Hi Sheepdogs,
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***** ***** ***** Software ***** ***** *****
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
"Better to stay out of trouble than get out of trouble."
-- Tactical Professor (Claude Werner)
"Complacency and Firearms, a Dangerous Combination" by Matthew Maruster
Avoidance, Deterrence, Escape
“You are no more armed because you are wearing a pistol
than you are a musician because you own a guitar.”
from Principles of Personal Defense by
Col. Jeff Cooper, USMC, (1920 – 2006 A.D.)
"The Armed Citizen – A Five Year Analysis" by Claude Werner
Excerpts:
Mindset of the potential victim was far more important than the type of weapon used.
Awareness of the surroundings appears to be a key element of successful defense.
Be familiar enough with the weapon to employ it without fumbling.
If the attacker does not withdraw, counterattack without hesitation.
"The New Reality - Master Class with Ken Hackathorn - Episode 25"
Excerpt:
"No one is coming to save you."
[My next door neighbor called 911 when guys were trying to kick her door down.
The Metro Nashville Police never showed up. It took me 15 minutes to show up
(I was not at home). It took her husband 30 minutes to show up (he was at work).
So, Hackathorn is correct. You better internalize this reality and plan accordingly.
-- Jon Low]
"There are no victims, only volunteers.
You volunteer by looking uncertain and afraid.
You volunteer by being, as grass-eaters invariably are,
unprepared to confront the hazards of life."
— Jeff Cooper
----- Aftermath -----
(You have to be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.)
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him,
but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton
Never talk to the police! Ask for your attorney and shut up!
The police will lie to you. Don't believe them. Don't listen to them.
There are many U.S. Supreme Court rulings saying that it is perfectly
fine for the police to lie to you. (Of course, if you lie to the police
that's a crime.)
Instructors who teach "talking to the police" are WRONG!
"You Have the Right to Remain Innocent" by James Duane
If you talk, you will be convicted because the police don't care about your innocence or guilt.
All they care about is their promotions and raises. Arrests count. Convictions count.
Exonerations don't count.
Say "no" when the police ask for permission to do anything. Just say, "NO."
"Busted! How to Handle the Police Until You Get a Lawyer" by Mary Griego
"Shut up! Please shut up."
I can beat an illegal search. I can beat a search warrant. I cannot beat your stupidity
in giving the cop permission to search. Of course, they are going to plant evidence.
They aren't stupid.
Talking to the police is criminal stupidity. Don't do it.
Giving the police permission to search is criminal stupidity. Don't do it.
Some instructors teach, point out evidence. If you do that, the police will say that only
you knew where the evidence was because you put it there. And similarly for other
things you say. Your statements will all be twisted and used against you. That's why
so many innocent people are in prison. They aren't guilty. They are stupid.
That's why the Innocence Project has gotten so many people released from prison.
My state senator, Mark Pody, worked on such a case. If the guy had just kept his
mouth shut in the first place, he never would have been convicted. Everyone thinks
they are being a good citizen and helping the police. Ya, you're helping the police
convict you.
Stupid is as stupid does. Talking to the police is stupid.
"Don't Talk to the Police" by Regent University School of Law
Please view this video. Please take Prof. James Duane seriously.
Instructors who teach "say little" when interacting with the responding police officers
after a lethal force encounter are WRONG! The instructors teach things like,
"point out witnesses and evidence to the responding officers". Don't!
Keep your mouth shut! Don't write anything. Don't sign anything (American Sign
Language). Don't say anything.
When you're in jail, the police will come to you with a paper to sign. They will
tell you that it's just a formality and once you sign it they will release you. DON'T
sign it. It is a confession. Once you sign the confession, you will be arrested and
spend the rest of your life in prison. Yes, as a matter of fact, this sort of thing
is common practice.
Michael Drejka was violently shoved to the ground in a parking lot by
Markeis McGlockton who was much bigger and stronger than Drejka.
Drejka immediately shot McGlockton in the front of his chest (not in the back).
McGlockton retreated into a store and died.
The responding police officers declined to arrest Drejka because it was obviously
self defense.
The county Sheriff declined to press charges against Drejka because it was
self defense.
Then, Drejka goes in to talk to the police for two hours without his attorney
present. The recorded statement was played at his trial to convict him of man slaughter.
Drejka is now getting beaten in prison on a regular basis. And will be for the rest
of his life.
If you are stupid enough to talk to the police, you can talk yourself into a conviction,
even when you are completely justified, completely innocent of any crime.
My father, who was a prosecutor, judge, defense attorney, et al told me that
stupid people get convicted. Doesn't have anything to do with guilt or innocence.
Arrogance is a form of stupidity. That's why God tells us to be humble.
"D.C. commits to sweeping post-conviction review after report uncovers breakdowns in city’s forensics arm"
By Emily Davies
Whether corruption or incompetence, the result is the same, innocent persons convicted.
This is why it is so important to never talk to the police. Teach your children to never talk
to the police. You and your children can talk to your attorney. Then your attorney can
talk to the police. But, you should NEVER talk to the police.
