Agent Jeff Dale addressed the Tennessee Firearms
Association meeting last night. He told us that 120 innocent
persons died last year from gun shot wounds (including police fire,
friendly fire, and self fire) in criminal attack incidents. While
drunken drivers killed 58,000 innocent persons last year.
So, if your are spending a great deal of time practicing
your self defense gun skills, while neglecting your defensive driving
skills, you're not operating in reality.
Armed Citizens Are Successful 94% Of The Time At Active Shooter Events [FBI]
https://www.concealedcarry.com/news/armed-citizens-are-successful-95-of-the-time-at-active-shooter-events-fbi/
Excerpts:
". . . there were zero situations at which the Armed Citizen
injured or killed an innocent person."
Please note that the primary sources are cited at the end
of the article. Propaganda articles don't do that.
“Destiny doesn’t make appointments,
nor does she waste her time with the naive and unready!”
-- John Farnam
***** News, Legal, Philosophical, and Political stuff *****
How do you win a gunfight? Don’t be there.
-–John Farnam
----- The Good News -----
Oklahoma Governor Signs Bill Eliminating Concealed Permit Requirement
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/02/27/oklahoma-governor-signs-bill-eliminating-concealed-permit-requirement/
Dear Jonathan: 2 March 2019 A.D.
On Wednesday, I was the first witness before the Kentucky
state House Judiciary Committee about their Constitutional Carry
bill. The committee vote was the most challenging vote that the
legislation faced, and the final vote was
12 for - 8 against - 3 abstentions.
Several judiciary committee members told me that my testimony
made a real difference. On Friday, the bill passed the state
House by a 60-to-37 vote and heads to the governor, who has
promised to sign it. When signed Kentucky will become the
17th state that allows concealed carry without a permit in
all or virtually all the state.
John R. Lott, Jr.
johnrlott@crimeresearch.org
President, Crime Prevention Research Center
http://crimeresearch.org
(484) 802-5373
Matt Bevin: ‘Great Celebration’ over Eliminating Concealed Permit Requirement
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/03/06/matt-bevin-great-celebration-eliminating-concealed-permit-requirement/
‘Second Amendment Sanctuaries’: 21 of New Mexico’s 33 Counties Refuse to Enforce Gun Control
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/03/02/second-amendment-sanctuaries-21-new-mexicos-33-counties-refuse-enforce-gun-control/
More Colorado Counties Declare Themselves ‘2nd Amendment Sanctuaries’
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/03/08/more-colorado-counties-declare-themselves-2nd-amendment-sanctuaries/
Concealed Carry Permit Reciprocity Maps
https://www.usacarry.com/concealed_carry_permit_reciprocity_maps.html
----- The Bad News -----
Say Goodby to Your guns!
http://defense-training.com/2018/say-goodby-to-your-guns/
Excerpt:
"CA, NJ, MA, CT, MD, and now IL are a few examples of
all-inclusive gun-bans, in various stages of completion."
[Those who said, "Gun confiscation could never
happen in America.", were naive. Now, they are wrong.
Because, it's already happening. -- Jon Low]
Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo Signs Gun Confiscation into Law in NY
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/02/26/democrat-andrew-cuomo-signs-gun-confiscation-law-ny/
----- Other News -----
When Felony Murder Is not Felony Murder
https://lawofselfdefense.com/potd-when-felony-murder-isnt-felony-murder/
Law of Self Defense Blog
https://lawofselfdefense.com/blog/
The most recent articles are freely available.
Older stuff requires membership.
King George III
http://defense-training.com/2018/king-george-iii/
Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog
https://gunselfdefense.blogspot.com/
Documenting civilians using guns in self-defense.
Largely because a well-known gun control activist
insisted to me that defensive use of guns by
civilians was very rare: "maybe once in ten years."
"We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence is not an act.
It is a habit."
-- Aristotle
***** Survival Tips *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Dr. Sherman House
Run 3 miles a day.
You must warm up. Stretch to avoid injury and to create
proper muscle tonus. Preparation process:
1. Pulse raiser exercise.
2. General mobility exercise.
3. Specific stretching.
4. Progressive buildup.
Hold the stretch on the inhale. Press a little further on the
exhale. Continue for 7 minutes or more, because it takes that
long for the muscle to release and relax. Don't bounce. Bouncing
causes micro tears in the muscles. Steady pressure.
If it hurts, breathe. Inhale over a slow count of 4.
Hold the air in over a slow count of 4. Exhale over a slow count of 4.
Inhale over a slow count of 4. Repeat over the 7 minutes of the stretch.
Regardless of your level of fitness or strength, technique
is always the deciding factor . . .
[No citation because I forgot who to attribute it to.]
When you run, 5 minutes at a jog to warm up. Twenty minutes
at full blast, as if the life of a loved one depended on you getting
there [or technically, to raise your pulse rate to 80% of maximum
(Maximum is when you feel you're going to vomit.)], and then 5
minutes at a jog to cool down. Three miles in 30 minutes. Easy.
Doing it 5 days a week takes self discipline, not so easy.
Doing it every day in all weather conditions, you're training for
the Olympics, or to ensure your loved ones survive.
Three minutes without oxygen, 3 days without water, or 3 weeks
without food will generally kill a human. Some medical types will
tell you that after severing an artery, you will bleed to death
in 3 minutes. That may be technically true, but you will pass out
in 17 seconds from loss of blood. So, you have to be able to put
your tourniquet on yourself in less than 17 seconds. Because, once
you are unconscious, you won't be able to do anything.
If you think you can improvise a tourniquet from stuff around
you, you are WRONG. If you think you can correctly apply a
tourniquet without training, you are WRONG. If you think a cheap
tourniquet (not SOFT or CAT) will work, you are WRONG. (Why do
you think they are not certified? It's because they don't work.)
If you don't know how to test to see if you have applied your
tourniquet correctly, you may have stopped veinal flow, but failed
to stop arterial flow, which means blood is piling up in the limb.
This condition will cause the limb to eventually be amputated.
Whereas, a correctly applied tourniquet can be on for many hours
without ill effect. Ignorance can cause injury or death.
Failure to prepare is not ignorance, it is stupidity. Don't
be stupid. Get training. Dr. House will train you at a very
reasonable cost. https://civiliandefender.com/
"Life is hard. It's even harder if you're stupid."
-- John Wayne
Don't go to stupid places.
Don't do stupid things.
Don't hang out with stupid people.
-- John Farnam
***** Basics *****
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."
-- Tom Givens
"Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
***** Miscellany *****
I attended an Appleseed event at the Arlington United
Methodist Church this past Thursday night. It was just the
lectures, no shooting. The lectures were on the events that
started the American Revolutionary War and the stories of
individuals who participated in those events. Inspiring.
We should never forget the sacrifices others have
made for our freedom.
Cheers,
Jon
Jonathan D. Low
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
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