Greetings Sheepdogs,
We do not kill out of hatred. We kill out of love. Because it is the right thing to do.
Gun-free-zones are a fiction. Does anyone in their right mind believe that posting
or declaring a gun-free-zone will prevent bad guys from bringing guns into the area?
Did it work at Covenant School in Nashville, TN or anywhere else? ever?
The United Methodists claim that they are losing congregations over the issue or
homosexuality. But that is a lie. They just say that because it allows them to virtue
signal to all their woke allies. The truth is that the congregations are leaving because
the United Methodists declared, on their official web site, that all of their churches
are gun-free-zones, thus ensuring that all of the attending congregations are unarmed,
thus ensuring that the bad guys will have no opposition to their attacks, thus inviting
and encouraging attacks. Remember, gun-free-zones ensure unarmed victims for
armed criminals to prey upon. That is the intention. That is the purpose.
That is the result. Anyone who tells you differently is lying to you. But you already
knew that. The enemy knows it too. They just like insulting your intelligence and
forcing you to accept the lie. Such is oppression.
"I think you should expect to adjust the sights on any defensive handgun
you might purchase, regardless of price."
-- Richard A. Mann
[If you don't zero your pistol (and just use it as it came from the factory),
that's negligence. -- Jon Low]
The 38th Annual Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC 2023)
https://ccrkba.org/grpc/
September 22nd – September 24th, 2023 A.D.
Marriott Phoenix Airport
1101 North 44th St
Phoenix, AZ 85008
Smith & Wesson Headquarters GRAND OPENING
https://fb.me/e/Zf4H0bGR
1852 Proffitt Springs Road, Maryville, Tennessee 37801
October 7th, 2023 A.D.
12:00 to 20:00
Yes, as a matter of fact, YOU are invited.
CANCON Georgia 2023
https://canconevent.com/Tickets/
Friday November 10th from 9AM to 4PM
Saturday November 11th from 9AM to 4PM
Saturday Night Shoot (Saturday Evening 7PM to 9:30PM)
Table of Sections:
Prevention
Intervention
Postvention
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Prevention ***** ***** *****
All the things you can do to avoid the lethal force incident.
Table of contents:
Mindset
Safety
Training
Practice
*************************************************************************
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
Success is like an iceberg.
https://www.facebook.com/johniharris/posts/pfbid02LqdRBfRhT6RatBTf2j42zkEu6tBNs8MPW1ZJmgEUreQZnCyPKumRk52htu76HQxzl
‷If you look at someone bigger, faster, and stronger and immediately think,
‶I'm at a disadvantage″,
I have news for you: you are.
But that's only because you just put yourself there for no reason.
The truth is that anyone can do debilitating violence to anyone else.
Your size, your speed, your strength, your gender --
all the factors that untrained people think make
the difference when it comes to violence --
all matter far less than your mindset and your intent.‴
-- Tim Larkin
"Foolish Assumptions!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/foolish-assumptions/
[If you think wrong, you die. -- Jon Low]
‟We don’t decide what is necessary to survive a
lethal force encounter initiated by someone else.
That person decides what’s necessary for us to survive.”
– William Aprill
"Skills for the Bills: Prioritizing Your Development and Preparation"
by Chad Nabors
https://www.itstactical.com/intellicom/mindset/skills-prioritizing-development/
Excerpt:
"I heard it said by Pat Rogers (may he rest in peace) that
“We are all victims of our frame of reference.”
He knew that hubris and a normalcy bias will set you up for a fall."
---
[I keep a trauma kit in my car on the front passenger seat. I keep a trauma
kit at work in the cabinet next to where I sit to watch the close circuit TVs.
I have not yet needed to use lethal force in a civilian self-defense context.
But I have had to stop the bleeding when a nephew cut himself with a multi-tool
that I had given him.
It's important to prepare for what has actually happened, as opposed to what
might, because past performance is the best indicator of future performance.
-- Jon Low]
‟Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice.”
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
"Adapting to Change" by Massad Ayoob
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/adapting-to-change/
Excerpt:
"We have to adapt in the changes in our own bodies and abilities,
and to the changes in our specific needs at different times in different places."
“Willingness is a state of mind. Readiness is a statement of fact!”
-- Lt. Gen. David M Shoup, USMC Commandant, 1960-1963
"Streetlights and Shadows- Searching for the Keys to Adaptive Decision Making"
by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/streetlights-and-shadows-searching-for-the-keys-to-adaptive-decision-making
Greg cites a list of myths that need to be addressed.
***** Situational Awareness *****
"Brownshirts Rising!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/brownshirts-rising/
“You need to have the capacity for danger. You need to be ‘dangerous’.
Yet, you need to learn how to not use it except when necessary.
And, that is not the same thing as being harmless. . . .
There's nothing virtuous about harmlessness.
Harmless just means you’re ineffectual and useless.”
-- Jordan Peterson
*************************************************************************
----- Safety ----- (How to prevent the bad thing from happening in the first place.
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.
[So you must explain to your students what the "muzzle" is.
No, they don't know. Even if they do know (which is not
the same as believing they know), it doesn't hurt to explain. -- Jon Low]
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER
UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
[And what may move in front of it, and what is behind it.
Because your bullet may pass through. Or you may miss.
I know it's unlikely, considering how much you train and
practice, but it's possible. -- Jon Low]
"Government Gun Training" by Docent
https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/2023/08/government-gun-training.html
IRS Special Agent shoots IRS Special Agent in firearms training class.
---
"Editor’s Notebook: Safety Base" by Rich Grassi
https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/4d16c193-42db-44e3-a337-273c6399d6a5
Hat tip to Docent.
‟If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it.
The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury.
Therefore what he must fear is his victim.”
-- Col. Jeff Cooper
"You Are Responsible For Your Own Safety
Be your own range safety officer."
by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/you-are-responsible-for-your-own-safety/
---
My [Jon Low] suggestion for swearing in everyone as a Range Safety Officer.
Raise your right hand. Repeat after me –
“As a Range Safety Officer (RSO), I swear to obey the safety rules,
thus setting an example for those around me. I swear to enforce the
safety rules on all persons, no matter their rank or position.
If I cannot ensure safe range operation, I will report the safety violation
to higher authority, and immediately remove my subordinates from the area.”
"Wake Up!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/wake-up/
Excerpt:
"4) Unlikely police will arrive in time to “save” anyone!
In this case, they didn’t arrive at all!"
[My neighbor called 911 to report her home being invaded.
The police never showed up. -- Jon Low]
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:
Don’t go to stupid places. (The Crown Prince's yacht has anti-aircraft weapons for a reason.)
Don’t associate with stupid people. (No matter how smoking hot she is.)
Don’t do stupid things. (No matter how profitable, no matter how much fun.
Reminiscing about it while in prison is suboptimal.)
Be in bed by 10:00 PM. (Your own bed!)
Don’t look like a freak. (Tattoos, piercings, gauging, make up, clothing indicating
association with terrorists, gangs, etc.)
Don’t fail the attitude test. (Yes sir. Yes ma'am. Excuse me. I'm sorry. with sincerity)
*************************************************************************
----- Training (figuring out the correct tasks to practice) -----
"10 Links I wish I had 10 years ago" by Memphis Beech
https://www.memphisbeech.com/post/10-links-i-wish-i-had-10-years-ago
Hat tip Greg Ellifritz.
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)
"Why You Aren’t A Better Shooter" by Melody Lauer
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/why-you-arent-better/
Melody will not be teaching at the Guardian Conference this year.
I'm disappointed. She is apparently in high demand.
DISCOVER YOUR CARRY JOURNEY
https://lttdiscover.com/
A whole bunch of educational stuff.
"How to Kick Your Shooting Skills Up a Notch (Or Five)
You're never too old or too experienced to take your
shooting skills to the next level. Here's how!"
by George Dvorchak M.D.
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/how-to-kick-your-shooting-skills-up-a-notch-or-five/
Excerpts:
"We may not always realize it, but observing and understanding the basics
is important to getting started on the right track!"
"If the firearm does not fit, you’re setting yourself up for failure."
"Be Very Serious When Practicing"
--- Classes ---
Hi You All,
Video simulator training for civilian self-defense. $150 per person.
(Bill Armstrong is doing us a huge favor. The training is usually $150
per hour per person. Which would be $1200 per person.)
9 December 2023
09:00 to 17:00
Mead Hall Range
https://meadhallrange.com/
2181 South Blackberry Drive, McLoud, OK 74851
Instructor: Bill Armstrong
Hotels:
The Grand Hotel and Casino, 5 minutes from range.
https://www.grandresortok.com/
Ask for rate for those taking a class at the Meadhall Range.
~$139
---
Hampton Inn of Shawnee is 15 minute drive from the range.
https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/shnokhx-hampton-shawnee/
Ask for rate for those taking a class at the Meadhall Range.
~$123
---
Located approximately one hour east of Will Rogers World Airport
in Pottawatomie County, OK.
It's about a 10 hour drive from Nashville, TN. I'll be driving if you
need a ride.
---
Class outline --
1. Arrival: I would like to do some introductions and ask some questions
of y'all. One of the reasons for this is to find out not only what background
each person has but to find out hobbies and interests so I can, ideally, have a
basis for analogies for different concepts and information that will be more
directed to how each student learns and intakes information.
2. Baseline assessment: I would like to run each of you through some
baseline exercises and drills on the simulator to get an idea of skill level
and reaction/personality types while using a firearm. I can better guide each
person and personalize recommendations that way. We might need to spend
a bit of time here if anything is glaringly in need of addressing from a safety
or skill standpoint but it won't be a ton of time.
3. Scenario work. When I do scenario work you may go through the scenario
once or you may go through it a few times depending on the student actions and
the scenario itself if there are different points to be made. Part of the way I do
scenario work is to make sure that
A. you are being exposed to different situations but also
B. that you are a getting a full picture of possible actions and consequences
in that scenario.
I have a good bit more than one scenario for us to go through. 😊
4. Debrief and questions. We will do a fair bit of this during the process
but I like to make sure that students have a chance to have the downtime
after they have been through this and been able to process it a bit.
---
Onsite capability: Classroom has plenty of space, bathrooms, and a full
kitchen including fridge if you want to bring lunch etc.
[Yes, I think it would be best if everyone brought lunch and munched through
the day. We won't have time for a lunch break. -- Jon Low]
---
If you want to attend, commit now. No refunds.
We don't have high prices to weed out the non-serious.
This is not a business. This is a calling.