“Your understanding and consent are not required for someone to take
your life, kill your loved ones, and destroy all you hold dear.”
-- William Aprill
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----- Safety -----
(how to avoid shooting yourself, friendlies, and innocent bystanders)
Jeff Cooper's Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
“Self-Defense for Women: Getting to "No!" You” by Tamara Keel
Excerpt:
"It's okay to be firm with strangers if that's what it takes to keep yourself safe.
Even if it makes you feel rude or, worse, Not Nice at the time, it's still okay.
It doesn't go in your permanent record, promise."
"4 Simple Steps to Effective Boundary Setting" by JARRETT ARTHUR
The normal people smile and wave to me when I smile and wave to them, when they are
driving into our facility. So, the guy walking in was unusual. When he neglected to respond
to my smile, wave, and verbal greeting, I radioed ahead to let the other security officers
know that a grumpy guy was approaching the front doors. Grumpy would need a key fob
to open the door, but the security officers met him outside the doors, because if he's a bad
guy, you can't let him get inside. (Same for churches and such.) The security officers
engaged Grumpy in "friendly" conversation. Grumpy said he was Jewish. (We were having
the Hanukah festival today in a big tent in the parking lot.) One of the officers asked him
how many candles he had purchased for his Menorah. Grumpy looked at the huge Menorah
that the kids were throwing plastic rings on in the tent, counted 9 places to hold candles,
and replied, "Nine." So, security escorted Grumpy off the property.
The trick is to go deep (every question based on the answer to the last question), not broad
(every question independent of previous questions). It's easier to catch a lie that way.
If you didn't get it, ask a Jew how many candles they need for their Menorah for their
Hanukah celebration.
I remember in boot camp, the Drill Instructors told us a story of a Marine on guard duty
who encountered an unknown person during the Korean War, late at night in the dark.
The unknown person identified himself as a fellow Marine and gave the appropriate
password. The Marine guard looked at the guy's boots and immediately shot the fake
Marine. Ask a Marine how to lace your boots. (And in modern times, where you
place the dog tag.)
Free Gun Safety class
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:
Don't go to stupid places.
Don't do stupid things.
Don't hang out with stupid people.
Be in bed by 10 PM. Your own bed.
Don't look like a freak.
Don't fail the attitude test.
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----- Training (figuring out the correct tasks to learn) -----
You need training because:
You don't know what you don't know.
Much of what you know is false.
It's good to the have the answers before the criminal tests you.
-- Claude Werner (paraphrased)
A colleague of mine does MMA fighting. He has long hair. I asked him about this and
he told me that the rules prohibit grabbing the opponent's hair (as well as eye gouging,
scratching, biting, etc.). I mentioned that we are in the security business, we get into real
fights, no rules. His response was that if someone grabbed his hair, he would kick him in
the testicles. Well, that's all well and good, if you can. I think this is a terrible training scar.
When I joined the Marine Corps, the first thing they did upon arrival at boot camp was
to cut off the hair on our scalps, because where the head goes, the body follows. If
someone can grab your hair, they have a significant advantage. Enough of an advantage
to kill you.
When we learned Judo flips in boot camp, the Drill Instructors explained to us that
these techniques were not the sort that you would learn in a civilian dojo. Because in the
civilian world you don't want to hurt your opponent. It's just a sport. Training scar.
Beware of training scars. They are everywhere and they will get you killed.
A weapon system without proper operator training is dangerous to everyone within range.
[What an instructor in artillery school said, but equally relevant to pistols.]
“The secret of success is this.
Train like it means everything when it means nothing – so you can
fight like it means nothing when it means everything.”
-- Lofty Wiseman
"WHEN CITIZENS FIGHT BACK
ARE WE TRAINING WRONG?"
BY TOM GIVENS
Excerpt:
"The success/failure tally among the incidents involving my students is 62 wins,
zero losses, and two forfeits. Every one of our students who were armed won their
confrontation. Only three of those were injured, and those three recovered. To the
best of my knowledge, two people have gone through training with us and
subsequently were murdered in separate street robberies — but neither was armed.
This is why we put a great deal of emphasis in our training on the necessity of
routinely carrying your gun."
"Based on this data, we believe the following are key skills the private citizen
should concentrate on in their training:
Quick, safe, efficient presentation of the handgun from concealed carry.
Delivery of several well-placed shots at distances from 3 to 7 yards.
Keeping the gun running, including reloading and fixing malfunctions.
Two-handed firing. We train our students to use two hands if at all possible
and most have done so in their fights. Bring the gun to eye level. This is the
fastest way to achieve accurate gun alignment. All but two of our students
brought the gun to eye level, and as a result got good hits. Two had to shoot
from below eye level due to unusual circumstances."
[While Tom does not state it in this article, he did in one of his classes,
state that the probability of you being the victim of a violent crime is not
one in a million, it's more like one in twenty six.
The 62 wins, 0 losses, and 2 forfeits is interesting. But, the significant number
is the hundreds of thousands of times that his students are not attacked in the first
place because their training caused the predator to decide not to attack them.
Can't get data for this statistic, but I suggest it is huge.
-- Jon Low]
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
"Gearing Up For A Training Class" by JEREMY TYE
You’ve just enrolled in your first multi-day pistol training class. In order to get the
absolute most value for your hard-earned money and time, take a minute to consider
these suggestions on preparing for a shooting class:
Bring a gun that you know works. Sounds like common sense, but there is always
that “one guy” that shows up to a class with a brand-new gun, or a gun that has a brand
new trigger/barrel/slide/red dot/etc. If your stuff doesn’t work, you can’t shoot, and
nobody else can shoot either because the instructor is probably now focused on getting
you squared away. Run your gun hard prior to a class, put a few hundred rounds through
it in a quick range session to ensure that everything is where it needs to be. If you’ve got
a backup pistol, bring it. If you don’t, make sure that you at least have a small spare
parts kit. Extra extractors, firing pins/strikers, locking blocks, slide stops, recoil spring
assemblies, having that stuff on hand is always a good idea. Oh, and don’t show up to
a class with a pistol that has new irons or a dot that hasn’t been zeroed. . . .
Have a bunch of mags. You’re going to need more than 3, even if that is the number
of mags required by the instructor. I like to show up with 5 mags fully loaded, and 5 mags
that are empty so that I can load them to whatever the instructor wants for the next drill.
A dump pouch on your belt makes it really easy to carry a bunch of mags to the line and
store the mags that you’ve picked up off the deck. If you’ve got an ammo bag that you
can dump your ammo into prior to the class, its way easier to load from a bag or can than
it is to load from the factory boxes, and you don’t have to worry about throwing away all
the empty ammo boxes at the end of the day.
Fresh batteries for everything. This includes electronic ear pro, red dots,
cameras/go pros, and flashlights. Anything that takes a battery gets a new one, even if you
just swapped it a few weeks prior. Bring extras for your buddy that forgot to change the
batteries out in their gear. Lithium batteries are pricey, but they generally last longer, weigh
less than alkaline, and most importantly won’t swell or burst inside your expensive gear.
A few dollars extra is cheap insurance when it comes to electronics.
Lastly, check your torque. Screws love to back out and disappear at the worst possible
time. If you’re running a red dot, make sure your mounting screws are torqued and
witness-marked. Same goes for weapon-mounted lights. And don’t forget about the
screws in your kydex gear. Vibratite VC3 or Permatex Orange threadlocker works great
on kydex screws to keep everything where it should be.
A little due diligence prior to the class can make or break the class experience for not
only you, but also your classmates. Nobody likes standing on the line chatting with one
another while the instructor is back at the tables trying to quickly put a student’s gun or gear
back into service. Make the most of your time by showing up to class prepared to learn
and prepared to shoot!
[If you don't take money for the class (the tuition is a donation to the church, gun club,
or junior shooting team that is hosting the class), it is much easier to inform the student
that he may audit the class, but that the instructors will not loan him equipment.
Allowing another stranger student to loan equipment to the incompetent student can
become a liability nightmare. I strongly recommend against it. The real problem is that
if he is providing equipment and ammunition for her, he might be expecting something
in return. -- Jon Low]
"Victory is predicated on mastery of the basics, AND the ability to perform them subconsciously."
-- John Farnam
"Skin That Smoke Wagon! Fundamentals of Clandestine Carry Pistol" by John Mosby
Excerpts:
Be Able to Hit What You NEED to Hit, As Many Times As Necessary.
Be Capable of Getting the Gun Into the Fight, in Time to Be Useful.
Make Appropriately Good Decisions, Under the Stress of a Life-or-Death Fight.
[The author warns the reader that his opinions may trigger the reader. -- Jon Low]
"What is Situational Awareness?" by Spencer Blue
Excerpts:
". . . overcome denial . . ."
"He is not acting naturally, he’s behaving naturally."
Front Sight Reality Check #88
Off duty Baltimore cop does everything right. Training pays off.
Unfortunately, the innocent victim dies, because the cop was
facing the wrong way in the barber chair when the shooting
started. The cop stopped shooting when the bad guy dropped
his pistol. Wow! That is self control.
"Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice".
-- Claude Werner
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----- Practice (how to get good at that task) -----
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
"Become An Ambidextrous Shooter To Boost Your Scores" by Chris Christian
Also important for combat, especially that part about how to transfer the pistol
between hands.
Why practice?
"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
"56 Concealed Carry Mistakes and How to Avoid Them [Update]" by Jacob Paulsen
"Be careful what you practice.
Because you will do in combat whatever you have practiced,
no matter how ridiculous."
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
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----- Strategy (deciding on the end state and how to achieve it) -----
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
You win gunfights by not getting shot.
-- John Holschen
----- Tactics (tasks that you should strive to be able to do in support of your strategy) -----
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"The Importance of Communication for Personal Defense" by SHERIFF JIM WILSON
That's why you have to have a powerful (750 lumens or more) flashlight. Even when
the other person is suffering from auditory exclusion, a little flash of light reflecting off
anything in his field of view and communication is made, or at least started. It's got to
be bright enough for him to see in bright daylight. This also works if your friend is deaf.
(He might not have been born deaf. He may have gone deaf during the combat operation.