Cheers,
Jon
Protective Pistolcraft Instructor Development Course, 5 Days, $1,460.34
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/protective-pistolcraft-instructor-development-course-5-days-tickets-291828445737
October 14 · 9am - October 18 · 6pm CDT
4220 Gravel Pit Road White Hall, AR 71602
Ya, it was sold out months ago, but someone dropped out,
so there is a space available.
"Glock Training Course: A Focus on “Brilliance in the Basics” (BITB)"
by Andre M. Dall'au
https://www.athlonoutdoors.com/article/glock-training/
---
GLOCK Training
https://glocktraining.com/
They require you to use a Glock pistol.
Their training schedule shows them giving courses all over the place.
"WATCH: Sweat, Lead & Steel" by Ballistic Staff
https://www.athlonoutdoors.com/article/sweat-lead-and-steel/
---
Sig Sauer Academy
https://sigsaueracademy.com/
They do not require you to use a Sig Sauer pistol.
Some of the classes forbid using micro pistols or pocket pistols to include:
P238, P938, P365, M&P Shield, Glock 43, etc.
---
"The student may have misconceptions,
even if they have been training for years."
-- Steve Gilcreast, Director SIG Academy
--- End of Classes ---
“Take training from different instructors.
We are all wrong about something.”
-- John Farnam
"The Failure of Common Sense" byVon Kliem, JD, LL.M
https://www.forcescience.com/2023/08/the-failure-of-common-sense/
Excerpts:
"Together, the mental processing time, movement time, and device
manipulation time make up the “response time.” "
". . . reactionary gap . . . "
". . . stimulus / response gap . . . "
"This divided attention can significantly increase the time it takes
for an officer to accurately perceive and consciously verify that a
suspect has pulled a gun."
"What may have been lost is that the trigger pull itself does not stop threats.
Where a firearm is necessary to stop deadly threats, hitting the person early
enough, often enough, and in a location that instantly incapacitates or dissuades
them may be required."
“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
"Better Aim – Shooting From a Vehicle" by tacticalprofessor (Claude Werner)
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2023/08/18/better-aim-shooting-from-a-vehicle/
I list a dummy gun, that is identical to the pistol that they will be using,
on the equipment list for my classes. An essential training tool.
"Those motivated by a desire to improve their
gunfighting skills as opposed to a quest for trophies,
must be willing to bleed ego on the match results
to avoid shedding blood in combat."
-- Andy Stanford
"Freshening Up Your Training
Here are five tips that will rejuvenate your training regimen."
by Frank Melloni
https://www.ssusa.org/content/freshening-up-your-training/
Excerpts:
1. FIND NEW DRILLS
2. TRAIN WITH NEW PEOPLE
3. TRY NEW LOCATIONS
4. ADD STRESS
5. STEP AWAY [This was a required part of training that I was taught at
the coaches courses at the Olympic Training Center. -- Jon Low]
[I love persons who correctly use the word "regimen". -- Jon Low]
A lady is home schooling her son. She approached me a few minutes ago to inform
me that she is attempting to get my Defensive Pistol class approved by the home
school organization, so that her son and others may take the class and use it as a
semester elective in his high school education. She has submitted my credentials,
curriculum, and course outline for approval.
I know many instructors whose classes are approved for continuing education for
attorneys and law enforcement officers. But this is a little different. I hope this catches
on and expands throughout the home school systems.
I know of high schools who have air rifle teams, smallbore rifle team, and shotgun
teams (trap and skeet). The only school pistol teams that I know of are at the service
academies. And I don't know of any schools that have for credit classes in pistol for
self-defense. If you know of any, please let me know.
This is actually pretty deep.
"I WISH I KNEW THIS SOONER" by The Suited Shootist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9dZ6dxZPVU
Excerpt:
"You're not going to know if your level of skill is up to the task until
it's too late to do anything about it."
"Unhealthy perspective, imbalanced skill set."
"Sometimes you can do everything right and still lose.
Make peace with that fact."
"Braintrust Assembled: Dustin Salomon, John Hearne, and John Holschen"
by Lee Weems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy2vB_CTZyY
I prefer the YouTube.com video to the audio pod cast because a lot of
information gets transferred via facial expression and body language.
Excerpts: (paraphrased)
The first part is getting information into the student's short term memory.
We give information to the student. The information hits a filter which takes
out 90% of what we are saying.
There is what you say. There is what they hear. Two different things.
There is what you said. There is what you think you said. There is what
the person hears. There is what the person understands. There is what the
person remembers later. And all of those are different. And it's different
for each of the 30 persons in the class.
So how do we navigate this filter? To get the same information into each
of the 30 student's short term memory. Priming, which is teaching with no
expectation of retention, and then coming back days later and teaching it again.
Then the skill must be transferred into long term memory (a different location
in the brain). [Which requires sleep. From my reading of Salomon's books.
-- Jon Low] Otherwise, you get extinction of skills after 6 months.
Never assume the students know anything. If you don't teach them how
to hold the pistol, they will default to how they figured out how to hold it
on their own, which is almost always wrong. Then you will have a very
difficult time breaking this bad habit. You cannot skip teaching the
fundamental mechanics.
Learn to teach with the right language, the right order, the right presentation,
the right attitudes.
---
There are bad instructors who will tell you, "You're jerking the trigger.",
when you are not jerking the trigger, because that's all they know to say.
You can give people information in a way that makes it impossible
for them to learn it.
---
If the instructor tells you what to do and you perform it, you are drawing
from Declarative memory. In a combat situation, you would be drawing from
Unconscious memory. Which are different.
The book referred to is
"Perception, Cognition, and Decision Training: The Quiet Eye in Action"
by Joan N. Vickers, Ph.D.
https://www.amazon.com/Perception-Cognition-Decision-Training-Action/dp/0736042563
Once the basics are learned, the training should be interleaved. The student
should be reacting to stimulus from the environment (predominantly visual
stimuli), not being told what to do by the instructor.
---
Most people don't understand the difference between the sports world and
the tactical world. We [armed combatants] cannot go out and scrimmage.
The speed of perception is the limiting factor. Perception, cognition, decision
cycle is missing from traditional training.
Most people won't start a fight that they know that they are going to lose.
So we need to put the bad guy into that position so they don't start the fight.
Initiate, modify, and terminate your behavior based on visual stimuli.
Cognitive load vs. perceptual load.
‟Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice.”
-- Claude Werner
*************************************************************************
----- Practice (how to get competent at that task) -----
“Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans.”
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
"Are You Good Enough?: Measuring Defensive Handgun Accuracy"
by Richard A. Mann
https://gundigest.com/more/how-to/firearm-training/defensive-handgun-accuracy
Excerpt:
"Under stress, you want to be able to deliver softball-sized groups.
The chances are your pistol is capable. The question is, are you?"
"I think you should expect to adjust the sights on any defensive handgun
you might purchase, regardless of price."
". . . with today’s modern handguns I’d say there’s a 91 percent chance
they’ll provide all the precision you need. That also means that you’ll
have to take the blame for any missing that occurs."
‶Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.″
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
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
‟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
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Intervention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to deal with the incident that you failed to avoid.
Table of contents:
Strategy
Tactics
Techniques
*************************************************************************
----- Strategy (deciding on the end state and how to achieve it,
which tactics to use, which includes walking away) -----
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
"Hazardous Thought" by Dave Spaulding
https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/a175b031-31fc-4c87-9790-4fe2b95d5953?
Excerpt:
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy."
". . . you cannot possibly train for every potential situation you may face.
This is why fundamental / foundational (I like to call them essential) skills
should be practiced and mastered, as the person who will win in armed
conflict is the one who can adapt these essentials to the threat they face."
“Right now, someone is training so when they meet you, they beat you.
Train hard and stay on guard.”
"Man fatally shot by Aurora [Colorado] Police was trying to stop
another man from taking his backpack, police say"
by Matt Moret
https://www.cpr.org/2023/08/25/aurora-police-shooting-man-defending-himself-from-robbery/
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
Dealing with responding police officers should be part of your strategy.
If you've still have a gun in your hand when the cops arrive, best to drop it
immediately.
The smart move is to have your pistol holstered before the police arrive.
[Ed Monk says, you'll be on your third cigarette by the time the cops arrive.]
Never draw the pistol unless you intend to use it immediately. [A pistol
is not a tool for intimidation or threat. The pistol is to immediately stop
the attack by immediately incapacitating the enemy. The only thing that
would cause you not to shoot is the enemy's behavior.] If you intend to use
it immediately, shoot immediately; and continue to shoot until there is no
threat. Once the threat is ended because you stopped the threat or you
escaped the threat, holster the pistol, so the cops don't shoot you.
Yes, as a matter of fact, there are lots of documented cases in which the cops
shoot the good guy. The cops don't know you. How could they? They generally
have very bad intelligence. Their intelligence gathering, analysis, and
dissemination are all very poor, staffed with low paid, untrained, civilians.
What would you expect?
When I was working in Arizona, a bad guy broke into the home of a couple.
The home owner, husband, is holding the home invader at gun point when the
cops arrive. The home owner, wife, is outside and tells the responding officers
that her husband is holding the home invader at gun point in the house. The
police officers enter the house and shoot the home owner to death. So, even
with perfect intelligence, the police (untrained, inexperienced, panicked, etc.)
still killed the good guy. You cannot be holding a firearm and pointing at
someone lying on the ground when the police arrive. Police simply are not
that competent. For their pay and training, we cannot expect them to be.
An exception would be the Sunnyvale, CA police department. Back in the
mid 1990's (when I lived there) they were being paid $100,000 per year
(entry level). They were expected to be highly competent, and they were.
When you pay that kind of starting salary, you can be very selective.
You get what you pay for in this world. They would work two years as a
police officer and then two years as a fire fighter, and switch back and forth.
So, they were all cross trained as police officers, fire fighters, and emergency
medical technicians (eventually paramedics). People like these don't need
or want a union. All hiring, firing, resignation were at will. Because they
knew they could get a higher paying job elsewhere doing something less
stressful. So these people were there because it was a calling, not a job.
"Setting Ourselves Up for Failure" By tacticalprofessor
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2023/08/29/setting-ourselves-up-for-failure/
It's essential to think about what the other guy might do. He might
not cease and desist. He might not surrender. He might not run away.
He might attack you.
"You win gunfights by not getting shot."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Tactics (maneuver and fire in support of your strategy) -----
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"Aiming Center Mass vs. Quick Stop–Which is Better?" by Mike Ox
https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/aiming-center-mass-vs-quick-stop-which-is-better/
Excerpts:
In a recent Force Science training I was at with Mike Musengo, he told us about
a fellow officer who put multiple center-mass hits on a threat . . . including one that
took out the aorta, and the attacker STILL stayed in the fight for 13.5 seconds with
a non-functioning circulatory system.