Ever seen the movie "Blackhawk Down"? or read the book?
https://readerslibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/Black-Hawk-Down.pdf
)
"How Body Language Impacts Personal Defense" by SHERIFF JIM WILSON
"Gun Skills - Tactics to Clear Houses" by Ed Head
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
----- Techniques (ways to execute a given task, skill, or tactic) -----
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
"Apollo Robbins Demonstrates the Technique of a Master Pickpocket | The New Yorker"
Do you see how you can use these techniques to take a person's pistol from them?
Do you see how someone could take your pistol?
"Gunfighting and Neuroscience: Why Using Your Front Sight Might Kill You" by Jake
The author is talking about subjects in the field of psychology, not neurology (which
is what I assume he means by "neuroscience"). I assume the author meant this article
to be a non-fiction essay on technique, as opposed to an opinion piece. Because
everyone has an opinion, some more learned than others. But, as a technique, this is
not well articulated. For instance, the definition of "quiet eye" talks about "3ᵒ of visual angle".
A 3 degree angle is a 2 dimensional measure. (In a 2-dimensional circle there are 360 degrees,
or 2𝝅 radians of planar angle.) In 3 dimensions, the unit of measure is the steradian.
(In a 3-dimensional sphere there are 4𝝅 steradians of solid angle.)
Precision of language is precision of thought.
Note Claude Werner's comment after the article.
If the red dot sight is calibrated correctly (built correctly at the factor) and zeroed,
one would expect the red dot (a virtual image) to appear super imposed on the target
and in the same visual plane as the target (in focus when your eye is focused at the target)
and indicating the point of impact of the bullet. [But, the red dot is usually focused at
infinity, not at any realistic pistol shooting distance.] {There are some real physical
problems with virtual images, but that's outside the scope of this article and this blog
posting.}
When shining a laser on the target, you would have a real image, super imposed
on the target. Laser light does not disperse (as in chromatic dispersion, because all
of the photons are exactly the same frequency) and does not dissipate (because all
the photons are traveling parallel to each other). So, the laser spot on the target
should appear in focus. But, at any realistic pistol shooting distance, the laser spot
is going to be too small to see in combat. (And you can never tell if the laser dot
that you are looking at is your laser dot, or someone else's.)
With iron sights, you've got a much simpler system (more reliable), and all images
are real. No light is emitted or reflected. This is a big deal. The light from your red
dot sight is visible from in front of you and behind you. The light from your sight
is reflected off your glasses. Which is fine if you're playing games, but not in combat.
You've got to be careful. What Ben says he is doing is what Ben thinks he is doing,
which may not be what Ben is doing. As a coach, I've seen this a lot.
Excerpt:
"Less experienced shooters will need a hard focus on their sights to verify their gun
is aligned correctly. They do not have the requisite practice time to look at a spot and
line the gun up subconsciously. This is fine in a target shooting scenario, but deadly in
the real world."
I disagree. Remember "inattentional blindness". If you don't focus on the front sight,
it will wander off on you, and you will never notice it, because you won't see it,
because you're not focused on it. This is a real problem. To say that a person can
subconsciously aim a pistol is nonsense. Training to subconsciously aim a pistol
under combat stress is criminal stupidity. Because you're guaranteeing an unintentional
hit.
"Fundamentals of Pistol Shooting (Part 4)" By tacticalprofessor
The links to the previous articles are given at the end of the article.
"Fundamentals of Pistol Shooting (Part 5)" By tacticalprofessor
The all important follow through.
"Grip Control" by Ernest Langdon
"How to Grip a Pistol" by Brian Zins
The following article is an example of criminal stupidity.
"Handgun Operation: Firing Semi-Automatic Pistols" by NRA Staff
The reason no one would put their name on the author line is because
this article is bat shit stupid.
Excerpt:
"To decock a semi-automatic pistol lacking a decocking mechanism. . . "
Never manually lower a hammer with a live round in the chamber.
To do so is criminal stupidity. This article is wrong on so many levels.
There is no manual of arms for any pistol in which a hammer is manually
lowered (as opposed to using a decocking lever) on a loaded chamber.
If you want to drop the hammer, unload and pull the trigger.
Having to cock the hammer to fire the pistol is just as stupid as
having to rack the slide to fire the pistol. It's time you will never have.
It's action that you will never be able to hide.
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
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***** ***** ***** Instruction ***** ***** *****
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 -----
Remember, the students who require the extra effort are the ones who need us the most!
-- John Farnam
"Continuing education for trainers is vital. " by Tom Givens
"Tom Givens Answers My Incessant Questions" by Lee Weems
When you buy a modern gun, you are buying a box of parts. You then have to find
a gunsmith to fit the parts together. Hand fitting isn't normal anymore. Unless you're
paying $2000 for the pistol.
Tom's training is successful because he gives his students permission to defend themselves.
Modern police response time, 17 minutes. [But, the gunfight is over in seconds. -- Jon Low]
Be careful what you teach.
Because your students will do in combat
whatever you have trained them to do,
no matter how ridiculous.
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
----- Andragogy -----
An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented.
-- "Building Shooters" by Dustin Solomon
You may not be able to smell yourself. But, I assure you that others smell you.
So, you have to shower (scrubbing all surfaces, including your scalp beneath your hair),
floss and brush your teeth (including all surfaces in your mouth), and don clean clothes.
If your armpits stink, it is because bacteria is growing there. Kill the bacteria with
hydrogen peroxide, white vinegar, diluted bleach, or household disinfectants. Do not
use anti-perspirants. Because they contain alum, which will cause your pores to seize
up, preventing you from sweating. That prevents your body from regulating its temperature,
leading to heat exhaustion, sun stroke, and possibly death. Hair has a huge surface area.
Removing hair will drastically reduce the surface area for the bacteria to grow on.
Do not use perfumes. The French developed perfumes to mask their stench, because
they did not bathe daily, because they thought that it was unhealthy to bathe. We know
better. Bathe daily, if not twice daily. If you believe that perfumes make you attractive,
you are wrong and have bought into the cosmetic industry propaganda. You are God's
masterpiece of creation. Your God given pheromones make you attractive. Perfumes
disturb the other person's ability to recognize and react to your pheromones. Similarly
for cosmetics. Painting your face does not make you look pretty. It makes you look
like you've painted your face.
If the other person has to wash his hand after shaking hands with you to get the
reek of your perfume off his hand, he is not going to want to shake hands with you the
next time he sees you. No, your perfume is not manly. Whores wear perfume to cover
the smell of their last client because they don't have time to shower between clients.
Real men do not wear perfume. Real men are clean.
If you stink, the dogs can easily track you. If you are clean, the dogs will have a
hard time tracking you.
Your body is God's masterpiece of creation. Don't deface God's masterpiece
with graffito.
"The indications of a criminal are: body odor, bad teeth, no shirt, and tattoos."
-- Sheriff Raymond Nash, Dorchester County, South Carolina
Keep your fingernails short and clean. Crud will accumulate under long fingernails.
Others can smell it and see it.
"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives."
-- Robert John Meehan
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***** ***** ***** Education ***** ***** *****
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
I read "Real World Gunfight Training" by Michael Ochsner (Mike Ox).
I highly recommend you read this book.
If you read and believe what Mike says, you're going to understand that
the way just about all training is given in the U.S. is fundamentally wrong.
In the sense that it crams lots of knowledge into short term memory, but
doesn't get much of that knowledge transferred into long term memory.
This gives the student the feeling that he's getting his money's worth.
The student is not going to continue attending classes for weeks or months.
Especially, if he is from out of town. So, the student only has a few days
to get the training (even at police academies). The logistical constraints
conspire against correct learning.
The correct way to learn is with short, frequent repetition spread over time.
[I am going to try this paradigm by teaching a Defensive Pistol course over 7 Saturdays
in a row in April and May of 2022. -- Jon Low]
Here are some excerpts:
1. Most gun owners don’t train.
2. Most “shooting” is play time . . . not training for self-defense.
3. People often (mistakenly) think that their permit class is training.
4. Most training doesn’t resemble the realities of self-defense shooting.
"Short stroking the trigger is when a shooter doesn’t let the trigger go far enough
forward for the trigger to reset. It feels like and looks like a gun malfunction,
because pressing the trigger doesn’t cause a round to exit the muzzle, but it’s a
shooter malfunction. [This occurs when the shooter attempts to shoot faster
than he is physically able to shoot.]
". . . training in sterile conditions is like riding a bike with training wheels in a parking
lot and thinking all of a sudden that you can bomb down a ski hill on a mountain bike
and not get hurt. But that’s just not reality."
The 6 Attack Factors:
#1 - Combat Vision
#2 - Counter Ambush Skills
#3 - Stress Shooting
Aspect 1: Modulation
How to go in and out of the zone on demand.
Aspect 2: Inoculation
. . . whether your technique crumbles under stress or is amazingly resilient under stress.
"Stress Shooting Involves Both Modulating Your Stress Response AND Inoculating Your Skills to Stress"
[Mike gives an excellent list of things you can do to induce stress in the student while
he is learning to preform a task, without injuring the student. This is much kinder and
gentler stuff than what the Marine instructors used in SERE school.]
#4 - Fast First Hit from the Holster
#5 - Multi-Attack Engagement
#6 – Dynamic Movement
There is a footnote at the end of chapter 3,
"In other places online, I mention that my saccade speed went from 60-160 instead of
from 30-180. Why the difference? Simply put, the reality of going from 30-180 is what
happened, but it’s much harder to believe. 60-160 is a little under-stated and much
easier for people to believe." [I find this statement a little disquieting. -- Jon Low]
Optimal is 80% dry fire, 10% live fire, and 10% stress training or force-on-force.
Training scars are formed by shooting at ranges with excessive restrictions
like 1-2 seconds between shots, no drawing from a holster, etc. [The range owners
have their ideas about managing liability, which are stupid. If you use such a range
under such restrictions, you are engaging in criminal stupidity. Because training
scars get you killed. -- Jon Low]
The dreaded anticipatory flinch is formed with live fire. [So, don't live fire!