The fact is, “clean kills” and “lethal hits” have a time component. It’s OK if you
shoot a grass eater that’s 100 yards away and it runs away from you for 10-15 seconds
before expiring.
It’s NOT OK for a mortally wounded meat eater (2 legged or 4 legged) who’s
charging you to have 10-15 seconds to put the hurt on you before expiring.
---
". . . because of the time component, this means that a threat that’s close to you
may take MORE solid hits than one that’s further away."
“Fortuitous outcomes reinforce poor tactics.”
-- Chuck Haggard
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, and Escape
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Techniques (ways to execute a given task in support of your tactics,
especially when disabled or under stress) -----
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
"Proper Combative Pistol Grip (And A Whole Lot More)" by Dave Spaulding
https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/proper-combative-pistol-grip-and-a-whole-lot-more/480053
"Smooth IS fast." by SLG
https://pistol-training.com/smooth-is-fast/
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
---
[Well, in more detail,
Slow is smooth (because you can control what you're doing).
Smooth is efficient (because controlling what you are doing removes inefficiencies).
Efficient is fast (because there is no wasted motion).
Fast is good (because whoever hits first usually wins).
(Which is not the same as who shoots first.)
It has been my experience by observing my students that speed will come
automatically with correct practice, just as being able to parallel park quickly
comes with practice. No, you don't have to push yourself to parallel park
quickly in order to be able to parallel park quickly. Repetition will allow
you to do any task quickly. Repetition, as in 2000 correct repetitions in
deliberate intentional practice. (If you're listening to music or thinking about
what you're going to have for dinner, you are not concentrating on your practice.
You're just going through the motions, like some religious ritual.)
-- Jon Low]
"Five Rules for Driving" by Jeff Gonzales
https://tridentconcepts.com/2018/08/11/five-rules-for-driving/
Excerpt:
"I taught them not to wrap their thumbs around the wheel." [Yes, we were taught
this in Marine Corps driving school. If your front wheels hit a curb or rock at high
speed, the forced movement of the front wheels will cause the steering wheel to spin
with enough force to break your thumbs, if they are inside the steering wheel. -- Jon Low]
"How police use the PIT maneuver to end vehicle pursuits" by Tim Dees
https://www.police1.com/suspect-pursuit/articles/how-police-use-the-pit-maneuver-to-end-vehicle-pursuits-fZP3HtT386Mpu5oF/
Good to know. Not that you would ever do it. But someone may do it to you.
So you have to know how it works so you can avoid it or escape it.
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, and Escape
"Public Bathroom Breaks While Armed" by Matt Jacques
https://www.recoilweb.com/public-potty-breaks-and-your-edc-28395.html
NO! Removing your pistol from your holster or removing your holster
from your belt is a terrible idea. Don't do it! Keep your pistol holstered.
Keep your holster on your belt. Never take it off. NEVER!
When the threat is moving around you, do you get stuck? or do you gracefully
twist your arms, torso, and legs into the correct position to keep your sights on
target and continue shooting? Do you disengage your 2-handed grip into a 1-handed
grip to continue? What is your range of motion? Do you know the limits of your
range of motion? You can figure it out in the comfort of your living room.
A very good thing to know. Discovering the limits of your range of motion in
combat would be suboptimal.
We are fortunate at Strategic Edge Gun Range in Chapel Hill, TN to have a
range in which we may shoot 360° azimuthally. But even that is not enough.
Threats can present above you on the third floor balcony, below you in the
basement shooting up through the floor boards.
Do your have the requisite range of motion? Worth practicing to develop it.
"Four Carry Positions: How Well Do They Work?" by Richard Nance
https://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/four-carry-positions-how-well-they-work/480863
"Shots To The Vital Zone
Only hits count, but some hits count more than others."
by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/shots-to-the-vital-zone/
Excerpts:
"When we suggest that you fire two shots at the attacker,
we are not suggesting that you are only going to fire two shots
in this encounter. You certainly may need to fire more,
and when we talk about assessing the situation it’s not like
we’re suggesting that you take a coffee break.
The assessment should be split-second thing."
"The only time that firing a pair of shots might not be a good idea
is when the armed citizen is using a 5-shot revolver and dealing with
multiple attackers. In that case, one shot per attacker makes much
more sense."
"An Alternate Approach to Pistol Sights" by Chris Baker
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/an-alternate-approach-to-pistol-sights/
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Postvention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to treat your wounds; avoid prosecution, conviction, and prison time.
Table of contents:
Aftermath
Survival, Medical, etc.
*************************************************************************
----- Aftermath (You must be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.) -----
In the right hand column, click on the link labeled "Self Defense Insurance".
Or, the direct link is,
http://defensivepistolcraft.blogspot.com/p/self-defense-insurance.html
Read this before you buy insurance. You need to make an informed decision.
The various policies are drastically different.
"You need to read the fine print." -- Massad Ayoob
“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
In the right hand column of this web page, click on "Never Talk To The Police"
or use the direct address
https://defensivepistolcraft.blogspot.com/p/never-talk-to-police.html
“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
----- Survival, Medical, etc. -----
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
"The Assisted Suicide Rate in Canada is 4.45 times the
Firearms Suicide Rate in the United States"
https://crimeresearch.org/2023/07/the-assisted-suicide-rate-in-canada-is-4-45-times-the-firearms-suicide-rate-in-the-united-states/
Suicide assisted by quacks (not something a real doctor would ever do) and drugs
is just as bad as suicide by pistol, and way more expensive.
Remember, Marines solve their problems by killing their enemies,
not by killing themselves. Killing yourself means you have failed to
correctly solve your problem and have given up trying. All problems
can be solved by thinking. You need not do the thinking. Ask for help.
There are many others who will do the thinking for you. You just have
to ask for help.
"Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so."
-- Bertrand Russell
"Thinking is the hardest thing a person can do.
That's why so few people do it."
-- Henry Ford
"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
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Education, History, etc. ***** ***** *****
Table of contents:
Legal
Instruction
Gear
*************************************************************************
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
Civilian concealed carry for self-defense works and
is therefore good public policy.
"Cases where armed citizens have stopped active shooter incidents"
https://crimeresearch.org/2023/08/cases-where-armed-citizens-have-stopped-active-shooter-incidents/
"Defensive Gun Uses By People Legally Carrying Guns:
32 Cases During May 2023"
https://crimeresearch.org/2023/07/defensive-gun-uses-by-people-legally-carrying-guns-32-cases-during-may-2023/
Subscribe to Crime Prevention Research Center
https://crimepreventionresearchcenter.nationbuilder.com/subscribe?
"Crime!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/crime/
"Weekend Knowledge Dump- August 18, 2023" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/weekend-knowledge-dump-august-18-2023
"KDJ's 'Gun Myth' Fact-Check: Liberals Vs. Americans, Part 1"
by Kevin Downey Jr.
https://pjmedia.com/columns/kevindowneyjr/2023/08/21/kdjs-gun-myth-fact-check-liberals-vs-americans-part-1-n1720419
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
America is a free country. You can commit suicide if you want to. I don't think
it's a good thing. But that's just my opinion. Blaming the gun for the suicide is as
illogical as blaming an inanimate object for the act of a human.
Never let liberals deceive you. Never let them change your behavior.
"Weekend Knowledge Dump- August 25, 2023" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/weekend-knowledge-dump-august-25-2023
"Butte County district attorney opts out of homicide charge in Oroville shooting
Suspected shooter still faces drug, weapon charges"
by Chico Er
https://www.orovillemr.com/2023/08/25/butte-county-district-attorney-opts-out-of-homicide-charge-in-oroville-shooting/
"This reporter clearly does not understand that homicides may be
criminal, justifiable, or accidental." -- Stephen P. Wenger
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
***** ***** ***** 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
"The Essential Second Amendment" by The Heritage Foundation
https://secured.heritage.org/essential-second-amendment-ebook/
FREE eBook
"Self-Defense Trials And Expert Witnesses" by Marty Hayes
https://gundigest.com/handguns/personal-defense/expert-witness
"Law of Self Defense" book (free of charge, just pay shipping so you don't have to
drive to Colorado to pick it up)
https://bit.ly/losdpmax
"One Hand, 7 Pews, 6-Pack Intact: The Convenience Store Hero!" by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCmLQq94P_k
The bad guy and good guy were both black, so no racial dynamic.
The store clerk is Sihk.
Notice the DailyMail.com, a U.K. publication, calls the good guy a hero.
The liberal American journalist do not.
---
"Moment hero Michigan gas station customer calmly shoots robber armed
with a box cutter while holding a six-pack of Miller Lite beer
The incident occurred on July 27 when the suspect,
Cordelius Anthony Martin, 35, attempted to rob Stone Lake Marathon Mini Mart
A customer with a valid concealed carry permit fired seven shots at the suspect
The suspect was later discharged from hospital and arraigned on three charges,
including armed robbery"
by Alice Wright
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12424809/Moment-hero-Michigan-gas-station-customer-calmly-shoots-robber-armed-box-cutter-holding-six-pack-Miller-Lite-beer.html
Notice how the brand of the beer is noted. That's called "product placement".
Notice that it was "Miller Lite", not "Bud Light". And noted in the headline.
---
Don't for a moment think that broadcast media is anything other than advertisement.
Just follow the money. I think it is a safe bet that Molson Coors Beverage Company
showed their gratitude to DailyMail.com, as is standard practice in the industry.
"The 5 Elements of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca (free of charge)
lawofselfdefense.com/elements/
"Ohio's Bold Move: Strongest Self-Defense Immunity in the US! [NOT!]"
by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jyj_ue_qnw
Meat starts at around 16:39. End of video got messed up. So the video below
finishes the article.
"PART 2: Ohio's Bold Move: Strongest Self-Defense Immunity in the US! [NOT!]"
by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0j0WDQm5oU
Prior to 2019, Ohio defendants had to prove that it was self-defense by a
preponderance of the evidence. The burden of proof was on the defendant.
In 2019, Ohio changed to the modern national standard, prosecution must prove
beyond a reasonable doubt that it was not self-defense. This is the law in all 50 states.
In 2021, Ohio became a hard stand-your-ground state. No duty to retreat when attacked.
Thirty-nine states are stand-your-ground states, no duty to retreat. Eleven states have
a duty to retreat when attacked. Of the thirty-nine, thirty-one are soft stand-your-ground
states. The prosecutor can argue that the defendant not retreating was unreasonable,
and therefore, not self-defense. Of the thirty-nine, eight states are hard stand-your-ground
states. The prosecutor cannot argue the reasonableness of retreating.