Spend your time and effort in dry practice. -- Jon Low]
If you want to learn anything, you better have adequate diet, exercise,
sleep quality, stress level, wellness (as opposed to sickness), hydration, etc.
Front End “Primed”. [I've been doing this for years. I always email complete detailed
documentation to my students at least a couple of weeks before the class and ask them
to read it before the class. (Of course, very few do.) As Dustin Solomon says,
"An instructor should not expect any learning to take place the first time new information
is presented." So, you have to tell the students to read your book before the start of class.
John Farnam and Tom Givens have books that they expect the student to read before
showing up for class.]
Short training sessions. [As John Farnam says, get to the point, and then stop talking.]
Frequent Training & Sustainment Training. ". . . frequent small blocks,
spread out over an extended period of time."
Fused Skills. “interleaved” training. ". . . one of the most important reasons why
block & silo training is used over fused/interleaved training is because it “feels” better.
Interleaved training, when it’s done correctly, is a constant struggle that is taxing on the brain.
Fun.
Focused training.
[If your urine is yellow, you are chronically dehydrated. Which is bad for your health.
If you need an alarm clock to wake up to go to work (or whatever you need to do), you
are sleep deprived. Which is bad for your health. -- Jon Low]
REM sleep is essential for learning your new skills. You can eliminate your REM
sleep with caffeine, alcohol, some medication, too much light or noise, or not enough
time in bed.
I am old enough to remember having to request books, journal articles, and such
from the library. It is so much easier now days, as most of the references cited in
this book are accessible free of charge on the internet. (Though some of them do
cost money, but that can be avoided by requesting through your library.)
Michael Ochsner suggests the following articles:
"The real risks during deadly police shootouts: Accuracy of the naïve shooter"
by William J. Lewinski, Ron Avery, Jennifer Dysterheft, Nathan D. Dicks, and Jacob Bushey
"Police Academy Training, Performance, and Learning"
by John O’Neill, Dawn A. O’Neill, Katelyn Weed, Mark E. Hartman, William Spence,
and William J. Lewinski
"The Illusion of Competency Versus the Desirability of Expertise:
Seeking a Common Standard for Support Professions in Sport"
by Dave Collins, Veronica Burke, Amanda Martindale,and Andrew Cruickshank
"Introducing the Reality-Based Training: Blending Psychology, Philosophy, and Technology"
by Kenneth R. Murray and M. R. Haberfeld
"Testing the Efficacy of a 1-Day Police Decision-Making and Autonomic Modulation Intervention:
A Quasi-Random Pragmatic Controlled Trial"
by Paula Maria Di Nota1, Joseph Arpaia, Evelyn Carol Boychuk, Peter I. Collins, and
Judith Pizarro Andersen
"Motor Learning and Performance 6th Edition" by Tim Lee and Richard Schmidt
"MOTOR LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT"
by Pamela S. Haibach-Beach, Gregory D. Reid, Douglas H. Collier
ISBN: 1492586404
I read "Street Smarts, Firearms, & Personal Security" by Jim Grover, Paladin Press.
ISBN 10: 1-58160-067-4
ISBN 13: 978-1-58160-067-4
(Out of print, but you can get a copy at many of the online used book stores.)
I recommend.
Excerpt from chapter "How to Pick a Good Firearms Instructor" (which applies to all
instructors):
Qualities to look for in a firearms instructor:
Patient
Articulate
Knowledgeable
Honest
Self-secure (not threatened)
Successful
Published
Busy
Current (still going and doing)
Experienced
Steady (not melodramatic)
"Update on the Misleading 'Murderer You Know' Lie, Latest Data" by Dean Weingarten
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Hardware (which includes you) ***** ***** *****
"I would like to see every
woman know how to handle
guns as naturally as they
know how to handle babies."
-- Annie Oakley
"Vision and Shooting . . . and Aging (Part 1)" by Robert Buonfiglio
----- Gear -----
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
Ambidextrous IWI MASADA 9mm polymer framed striker-fired pistol
I had an opportunity to fondle and fire this pistol at Royal Range.
Nice trigger. Can't go wrong for $480.
"5 Best Concealed Carry Methods for Women, By a Woman" by Morgan Rogue
"How Red-Dot Sights Help Aging Eyes (& Everyone Else Too)" by Brad Fitzpatrick
"SHOULD YOU PUT A RED DOT ON YOUR HANDGUN?" by KEN SCOTT
"BINOCULARS BUYER’S GUIDE" by PATRICK MCCARTHY
Liberty Ammunition (“Liberty”) is issuing a recall in the following calibers:
Civil Defense 380 ACP, Ultra-Light 380, Civil Defense 9mm, and Civil Defense 40 S&W.
". . . may have insensitive primers, which could result in a failure to fire."
I received some targets by Tactical Target Systems,
The quality is good. The customer service is good. I recommend.
I paid for the targets.
Craft Holsters
Apply discount code
GIFTITUP10P12X
at check out for 10% off.
Federal Ammunition monthly subscription service, 9mm, 40 S&W, and 45 Auto
68 cents per round for 45 ACP brass cased practice ammo is still above my price point.
"DON’T MAKE THESE WEAPONLIGHT MISTAKES!" by Mike Boyle
Don't use a weapon mounted light on your self-defense pistol,
because you will search with it.
"No, I won't. I'm well trained."
Yes, you will. Because it is expedient. And in combat expedient supplants
training every time. That's just human nature. And tragedy will ensue.
P80 Handgun Magazine FOR Glock Model 17 - 9MM Luger 17Rd Black, $16
Tom Givens says these work well.
"IS ELECTRONIC HEARING PROTECTION RIGHT FOR YOU?" By Paul Carlson
https://www.personaldefensenetwork.com/article/electronic-hearing-protection-right/
Please read the editor's note at the end of the article.
Electronic ear muffs are expensive and require batteries. I have found that Hocks
Noise Braker ear plugs work great, don't require batteries, block harmful noise, and
allow conversations to be heard and understood. Ceramic acoustic baffles.
I use the standard ones, not the custom ones.
"Best Pistol Red Dot Sights [Real-Views + Video]" by Eric Hung
Eric tests the sights with nigh vision goggles, very cool.
A useful review.
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
----- Technical / Maintenance -----
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
-- Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution
"The Zero, the off-set and parallax | Learning RED DOTS On Handguns (Part 1)"
Colin Murphy is the instructor.
Zero at 15 yards to minimize the difference between point of aim and point of impact
from 0 to 25 yards. Differences are negligible.
An interesting press check using the red dot sight.
Mr. Murphy's reference to parallax is more correctly distortion due to imperfect machining
of the reflector. Because the focus of the system is never changed. Differences are negligible.
"How a Shotgun Works" by Matt Rittman
“Chance favors the prepared.
Fortune, the bold.
Providence, the audacious!”
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Legal ***** ***** *****
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate for the governance of any other.
-- John Adams, October 11, 1798
"Lawmaker Introduces ‘Kyle’s Law’ to
Prevent ‘Malicious Prosecution’ in Cases of Self-Defense"
by AWR HAWKINS
"Law of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca
Free of charge. Just pay shipping.
Educate yourself. So, you don't spend the rest of your life in a cage.
"Pennsylvania DA Appeals Bill Cosby Ruling to U.S. Supreme Court"
by Kate Aurthur and Gene Maddaus
Andrea Constand accuses Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting her in 2005.
A month later, Montgomery County District Attorney Castor publicly states
that he will not press criminal charges against Cosby.
Constand then sues Cosby in a civil court action. Cosby can't refuse to
testify by claiming 5th amendment protections against self incrimination,
because Castor has publicly stated that there will be no criminal prosecution.
So, if Cosby refuses to testify, the civil court judge can hold Cosby in contempt
of court and imprison Cosby until Cosby testifies (which could be forever,
as there are no statutory limits on the confinement). So, relying on prosecutor
Castor's public statement, Cosby testifies.
Then in December 2015 (ten years later) prosecutor Steele charges Cosby
with the exact SAME crime, this time using Cosby's civil suit testimony against
Cosby.
Three years after Cosby's conviction, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
says Steele's use of Cosby's testimony is wrong (for various legal reasons),
and so vacates the conviction.
Now Steele is attempting to get the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the
Pennsylvania Supreme court's ruling. It's pretty clear that Steele is appeasing
his constituents, which is fine as he is an elected official. That's why the
life time appointed justices of the U.S. Supreme Court need to decline to
hear this case. If you're not thinking about your next election, it is much
easier to do the right thing.
Actually, yes this does apply to us. Once the prosecutor says no charges
will be pressed against you, because what you did was self defense, the
new prosecutor, elected at the next election cycle cannot charge you with
murder for what the previous prosecutor ruled was self defense (especially
not 10 years later). This is a BIG deal.
"Nevada Judge Strikes Down Homemade Gun Ban on Constitutional Grounds"
by Forrest Cooper
This is significant and a big win for the Second Amendment.
"DEFENSE AND THE LAW: TACTICAL & LEGAL, PART 1"
Includes transcript if you prefer reading to listening.
"You Have the Right to Remain Innocent" by James Duane
"Keep your mouth shut!"
The Innocence Project.
1. The 5th amendment is just as important for the innocent as it is for the guilty.
2. You have no idea how many ways you can get convicted of a crime that you did not commit.
3. You will not believe how complicated and hazardous it has become for you to exercise the 5th amendment.
"What Every Gun Owner
Needs to Know About
Self-Defense Law"
by Marty Hayes, J.D
Free download of PDF file.
You don't necessarily get to claim self defense. The judge might not allow it. Which means
self defense never gets mentioned in the trial and the jury never gets the self defense instruction.
"Prosecuting innocent people is a serious problem in our criminal justice system."
"The American Tradition of Self-Made Arms" by Joseph G.S. Greenlee
Abstract at
"Top 3 Self-Defense Mistakes Made After a Defensive Incident"
by Emily Taylor and Richard D. Hayes
Don't tamper with evidence.
Call 911 immediately.
Have an attorney present.
"Hang up the phone!"