In some states, there are self-defense immunity pre-trial hearings. (South
Carolina is one of the best. Prosecutors have appealed the self-defense immunity
hearing decisions all the way to the South Carolina Supreme Court. And the
South Carolina Supreme Court has let the self-defense immunity pre-trial hearing
decisions stand. Yeah, South Carolina!)
If the judge finds by clear and convincing evidence that it was self-defense,
he can grant immunity from criminal prosecution and / or civil law suits.
Now in Ohio in 2023, HB233 would create a self-defense immunity pre-trial
hearing where the prosecutor would be required to prove by a preponderance
of the evidence that it was not self-defense. Failing to do so, would give the
defendant a rebuttable presumption that the defendant acted in self-defense.
So, when the case goes to trial the prosecutor has to overcome the presumption
that the defendant acted in self-defense. Which may cause the prosecutor to
drop the case, since it increases the difficulty of getting a conviction.
Not as good as South Carolina or Florida, but a step in the correct direction.
Actually, in a sense it might be better than South Carolina or Florida because
a judge would be more likely to grant the hearing and rule in favor of the
defendant under the Ohio standard. Let's pray this bill passes.
---
"LIVE INTERVIEW: Ohio Rep. Fights to Strengthen OH's Self-Defense Laws!"
by Law of Self Defense (Andrew Branca)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdOVjIkeLtM
This is deep.
---
The prosecution presents their case for murder. When they rest, they
close their case in chief.
Then the defense presents their case for self-defense. At this point,
how does the prosecution prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was
not self-defense? The prosecution has already closed their case in chief,
and cannot reopen their case.
---
Saying that you fired a warning shot negates your self-defense claim.
NEVER FIRE A WARNING SHOT!
NEVER SAY THAT YOUR FIRED A WARNING SHOT!
---
Strong self-defense laws are good for minorities. For it is most often the
minority person living in the high crime areas that is forced by the criminal
to use lethal force to defend self and others.
---
The 911 operator never told George Zimmerman to stay in his car.
The liberal media lied. It was propaganda. Even the FBI agents
believed the propaganda. And they propagated the propaganda. When
confronted with the 911 recording, they felt psychological conflict
because they were so emotionally invested in the lie that they had told.
---
The amount of resources you bring to the case is decisive.
Even in a perfect self-defense case, the criminal justice system will
still imprison you (so you lose your job), bankrupt you, take your children,
cause your divorce, etc.
After you get acquitted at trial, you don't get anything back, not the
time you missed with your kids, not the money you spent on your
defense, not the job you lost, NOTHING.
"Firearm Law Update: Supreme Court Issues Stay on Firearm Definition Ruling"
by U.S. LawShield
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On4YspEmnQo
"End Conceal Carry Laws? Court Strikes Down Law NATIONWIDE
carry Implicated in Commonwealth v Donnell"
by Tom Grieve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahl2YpWMMIg
Not precedent setting, but significant.
"Federal Court [Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals] Won’t Let Colorado
Enforce Under-21 Gun Ban During Appeal" by Jake Fogleman
https://thereload.com/federal-court-wont-let-colorado-enforce-under-21-gun-ban-during-appeal/
"Tennessee court allows lawsuit to proceed against Governor Lee
to challenge the state’s prohibition on carrying firearms in public
parks and recreational areas as unconstitutional."
by JohnHarris
https://tennesseefirearms.com/2023/08/tennessee-court-allows-lawsuit-to-proceed-against-governor-lee-to-challenge-the-states-prohibition-on-carrying-firearms-in-public-parks-and-recreational-areas-as-unconstitutional/
“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 a dishonorable population represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
***** ***** ***** 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
"Firearm instructors: Just be better!" by Todd Fletcher
https://apbweb.com/2023/08/firearm-instructors-just-be-better/
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
"Many simply don’t understand the level of performance
they’re capable of because no one has allowed them to safely
push their limits."
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 Salomon
Some of the things I found interesting in
Title: "No Safe Alternative"
Subtitle: "Improving How We Teach Cops To Kill"
Author: T. C. Fuller, Ed. D., aka Dan Bernoulli
ISBN: 9798395966636
Date of publication: 7 July 2015 A.D.
Page 15 - Forward by Greg Ellifritz.
Page 83 - "It is a well established fact of law that the American government has NO duty
to protect its individual citizens." Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1
(D.C. Ct. of Ap., 1981).
Page 108 - "Some recruits know that they cannot kill another person and would not
no matter what, a fact that many manage to keep to themselves." [Think about what
a disservice this is to their fellow officers who will be depending on them to protect
them by killing the bad guy. -- Jon Low]
Page 123 - "When it comes to firearms instruction, it is far more important that the
instructor knows HOW to shoot well than they are ABLE to shoot well."
Page 123 - "He must remember that he is an experienced instructor and that things
that appear blatantly self-evident to him might be Greek to his students."
Page 148 - In a study of 72 police officers who survived deadly force incidents,
88% diminished sound (auditory exclusion)
82% tunnel vision
78% automatic pilot (automatic response with no conscious thought)
65% heightened visual clarity
63% slow motion
61% memory loss of events
60% memory loss of one's actions
50% disassociation (sense of detachment)
36% intrusive distracting thoughts
19% memory distortion
17% intensified sound
17% fast motion
11% temporary paralysis
Page 150 - [Fuller believes in evolution as developed by Darwin and taught in the
liberal universities, and uses it to explain some things about the human nervous
system. Having studied the geologic record / stratigraphic record / fossil record
and finding spontaneous creation and mass extinction, but no evolution; I find
his explanations of the human nervous system unsatisfying. -- Jon Low]
Page 195 - Fuller advocates psychological, ethical, and legal training on the
subject of deadly force.
Page 204 - "Training provided to adults must be difficult for it to be effective.
If it is too easy, adults will not value it and will consequently not retain it."
Page 211 - ". . . being a good shot is not required for the difficulty of the SHOT,
but rather for dealing with the difficulty of the CIRCUMSTANCES."
Page 257 - "Once the violence has begun, it is imperative that officers be able
defend themselves and others." [I find that a strange statement, because police
officers are never around when the violence starts. They invariably show up
after the fact, and write reports on whatever evidence they find. The civilians
are the first responders. As Ed Monk says, after the incident is finished and
you've finished your third cigarette, the cops show up. Then, after the cops
secure the scene, which may take hours, the emergency medical personnel
will enter the scene. Except for the recent happy exception of the Nashville
Police at the Covenant School, that is the norm. -- Jon Low]
Page 258 - "[Police officers] must be crafted into professional, disciplined
warriors . . ." [I find that a strange statement, because Fuller must know that
police departments in metropolitan areas are recruiting for social workers,
not warriors. They intentionally weed out the warriors. Because a warrior
might shoot a citizen, and that would cause problems for the politicians.
To think that any training regimen will change a social worker into a warrior
strains credulity. -- Jon Low]
“The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives.”
-- Robert John Meehan
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Gear ***** ***** *****
*************************************************************************
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
"Is the PDW (Personal Defensive Weapon) Still Relevant?" by John Farnam
https://www.ammoland.com/2023/08/is-the-pdw-personal-defensive-weapon-still-relevant/
"How to Tell If Your Gun's Safety Is On or Off
Not all guns have external safety mechanisms,
but if yours does, it's important to understand how it works."
by Frank Melloni
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/how-to-tell-if-your-gun-s-safety-is-on-or-off/
"Ask TTAG: Why Does X Gun Cost So Much More than Y Gun?"
by Travis Pike
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/ask-ttag-why-does-x-gun-cost-so-much-more-than-y-gun/
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
"Prepper's Armory: Magazines, Part 1" by David Bock
https://bluecollarprepping.blogspot.com/2023/06/preppers-armory-magazines-part-1.html
Hat tip to Docent.
https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-primer-on-firearms-magazines.html
An absolutely terrible idea for our purposes (civilian concealed carry for self-defense).
"G-Flex Reflex Trigger For Glock"
https://sigglockincolt.com/shop/g-flex-binary-trigger-for-glock/
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
On the other hand, if you're just plinking, it's only a bad idea.
---
"Are forced-reset triggers illegal machine guns?
ATF and gun rights advocates at odds in court fights"
by DAVE COLLINS
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/forced-reset-triggers-illegal-machine-guns-atf-gun-102402318
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
These devices allow you to make noise and waste ammo. They do not help
you with making accurate shots on positively identified targets.
When I was a child I lived in custom built houses because my mother would sit
down with the architect to design the house and then mom would oversee ever
detail of the construction. So it never occurred to me how well designed the houses
were.
When I got married (the first time), my wife fancied herself an architect and
designed our house. She got a structural engineer to sign off on the blueprints.
It was suboptimal. But it was her baby, so it was fine.
Over the years I have been modifying pistols for clients and students. Well, I
do the work on the plastic parts with a Dremel tool and files, Aidan Hoffman
does the precision machine work on the metal parts. Recently a former student
sent me an email in which she described a class she took in which the students
shot each other's pistols to get a feel for what others use. (I had a similar
experience when I took a long range rifle class at Strategic Edge Gun Range,
Tony Shankle was the instructor.) My former student mentioned how the
other pistols (factory standard, no custom work) did not feel comfortable in
her hand. She mentioned how the other students asked her about work that
she had had done on her pistol. She didn't know what work had been done
on her pistol. She just accepted it from me, and assumed that I had done
whatever was needed to make it comfortable and reliable.
Most people don't care how their car works, just that it works. So they don't
notice a suboptimal car until they have to drive a loaner when their car is in
the shop for repair. Most people would never think to ask their mechanic to
adjust the gas and brake pedals to get them even, so that they can pivot on their
heel to quickly move from one pedal to the other.
But it is important. Send me an email if you would like the list of
modifications that I recommend for reliability and comfort.
“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.)
AmmoSeek Search Engine
https://ammoseek.com/
For finding cheap ammo.
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Cryptology ***** ***** *****
"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe,
and preserve order in the world as well as property.
Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of their use."
-- Thomas Paine
[Cryptosystems are considered "arms" by federal law.
ITAR, International Traffic in Arms Regulations]
There are different Unicode characters that render as the same image
in your word processor or web page. So you need to use a bit level editor
to see what's written.
"DEF CON 22 -
Philip “Soldier of Fortran” Young -
From root to SPECIAL: Pwning IBM Mainframes"
by DEFCONConference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xfl4spvM5DI
Hat tip to EveryoneIsGreen.
Ah, the fond memories. I recognized all the jargon and terminology.
There's a lot of stuff that I publish in this space for others that I have
no idea what the stuff is.
Cackalacky Con
https://www.youtube.com/@CackalackyCon/videos
Hat tip to EveryoneIsGreen.
“Your character is what you do when no one is looking.”
-- Thomas Jefferson
Nice places to look things up -
---
Encyclopedia of Mathematics
https://encyclopediaofmath.org/wiki/Main_Page
---
MathWorld
https://mathworld.wolfram.com/
---
The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences® (OEIS®)
https://oeis.org/
---
Association des collaborateurs de Nicolas Bourbaki
https://www.bourbaki.fr/
I flunked French in 7th grade. But I'm still trying.
[BOURBAKI 2020] Théorie de Hodge et o-minimalité - Fresán - 25/01/2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJvQwlhA5Uc
Free magma = a free algebra in the variety of magma.
Magma = a set with one binary operation. Closed under that operation.
"Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.
Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have
perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must
believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing
must be attained."
-- Marie Curie
The email thread has degenerated into a book club discussion.
So this is the inaugural "Crypto book club". (Isn't that far less pretentious
than the "Theoretical Cryptology Colloquia"?) The first book will be
"Lie Groups, Lie Algebras, and Some of Their Applications"
by Robert Gilmore, Wiley-Interscience, 1974.
ISBN 0-471-30179-5
Wiley-Interscience does not carry the book anymore.
Dover Publications carries the book.
https://store.doverpublications.com/0486445291.html
"Computer science has nothing to do with computers or science."
-- Donald Knuth
"I Can Hear Your Passwords" by Dr. Michael Klipstein, CISM, CISSP
https://www.bakerdonelson.com/i-can-hear-your-passwords
Hat tip to Ray Harvey, "Tempest using two mikes and cell phone . . . ".
----- Electronic Warfare stuff -----
"Probability and Uncertainty: the quantum mechanical view of nature"
by Professor Richard P. Feynman of the California Institute of Technology
The title at the end is "The Character of Physical Laws".
https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/fml.html#6
Transcript is in the right hand column.
The web site highlights the words being spoken.
Lecture to a lay audience.
---
"Origins of the Quantum Wavefunction"
by Elliot Schneider
https://www.physicswithelliot.com/wavefunction-mini-notes
The notes (transcript) are below the video.
---
If you don't understand a thing, you can't model it. If you can't model it, you can't
write code to implement it. We don't care about simulating it. We need to implement
it. Only then can we build it and use it (in the engineering sense). So it's important
that you study it until you understand, until it becomes obvious. Which it will.
You will have an epiphany.
So you can defeat your enemy by superior understanding. For example,
the enemy doesn't understand the Uncertainty Principle (or how to implement it).
So he is building a laser weapon to destroy your aircraft and designing it to burn
a hole through the skin of your aircraft (or spacecraft / satellite). He does his
testing and determines that it takes a megawatt to burn a hole in the your aircraft
skin. And so designs his laser weapon accordingly.
But you understand the Uncertainty Principle. So you build your laser weapon
to output kilowatt pulses (or less). You make the pulses very short in time / space.
The Uncertainty Principle says that your short pulses are going to have a huge
uncertainty in energy. You figure out the probabilities and determine how many
pulses, how long it will take on average, to get a pulse powerful enough to disable
the enemy aircraft. And you adjust your specifications (pulse length, frequency, etc.)
accordingly, in software, in real time. Software defined radios, software defined
weapons.
"But, Staff, that violates Conservation of Energy. You can't transmit a kilowatt
pulse and have the target receive a megawatt pulse."
Conservation of Energy is a high school physics concept. You're in the Fleet now.
Consider interference. Where the waves destructively interfere, there is no
energy. Where did the energy go? In places where the waves constructively
interfere, there is more energy than the sum of the individual waves. Where
did the extra energy come from? Oh, it gets much worse.
The possibilities are endless. Limited only by your imagination. Yes, you can
defeat your enemy by superior imagination. Here is one for you to play with.
(A thought experiment if you will.) Imagine a weapon system that allows you to
kill an individual anywhere on the surface of the Earth with zero collateral damage,
on demand within minutes of the command.
What pieces would you need to assemble to achieve such?
"We can already do that with a drone strike."
No, drone strikes often cause collateral damage. Think of something
without bombs. (Anytime you bomb a city, about half the persons killed will be
sympathetic / friendly / non-partisan. U.S. cites are the exception. That's why
the enemy doesn't bomb U.S. cities, espsecially Washington, D.C. That's where
all of their allies live. D.C. votes 95% Democrat.) The plans for such were drawn
up in the early 1980's. The concepts were discussed in the Theoretical Physics
Colloquia in Pupin Hall in the late 1970's. So it's an engineering problem,
not a scientific problem. All the science is done. All of the required technology
already exists. It's just a matter of figuring out which pieces to assemble.
Why were the 9/11 attackers effective. Because they were audacious.
Fredrick the Great taught and encouraged audacity. That's why he won.
After the fact, it's obvious. Before the fact, it's inconceivable. Except to those
who understand, who are audacious.
[audacious - Definition: extremely original; without restriction to prior ideas;
highly inventive. Random House Dictionary of the English Language.]
I never understood ransomware attacks that encrypt the victim's data.
Just restore from backup. Am I missing something?
"There are no backups."
Well that's a maintenance problem. Lots of things can cause data loss
or corruption. Every correct system has backup. Most have continuous
instantaneous backup. Don't they?
"Back up is expensive."
No, storage is free. (Ask any computer engineering professor in any university.)
Even RAID 5 disk arrays are fast enough for this purpose. Network Attached
Storage (NAS) is easy. At ApplianceWare in Fremont, CA we built an encrypted
NAS system in negligible time and negligible cost.
"It's not that simple."
“It is that simple.” -- Massad Ayoob
It may not be easy, but it is simple. No, actually, it is pretty easy.
Dara Korchagina wishes you pleasant dreams.
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil."
-- Donald Knuth
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Intelligence ***** ***** *****
"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 purpose of the 2nd Amendment is to ensure that the people always have the
means to overthrow the armed forces of the government. Just as the British subjects
of the 10% of American Colonialists who fought in the Revolutionary War overthrew
the British Colonial government forces to form the United States of America.
The American Colonists did not overthrow the British government in Britain,
nor did they overthrow the British monarchy.
As they taught us in the Marine Corps, you don't have to destroy much to
get a good result. Destroying 10% of an enemy unit will usually cause the
rest of the unit to panic and become combat ineffective. If your snipers can
kill the top 1% of the enemy officer corps (or 4% of the total), that's probably
enough to make the unit ineffective (they won't know what to do, even if they
are still capable of combat action). Unfortunately, Marines don't have snipers
anymore. No Scout Sniper School. No Scout Snipers. So the commanders
don't have any eyes and ears forward in the field. Whose responsible for that?
Gen. David Berger, the last Commandant.
Of course, the real trick is to kill a competent Commanding Officer (CO),
where the Executive Officer (XO) is incompetent, or to leave an incompetent CO
in command, or to kill the competent officers from the top down until you get to
an incompetent. If you've got a good Intel unit (G-2), you've got this information.
Why was the Colonial Army successful against the British Army and its
mercenaries? Because the Colonial snipers killed British officers. Why would
the Biden administration eliminate the scout / sniper capability from the
U.S. Marine Corps?
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
"China now has a geosynchronous radar imaging satellite, a world's first"
by Binkov's Battlegrounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZctvA6MAUk
Hat tip to Tenth Legion.
Always interesting to read the comments. Of course, some of them are idiots.
Some of them are bots. But, sometimes . . .
Always interesting to read the credits that roll at the end of any film. Even more
interesting is what is missing.
The ChiComs are going to learn all the lessons we learned from the MilStar
satellites. Unless, their spies have already stolen all the lessons learned. Which
I suspect they have.
"Suspected Chinese spy reportedly slept with, courted US officials to gain intel"
by Mark Moore
https://nypost.com/2020/12/08/suspected-chinese-spy-slept-with-courted-us-politicians-report/
Which cites,
"Exclusive: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians"
by Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian and Zach Dorfman
https://www.axios.com/2020/12/08/china-spy-california-politicians
"FBI Briefs Pelosi And McCarthy On Rep. Swalwell's Ties To Suspected Chinese Spy"
by Alana Wise
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/18/948210355/fbi-briefs-reps-pelosi-mccarthy-on-rep-swalwells-ties-to-suspected-chinese-spy
"Russia’s lunar lander smashes into moon’s surface" by Sarah Fortinsky
https://thehill.com/policy/international/4160787-russias-lunar-lander-smashes-into-moons-surface/
Hat tip to Docent.
That's why certain persons get paid the BIG bucks. If you can do the calculations
correctly, you can live in Hawaii, have babies, live the good life while working from
home. You don't need to advertise your business, no web site. Those who know,
know who you are. A nice niche business. Of course, it didn't hurt to have parents
who sent you to:
Punahou School
UCLA, B.S., Aerospace Engineering
Stanford University, M.S., Aeronautics and Astronautics.
And an illustrious career at NASA.
So why didn't the Russians use the best and the brightest? National pride.
Had to have Russians doing the brain work. With attendant results.
Not that unusual. When I was working for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF)
designing their Secondary Surveillance Radar†, a retired General (who wore a
white ghutra) who was working at RSAF, told my Colonel that it was
inappropriate for an American (me) to be designing the RSAF Secondary
Surveillance Radar system. So they kicked me off the project, and I spent the
rest of my time there drinking hot sweet tea and reading books.
My Saudi friend Jadi took over the project. He was competent to do so
because he had learned the Japanese language so that he could do his B.S. in
electrical engineering in Japan, and then learned French so that he could do
his M.S. in electrical engineering in France. The problem with Saudi educated
"engineers" is that in Saudi universities, ½ to ⅔ of the course work is Koranic
study; no differential equations. You think I'm joking. I'm not.
In case you don't understand how important this is, you might recall U.S.
Air Force fighters shooting down U.S. Army helicopters in Iraq because the
helicopters had crypto keys from the previous day's crypto-period. That's
what comes of intentionally disobeying safety
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
No, the U.S. Air Force pilots did not get court martialed. Because they were
following U.S. Air Force protocol. Don't let anyone ever tell you that there
is no difference between the branches of service. A Marine fighter pilot would
have flown by to positively identify the target before attacking it. That's why
they wear the camouflage cloth over their helmets, to remind themselves of
who they are, and who they work in support of (the Rifleman, not the general).