[Some instructors teach their students to keep the line to 911 open, as everything is recorded
and can be used as evidence. Ya, evidence to get you convicted. Hanging up the phone is
much better advice. -- Jon Low]
This is the crack in the dam that will allow the flood of gun control legislation.
It is the Cloture Motion, not the bill listed. This vote defeats the filibuster.
The U.S. Senate has set a precedent that allows them to bypass the filibuster
anytime a simple majority wants to.
“Is there no virtue among us?
If there is not, we are without hope!
No form of government, existing nor theoretical, will keep us from harm.
To think that any government, in any form,
will insure liberty and happiness for an dishonorable population
represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Survival ***** ***** *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Dr. Sherman House
BASICS OF GETTING INTO HAM RADIO
There are a couple of commercials at the beginning.
ARRL home page
"Malcolm X holding a rifle as he kept receiving death threats"
"Buy guns. Join gun clubs." -- Malcolm X (AKA Malcolm Little)
"If you stay fit, you do not have to get fit.
If you stay trained, you do not have to get trained.
If you stay prepared, you do not have to get prepared."
-- Robert Margulies
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** War Stories, History, and such ***** ***** *****
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
"1936-1939" BY JOHN FARNAM
"Important History!" BY JOHN FARNAM
"EXCLUSIVE - Syria: Kurds destroy a suicide bomber's truck filled with explosives coming at them"
by FRANCE 24 (news agency)
Notice the armor on the truck bomb.
"New Survey on Gun Ownership by Rasmussen Reports:
Black and other Minority household gun ownership rates both at 40%"
ACLJ <https://aclj.org/> is reporting that the Taliban is summarily executing,
or causing to disappear, police officers and intelligence officers who had worked for
Afghanistan's former government. Apparently, when the officers go in to get their
letters of safe passage, they are executed. Who in their right mind would go in to get
such a letter? Apparently, the safe passage was part of the agreement that the U.S.
had with the Taliban.
We can't talk about things that we could not have known about, because we'll get
investigated for divulging classified information (as if classified information is in any
way secret). Or, our friends will get investigated for leaking information (as if the
military industrial complex isn't a sieve). So, there is always the reference to the
open source article.
Talib = student. Taliban = two students. Taliboon = three or more students.
Yes, it is that simple.
"Gun Control’s Death Throes:
Burmese Rebels Use FGC-9 3D-Printed Guns to Resist Army Coup" By Jennifer Sensiba
Dear Jamie,
They are beating you because they understand the algebraic structures on the
geometric spaces, which allow them to draw conclusions that you can't see.
Your organization is all about diversity, inclusion, and equity (DIE). I saw all
the rainbow masks, the last time I was there. The polygraph tests and
psychological tests weed out the politically incorrect. So, the puzzle palace is not
hiring the best and the brightest. They can't even get the best and the brightest to
apply anymore.* Be woke, go broke.
So, you're going to have to get the training on your own time and your own dime.
Read "Geometry" by Marcel Berger. Yes, there is an English translation. Cole and
Levy did a good job, nothing significant lost in translation. The original French is
in 5 volumes. The English translation is in 2 volumes. Work the exercises and you
will see. Sorry, I don't know of any short cut. (I can't give you algorithms or
source code.) Besides, you want to understand, don't you?
Contact me if you need help. (That wasn't meant to be cruel. That's just what
professors reflexively say to students.)
Love,
Spaceman
When I was a child, my mother helped me with my math homework. I wondered
who helped the guys at the puzzle palace when they couldn't solve a problem.
The first time I visited the puzzle palace in 1987, Norman Hazard and I worked
on cyclotomic polynomials. (I think I still have the book that I was reading at the time.)
The answer to your problem is known. You just have to look it up. It's not a problem
to be solved, it's a literature search.
My dad told me that the intelligence field is like the Mafia, you can never get out.
I thought that was a silly statement, because I was too stupid to understand.
My dad told me that if I worked for the NSA, when I got out I would have a blank
resume. Every accomplishment, every publication would be classified. He told me
I didn't have a pot to piss in. I thought he was talking about money, because I was
too stupid to understand.
* In 1987 at the NSA, I was having lunch in the cafeteria with a young lady who
had just graduated and was applying for a job as a mathematician. She was
brilliant. She told me of her psychological exam and interview. The interviewer
said her written exam indicated that she had had sex with goats and he would
like her to tell him about it. Having recently been released from active duty, I said,
"It's just a game. Don't worry about it."
She had enough self esteem and dignity to say, she would not play such a
game. She was wise beyond her years. (I remember the mass resignations from
Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore when the scientists refused to play. I went
to Los Alamos once to discuss algorithms for random number generators with
some computer guys. They all left when the government implemented the
polygraph tests, psychological exams, and other loyalty tests. I'm sure it was an
intentional purge. Now the scientists are politically correct. And the smart ones
are in the private sector.)
I loved the game. I played for decades. What a waste of time.
"Your character is what you do when no one is looking."
-- Thoms Jefferson
When we believe in God and understand that God is always watching,
it is much easier to stay on the straight and narrow.
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
KI4SDN
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