When I was in Field Artillery Forward Observer school at Schofield Barracks,
the U.S. Army instructors told us that if we ever needed to call in an air strike,
to make sure we called Marine pilots, because they would fly low and inverted
to positively identify the target before returning to strike it. While the Air Force
pilots would release their ordnance from high altitude, so as not to get shot
down. In the Air Force, losing your aircraft is a career killer. So there was
a good chance the Air Force strike would kill our Forward Observers.
† Radar that pings a transponder on the detected aircraft (detected by the
Primary Surveillance Radar) to elicit an encrypted signal indicating friendly
aircraft. Not a "Friend or Foe" system, because lack of a correct response
only means the probed aircraft doesn't have the transponder, or the transponder
is not working, or the transponder does not have the correct crypto key, or
environmental conditions are interfering, or something else.
So it's a "Friend or Unknown" system.
Assuming that the lack of a correct response indicates an enemy aircraft
is an act of high stupidity. And you will find such stupidity written into
orders promulgated from higher commands. It is your duty to disobey them.
You will also find stupidity at the opposite end of the spectrum. Why do
you think the USS Cole got bombed? Orders from the admiral at 5th Fleet
forbidding the Gunner's Mate from shooting the attacking boat.
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
*************************************************************************
"You can’t truly call yourself 'peaceful'
unless you are capable of great violence.
If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful,
you’re harmless. Important distinction."
-- Stef Starkgaryen
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Email: Jon_Low@yahoo.com
Radio: KI4SDN
We do not kill out of hatred. We kill out of love. Because it is the right thing to do.
Gun-free-zones are a fiction. Does anyone in their right mind believe that posting
or declaring a gun-free-zone will prevent bad guys from bringing guns into the area?
Did it work at Covenant School in Nashville, TN or anywhere else? ever?
The United Methodists claim that they are losing congregations over the issue or
homosexuality. But that is a lie. They just say that because it allows them to virtue
signal to all their woke allies. The truth is that the congregations are leaving because
the United Methodists declared, on their official web site, that all of their churches
are gun-free-zones, thus ensuring that all of the attending congregations are unarmed,
thus ensuring that the bad guys will have no opposition to their attacks, thus inviting
and encouraging attacks. Remember, gun-free-zones ensure unarmed victims for
armed criminals to prey upon. That is the intention. That is the purpose.
That is the result. Anyone who tells you differently is lying to you. But you already
knew that. The enemy knows it too. They just like insulting your intelligence and
forcing you to accept the lie. Such is oppression.
"I think you should expect to adjust the sights on any defensive handgun
you might purchase, regardless of price."
-- Richard A. Mann
[If you don't zero your pistol (and just use it as it came from the factory),
that's negligence. -- Jon Low]
The 38th Annual Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC 2023)
https://ccrkba.org/grpc/
September 22nd – September 24th, 2023 A.D.
Marriott Phoenix Airport
1101 North 44th St
Phoenix, AZ 85008
Smith & Wesson Headquarters GRAND OPENING
https://fb.me/e/Zf4H0bGR
1852 Proffitt Springs Road, Maryville, Tennessee 37801
October 7th, 2023 A.D.
12:00 to 20:00
Yes, as a matter of fact, YOU are invited.
CANCON Georgia 2023
https://canconevent.com/Tickets/
Friday November 10th from 9AM to 4PM
Saturday November 11th from 9AM to 4PM
Saturday Night Shoot (Saturday Evening 7PM to 9:30PM)
Table of Sections:
Prevention
Intervention
Postvention
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Prevention ***** ***** *****
All the things you can do to avoid the lethal force incident.
Table of contents:
Mindset
Safety
Training
Practice
*************************************************************************
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
Success is like an iceberg.
https://www.facebook.com/johniharris/posts/pfbid02LqdRBfRhT6RatBTf2j42zkEu6tBNs8MPW1ZJmgEUreQZnCyPKumRk52htu76HQxzl
‷If you look at someone bigger, faster, and stronger and immediately think,
‶I'm at a disadvantage″,
I have news for you: you are.
But that's only because you just put yourself there for no reason.
The truth is that anyone can do debilitating violence to anyone else.
Your size, your speed, your strength, your gender --
all the factors that untrained people think make
the difference when it comes to violence --
all matter far less than your mindset and your intent.‴
-- Tim Larkin
"Foolish Assumptions!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/foolish-assumptions/
[If you think wrong, you die. -- Jon Low]
‟We don’t decide what is necessary to survive a
lethal force encounter initiated by someone else.
That person decides what’s necessary for us to survive.”
– William Aprill
"Skills for the Bills: Prioritizing Your Development and Preparation"
by Chad Nabors
https://www.itstactical.com/intellicom/mindset/skills-prioritizing-development/
Excerpt:
"I heard it said by Pat Rogers (may he rest in peace) that
“We are all victims of our frame of reference.”
He knew that hubris and a normalcy bias will set you up for a fall."
---
[I keep a trauma kit in my car on the front passenger seat. I keep a trauma
kit at work in the cabinet next to where I sit to watch the close circuit TVs.
I have not yet needed to use lethal force in a civilian self-defense context.
But I have had to stop the bleeding when a nephew cut himself with a multi-tool
that I had given him.
It's important to prepare for what has actually happened, as opposed to what
might, because past performance is the best indicator of future performance.
-- Jon Low]
‟Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice.”
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
"Adapting to Change" by Massad Ayoob
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/adapting-to-change/
Excerpt:
"We have to adapt in the changes in our own bodies and abilities,
and to the changes in our specific needs at different times in different places."
“Willingness is a state of mind. Readiness is a statement of fact!”
-- Lt. Gen. David M Shoup, USMC Commandant, 1960-1963
"Streetlights and Shadows- Searching for the Keys to Adaptive Decision Making"
by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/streetlights-and-shadows-searching-for-the-keys-to-adaptive-decision-making
Greg cites a list of myths that need to be addressed.
***** Situational Awareness *****
"Brownshirts Rising!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/brownshirts-rising/
“You need to have the capacity for danger. You need to be ‘dangerous’.
Yet, you need to learn how to not use it except when necessary.
And, that is not the same thing as being harmless. . . .
There's nothing virtuous about harmlessness.
Harmless just means you’re ineffectual and useless.”
-- Jordan Peterson
*************************************************************************
----- Safety ----- (How to prevent the bad thing from happening in the first place.
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.
[So you must explain to your students what the "muzzle" is.
No, they don't know. Even if they do know (which is not
the same as believing they know), it doesn't hurt to explain. -- Jon Low]
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER
UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
[And what may move in front of it, and what is behind it.
Because your bullet may pass through. Or you may miss.
I know it's unlikely, considering how much you train and
practice, but it's possible. -- Jon Low]
"Government Gun Training" by Docent
https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/2023/08/government-gun-training.html
IRS Special Agent shoots IRS Special Agent in firearms training class.
---
"Editor’s Notebook: Safety Base" by Rich Grassi
https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/4d16c193-42db-44e3-a337-273c6399d6a5
Hat tip to Docent.
‟If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it.
The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury.
Therefore what he must fear is his victim.”
-- Col. Jeff Cooper
"You Are Responsible For Your Own Safety
Be your own range safety officer."
by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/you-are-responsible-for-your-own-safety/
---
My [Jon Low] suggestion for swearing in everyone as a Range Safety Officer.
Raise your right hand. Repeat after me –
“As a Range Safety Officer (RSO), I swear to obey the safety rules,
thus setting an example for those around me. I swear to enforce the
safety rules on all persons, no matter their rank or position.
If I cannot ensure safe range operation, I will report the safety violation
to higher authority, and immediately remove my subordinates from the area.”
"Wake Up!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/wake-up/
Excerpt:
"4) Unlikely police will arrive in time to “save” anyone!
In this case, they didn’t arrive at all!"
[My neighbor called 911 to report her home being invaded.
The police never showed up. -- Jon Low]
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:
Don’t go to stupid places. (The Crown Prince's yacht has anti-aircraft weapons for a reason.)
Don’t associate with stupid people. (No matter how smoking hot she is.)
Don’t do stupid things. (No matter how profitable, no matter how much fun.
Reminiscing about it while in prison is suboptimal.)
Be in bed by 10:00 PM. (Your own bed!)
Don’t look like a freak. (Tattoos, piercings, gauging, make up, clothing indicating
association with terrorists, gangs, etc.)
Don’t fail the attitude test. (Yes sir. Yes ma'am. Excuse me. I'm sorry. with sincerity)
*************************************************************************
----- Training (figuring out the correct tasks to practice) -----
"10 Links I wish I had 10 years ago" by Memphis Beech
https://www.memphisbeech.com/post/10-links-i-wish-i-had-10-years-ago
Hat tip Greg Ellifritz.
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)
"Why You Aren’t A Better Shooter" by Melody Lauer
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/why-you-arent-better/
Melody will not be teaching at the Guardian Conference this year.
I'm disappointed. She is apparently in high demand.
DISCOVER YOUR CARRY JOURNEY
https://lttdiscover.com/
A whole bunch of educational stuff.
"How to Kick Your Shooting Skills Up a Notch (Or Five)
You're never too old or too experienced to take your
shooting skills to the next level. Here's how!"
by George Dvorchak M.D.
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/how-to-kick-your-shooting-skills-up-a-notch-or-five/
Excerpts:
"We may not always realize it, but observing and understanding the basics
is important to getting started on the right track!"
"If the firearm does not fit, you’re setting yourself up for failure."
"Be Very Serious When Practicing"
--- Classes ---
Hi You All,
Video simulator training for civilian self-defense. $150 per person.
(Bill Armstrong is doing us a huge favor. The training is usually $150
per hour per person. Which would be $1200 per person.)
9 December 2023
09:00 to 17:00
Mead Hall Range
https://meadhallrange.com/
2181 South Blackberry Drive, McLoud, OK 74851
Instructor: Bill Armstrong
Hotels:
The Grand Hotel and Casino, 5 minutes from range.
https://www.grandresortok.com/
Ask for rate for those taking a class at the Meadhall Range.
~$139
---
Hampton Inn of Shawnee is 15 minute drive from the range.
https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/shnokhx-hampton-shawnee/
Ask for rate for those taking a class at the Meadhall Range.
~$123
---
Located approximately one hour east of Will Rogers World Airport
in Pottawatomie County, OK.
It's about a 10 hour drive from Nashville, TN. I'll be driving if you
need a ride.
---
Class outline --
1. Arrival: I would like to do some introductions and ask some questions
of y'all. One of the reasons for this is to find out not only what background
each person has but to find out hobbies and interests so I can, ideally, have a
basis for analogies for different concepts and information that will be more
directed to how each student learns and intakes information.
2. Baseline assessment: I would like to run each of you through some
baseline exercises and drills on the simulator to get an idea of skill level
and reaction/personality types while using a firearm. I can better guide each
person and personalize recommendations that way. We might need to spend
a bit of time here if anything is glaringly in need of addressing from a safety
or skill standpoint but it won't be a ton of time.
3. Scenario work. When I do scenario work you may go through the scenario
once or you may go through it a few times depending on the student actions and
the scenario itself if there are different points to be made. Part of the way I do
scenario work is to make sure that
A. you are being exposed to different situations but also
B. that you are a getting a full picture of possible actions and consequences
in that scenario.
I have a good bit more than one scenario for us to go through. 😊
4. Debrief and questions. We will do a fair bit of this during the process
but I like to make sure that students have a chance to have the downtime
after they have been through this and been able to process it a bit.
---
Onsite capability: Classroom has plenty of space, bathrooms, and a full
kitchen including fridge if you want to bring lunch etc.
[Yes, I think it would be best if everyone brought lunch and munched through
the day. We won't have time for a lunch break. -- Jon Low]
---
If you want to attend, commit now. No refunds.
We don't have high prices to weed out the non-serious.
This is not a business. This is a calling.
Cheers,
Jon
Protective Pistolcraft Instructor Development Course, 5 Days, $1,460.34
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/protective-pistolcraft-instructor-development-course-5-days-tickets-291828445737
October 14 · 9am - October 18 · 6pm CDT
4220 Gravel Pit Road White Hall, AR 71602
Ya, it was sold out months ago, but someone dropped out,
so there is a space available.
"Glock Training Course: A Focus on “Brilliance in the Basics” (BITB)"
by Andre M. Dall'au
https://www.athlonoutdoors.com/article/glock-training/
---
GLOCK Training
https://glocktraining.com/
They require you to use a Glock pistol.
Their training schedule shows them giving courses all over the place.
"WATCH: Sweat, Lead & Steel" by Ballistic Staff
https://www.athlonoutdoors.com/article/sweat-lead-and-steel/
---
Sig Sauer Academy
https://sigsaueracademy.com/
They do not require you to use a Sig Sauer pistol.
Some of the classes forbid using micro pistols or pocket pistols to include:
P238, P938, P365, M&P Shield, Glock 43, etc.
---
"The student may have misconceptions,
even if they have been training for years."
-- Steve Gilcreast, Director SIG Academy
--- End of Classes ---
“Take training from different instructors.
We are all wrong about something.”
-- John Farnam
"The Failure of Common Sense" byVon Kliem, JD, LL.M
https://www.forcescience.com/2023/08/the-failure-of-common-sense/
Excerpts:
"Together, the mental processing time, movement time, and device
manipulation time make up the “response time.” "
". . . reactionary gap . . . "
". . . stimulus / response gap . . . "
"This divided attention can significantly increase the time it takes
for an officer to accurately perceive and consciously verify that a
suspect has pulled a gun."
"What may have been lost is that the trigger pull itself does not stop threats.
Where a firearm is necessary to stop deadly threats, hitting the person early
enough, often enough, and in a location that instantly incapacitates or dissuades
them may be required."
“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
"Better Aim – Shooting From a Vehicle" by tacticalprofessor (Claude Werner)
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2023/08/18/better-aim-shooting-from-a-vehicle/
I list a dummy gun, that is identical to the pistol that they will be using,
on the equipment list for my classes. An essential training tool.
"Those motivated by a desire to improve their
gunfighting skills as opposed to a quest for trophies,
must be willing to bleed ego on the match results
to avoid shedding blood in combat."
-- Andy Stanford
"Freshening Up Your Training
Here are five tips that will rejuvenate your training regimen."
by Frank Melloni
https://www.ssusa.org/content/freshening-up-your-training/
Excerpts:
1. FIND NEW DRILLS
2. TRAIN WITH NEW PEOPLE
3. TRY NEW LOCATIONS
4. ADD STRESS
5. STEP AWAY [This was a required part of training that I was taught at
the coaches courses at the Olympic Training Center. -- Jon Low]
[I love persons who correctly use the word "regimen". -- Jon Low]
A lady is home schooling her son. She approached me a few minutes ago to inform
me that she is attempting to get my Defensive Pistol class approved by the home
school organization, so that her son and others may take the class and use it as a
semester elective in his high school education. She has submitted my credentials,
curriculum, and course outline for approval.
I know many instructors whose classes are approved for continuing education for
attorneys and law enforcement officers. But this is a little different. I hope this catches
on and expands throughout the home school systems.
I know of high schools who have air rifle teams, smallbore rifle team, and shotgun
teams (trap and skeet). The only school pistol teams that I know of are at the service
academies. And I don't know of any schools that have for credit classes in pistol for
self-defense. If you know of any, please let me know.
This is actually pretty deep.
"I WISH I KNEW THIS SOONER" by The Suited Shootist
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9dZ6dxZPVU
Excerpt:
"You're not going to know if your level of skill is up to the task until
it's too late to do anything about it."
"Unhealthy perspective, imbalanced skill set."
"Sometimes you can do everything right and still lose.
Make peace with that fact."
"Braintrust Assembled: Dustin Salomon, John Hearne, and John Holschen"
by Lee Weems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy2vB_CTZyY
I prefer the YouTube.com video to the audio pod cast because a lot of
information gets transferred via facial expression and body language.
Excerpts: (paraphrased)
The first part is getting information into the student's short term memory.
We give information to the student. The information hits a filter which takes
out 90% of what we are saying.
There is what you say. There is what they hear. Two different things.
There is what you said. There is what you think you said. There is what
the person hears. There is what the person understands. There is what the
person remembers later. And all of those are different. And it's different
for each of the 30 persons in the class.
So how do we navigate this filter? To get the same information into each
of the 30 student's short term memory. Priming, which is teaching with no
expectation of retention, and then coming back days later and teaching it again.
Then the skill must be transferred into long term memory (a different location
in the brain). [Which requires sleep. From my reading of Salomon's books.
-- Jon Low] Otherwise, you get extinction of skills after 6 months.
Never assume the students know anything. If you don't teach them how
to hold the pistol, they will default to how they figured out how to hold it
on their own, which is almost always wrong. Then you will have a very
difficult time breaking this bad habit. You cannot skip teaching the
fundamental mechanics.
Learn to teach with the right language, the right order, the right presentation,
the right attitudes.
---
There are bad instructors who will tell you, "You're jerking the trigger.",
when you are not jerking the trigger, because that's all they know to say.
You can give people information in a way that makes it impossible
for them to learn it.
---
If the instructor tells you what to do and you perform it, you are drawing
from Declarative memory. In a combat situation, you would be drawing from
Unconscious memory. Which are different.
The book referred to is
"Perception, Cognition, and Decision Training: The Quiet Eye in Action"
by Joan N. Vickers, Ph.D.
https://www.amazon.com/Perception-Cognition-Decision-Training-Action/dp/0736042563
Once the basics are learned, the training should be interleaved. The student
should be reacting to stimulus from the environment (predominantly visual
stimuli), not being told what to do by the instructor.
---
Most people don't understand the difference between the sports world and
the tactical world. We [armed combatants] cannot go out and scrimmage.
The speed of perception is the limiting factor. Perception, cognition, decision
cycle is missing from traditional training.
Most people won't start a fight that they know that they are going to lose.
So we need to put the bad guy into that position so they don't start the fight.
Initiate, modify, and terminate your behavior based on visual stimuli.
Cognitive load vs. perceptual load.
‟Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice.”
-- Claude Werner
*************************************************************************
----- Practice (how to get competent at that task) -----
“Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans.”
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
"Are You Good Enough?: Measuring Defensive Handgun Accuracy"
by Richard A. Mann
https://gundigest.com/more/how-to/firearm-training/defensive-handgun-accuracy
Excerpt:
"Under stress, you want to be able to deliver softball-sized groups.
The chances are your pistol is capable. The question is, are you?"
"I think you should expect to adjust the sights on any defensive handgun
you might purchase, regardless of price."
". . . with today’s modern handguns I’d say there’s a 91 percent chance
they’ll provide all the precision you need. That also means that you’ll
have to take the blame for any missing that occurs."
‶Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.″
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
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
‟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
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Intervention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to deal with the incident that you failed to avoid.
Table of contents:
Strategy
Tactics
Techniques
*************************************************************************
----- Strategy (deciding on the end state and how to achieve it,
which tactics to use, which includes walking away) -----
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
"Hazardous Thought" by Dave Spaulding
https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/a175b031-31fc-4c87-9790-4fe2b95d5953?
Excerpt:
"No plan survives first contact with the enemy."
". . . you cannot possibly train for every potential situation you may face.
This is why fundamental / foundational (I like to call them essential) skills
should be practiced and mastered, as the person who will win in armed
conflict is the one who can adapt these essentials to the threat they face."
“Right now, someone is training so when they meet you, they beat you.
Train hard and stay on guard.”
"Man fatally shot by Aurora [Colorado] Police was trying to stop
another man from taking his backpack, police say"
by Matt Moret
https://www.cpr.org/2023/08/25/aurora-police-shooting-man-defending-himself-from-robbery/
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
Dealing with responding police officers should be part of your strategy.
If you've still have a gun in your hand when the cops arrive, best to drop it
immediately.
The smart move is to have your pistol holstered before the police arrive.
[Ed Monk says, you'll be on your third cigarette by the time the cops arrive.]
Never draw the pistol unless you intend to use it immediately. [A pistol
is not a tool for intimidation or threat. The pistol is to immediately stop
the attack by immediately incapacitating the enemy. The only thing that
would cause you not to shoot is the enemy's behavior.] If you intend to use
it immediately, shoot immediately; and continue to shoot until there is no
threat. Once the threat is ended because you stopped the threat or you
escaped the threat, holster the pistol, so the cops don't shoot you.
Yes, as a matter of fact, there are lots of documented cases in which the cops
shoot the good guy. The cops don't know you. How could they? They generally
have very bad intelligence. Their intelligence gathering, analysis, and
dissemination are all very poor, staffed with low paid, untrained, civilians.
What would you expect?
When I was working in Arizona, a bad guy broke into the home of a couple.
The home owner, husband, is holding the home invader at gun point when the
cops arrive. The home owner, wife, is outside and tells the responding officers
that her husband is holding the home invader at gun point in the house. The
police officers enter the house and shoot the home owner to death. So, even
with perfect intelligence, the police (untrained, inexperienced, panicked, etc.)
still killed the good guy. You cannot be holding a firearm and pointing at
someone lying on the ground when the police arrive. Police simply are not
that competent. For their pay and training, we cannot expect them to be.
An exception would be the Sunnyvale, CA police department. Back in the
mid 1990's (when I lived there) they were being paid $100,000 per year
(entry level). They were expected to be highly competent, and they were.
When you pay that kind of starting salary, you can be very selective.
You get what you pay for in this world. They would work two years as a
police officer and then two years as a fire fighter, and switch back and forth.
So, they were all cross trained as police officers, fire fighters, and emergency
medical technicians (eventually paramedics). People like these don't need
or want a union. All hiring, firing, resignation were at will. Because they
knew they could get a higher paying job elsewhere doing something less
stressful. So these people were there because it was a calling, not a job.
"Setting Ourselves Up for Failure" By tacticalprofessor
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2023/08/29/setting-ourselves-up-for-failure/
It's essential to think about what the other guy might do. He might
not cease and desist. He might not surrender. He might not run away.
He might attack you.
"You win gunfights by not getting shot."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Tactics (maneuver and fire in support of your strategy) -----
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"Aiming Center Mass vs. Quick Stop–Which is Better?" by Mike Ox
https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/aiming-center-mass-vs-quick-stop-which-is-better/
Excerpts:
In a recent Force Science training I was at with Mike Musengo, he told us about
a fellow officer who put multiple center-mass hits on a threat . . . including one that
took out the aorta, and the attacker STILL stayed in the fight for 13.5 seconds with
a non-functioning circulatory system.
The fact is, “clean kills” and “lethal hits” have a time component. It’s OK if you
shoot a grass eater that’s 100 yards away and it runs away from you for 10-15 seconds
before expiring.
It’s NOT OK for a mortally wounded meat eater (2 legged or 4 legged) who’s
charging you to have 10-15 seconds to put the hurt on you before expiring.
---
". . . because of the time component, this means that a threat that’s close to you
may take MORE solid hits than one that’s further away."
“Fortuitous outcomes reinforce poor tactics.”
-- Chuck Haggard
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, and Escape
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Techniques (ways to execute a given task in support of your tactics,
especially when disabled or under stress) -----
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
"Proper Combative Pistol Grip (And A Whole Lot More)" by Dave Spaulding
https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/proper-combative-pistol-grip-and-a-whole-lot-more/480053
"Smooth IS fast." by SLG
https://pistol-training.com/smooth-is-fast/
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
---
[Well, in more detail,
Slow is smooth (because you can control what you're doing).
Smooth is efficient (because controlling what you are doing removes inefficiencies).
Efficient is fast (because there is no wasted motion).
Fast is good (because whoever hits first usually wins).
(Which is not the same as who shoots first.)
It has been my experience by observing my students that speed will come
automatically with correct practice, just as being able to parallel park quickly
comes with practice. No, you don't have to push yourself to parallel park
quickly in order to be able to parallel park quickly. Repetition will allow
you to do any task quickly. Repetition, as in 2000 correct repetitions in
deliberate intentional practice. (If you're listening to music or thinking about
what you're going to have for dinner, you are not concentrating on your practice.
You're just going through the motions, like some religious ritual.)
-- Jon Low]
"Five Rules for Driving" by Jeff Gonzales
https://tridentconcepts.com/2018/08/11/five-rules-for-driving/
Excerpt:
"I taught them not to wrap their thumbs around the wheel." [Yes, we were taught
this in Marine Corps driving school. If your front wheels hit a curb or rock at high
speed, the forced movement of the front wheels will cause the steering wheel to spin
with enough force to break your thumbs, if they are inside the steering wheel. -- Jon Low]
"How police use the PIT maneuver to end vehicle pursuits" by Tim Dees
https://www.police1.com/suspect-pursuit/articles/how-police-use-the-pit-maneuver-to-end-vehicle-pursuits-fZP3HtT386Mpu5oF/
Good to know. Not that you would ever do it. But someone may do it to you.
So you have to know how it works so you can avoid it or escape it.
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, and Escape
"Public Bathroom Breaks While Armed" by Matt Jacques
https://www.recoilweb.com/public-potty-breaks-and-your-edc-28395.html
NO! Removing your pistol from your holster or removing your holster
from your belt is a terrible idea. Don't do it! Keep your pistol holstered.
Keep your holster on your belt. Never take it off. NEVER!
When the threat is moving around you, do you get stuck? or do you gracefully
twist your arms, torso, and legs into the correct position to keep your sights on
target and continue shooting? Do you disengage your 2-handed grip into a 1-handed
grip to continue? What is your range of motion? Do you know the limits of your
range of motion? You can figure it out in the comfort of your living room.
A very good thing to know. Discovering the limits of your range of motion in
combat would be suboptimal.
We are fortunate at Strategic Edge Gun Range in Chapel Hill, TN to have a
range in which we may shoot 360° azimuthally. But even that is not enough.
Threats can present above you on the third floor balcony, below you in the
basement shooting up through the floor boards.
Do your have the requisite range of motion? Worth practicing to develop it.
"Four Carry Positions: How Well Do They Work?" by Richard Nance
https://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/four-carry-positions-how-well-they-work/480863
"Shots To The Vital Zone
Only hits count, but some hits count more than others."
by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/shots-to-the-vital-zone/
Excerpts:
"When we suggest that you fire two shots at the attacker,
we are not suggesting that you are only going to fire two shots
in this encounter. You certainly may need to fire more,
and when we talk about assessing the situation it’s not like
we’re suggesting that you take a coffee break.
The assessment should be split-second thing."
"The only time that firing a pair of shots might not be a good idea
is when the armed citizen is using a 5-shot revolver and dealing with
multiple attackers. In that case, one shot per attacker makes much
more sense."
"An Alternate Approach to Pistol Sights" by Chris Baker
https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/an-alternate-approach-to-pistol-sights/
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Postvention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to treat your wounds; avoid prosecution, conviction, and prison time.
Table of contents:
Aftermath
Survival, Medical, etc.
*************************************************************************
----- Aftermath (You must be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.) -----
In the right hand column, click on the link labeled "Self Defense Insurance".
Or, the direct link is,
http://defensivepistolcraft.blogspot.com/p/self-defense-insurance.html
Read this before you buy insurance. You need to make an informed decision.
The various policies are drastically different.
"You need to read the fine print." -- Massad Ayoob
“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
In the right hand column of this web page, click on "Never Talk To The Police"
or use the direct address
https://defensivepistolcraft.blogspot.com/p/never-talk-to-police.html
“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
----- Survival, Medical, etc. -----
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
"The Assisted Suicide Rate in Canada is 4.45 times the
Firearms Suicide Rate in the United States"
https://crimeresearch.org/2023/07/the-assisted-suicide-rate-in-canada-is-4-45-times-the-firearms-suicide-rate-in-the-united-states/
Suicide assisted by quacks (not something a real doctor would ever do) and drugs
is just as bad as suicide by pistol, and way more expensive.
Remember, Marines solve their problems by killing their enemies,
not by killing themselves. Killing yourself means you have failed to
correctly solve your problem and have given up trying. All problems
can be solved by thinking. You need not do the thinking. Ask for help.
There are many others who will do the thinking for you. You just have
to ask for help.
"Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so."
-- Bertrand Russell
"Thinking is the hardest thing a person can do.
That's why so few people do it."
-- Henry Ford
"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
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Education, History, etc. ***** ***** *****
Table of contents:
Legal
Instruction
Gear
*************************************************************************
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
Civilian concealed carry for self-defense works and
is therefore good public policy.
"Cases where armed citizens have stopped active shooter incidents"
https://crimeresearch.org/2023/08/cases-where-armed-citizens-have-stopped-active-shooter-incidents/
"Defensive Gun Uses By People Legally Carrying Guns:
32 Cases During May 2023"
https://crimeresearch.org/2023/07/defensive-gun-uses-by-people-legally-carrying-guns-32-cases-during-may-2023/
Subscribe to Crime Prevention Research Center
https://crimepreventionresearchcenter.nationbuilder.com/subscribe?
"Crime!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/crime/
"Weekend Knowledge Dump- August 18, 2023" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/weekend-knowledge-dump-august-18-2023
"KDJ's 'Gun Myth' Fact-Check: Liberals Vs. Americans, Part 1"
by Kevin Downey Jr.
https://pjmedia.com/columns/kevindowneyjr/2023/08/21/kdjs-gun-myth-fact-check-liberals-vs-americans-part-1-n1720419
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
America is a free country. You can commit suicide if you want to. I don't think
it's a good thing. But that's just my opinion. Blaming the gun for the suicide is as
illogical as blaming an inanimate object for the act of a human.
Never let liberals deceive you. Never let them change your behavior.
"Weekend Knowledge Dump- August 25, 2023" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/weekend-knowledge-dump-august-25-2023
"Butte County district attorney opts out of homicide charge in Oroville shooting
Suspected shooter still faces drug, weapon charges"
by Chico Er
https://www.orovillemr.com/2023/08/25/butte-county-district-attorney-opts-out-of-homicide-charge-in-oroville-shooting/
"This reporter clearly does not understand that homicides may be
criminal, justifiable, or accidental." -- Stephen P. Wenger
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
***** ***** ***** 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
"The Essential Second Amendment" by The Heritage Foundation
https://secured.heritage.org/essential-second-amendment-ebook/
FREE eBook
"Self-Defense Trials And Expert Witnesses" by Marty Hayes
https://gundigest.com/handguns/personal-defense/expert-witness
"Law of Self Defense" book (free of charge, just pay shipping so you don't have to
drive to Colorado to pick it up)
https://bit.ly/losdpmax
"One Hand, 7 Pews, 6-Pack Intact: The Convenience Store Hero!" by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCmLQq94P_k
The bad guy and good guy were both black, so no racial dynamic.
The store clerk is Sihk.
Notice the DailyMail.com, a U.K. publication, calls the good guy a hero.
The liberal American journalist do not.
---
"Moment hero Michigan gas station customer calmly shoots robber armed
with a box cutter while holding a six-pack of Miller Lite beer
The incident occurred on July 27 when the suspect,
Cordelius Anthony Martin, 35, attempted to rob Stone Lake Marathon Mini Mart
A customer with a valid concealed carry permit fired seven shots at the suspect
The suspect was later discharged from hospital and arraigned on three charges,
including armed robbery"
by Alice Wright
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12424809/Moment-hero-Michigan-gas-station-customer-calmly-shoots-robber-armed-box-cutter-holding-six-pack-Miller-Lite-beer.html
Notice how the brand of the beer is noted. That's called "product placement".
Notice that it was "Miller Lite", not "Bud Light". And noted in the headline.
---
Don't for a moment think that broadcast media is anything other than advertisement.
Just follow the money. I think it is a safe bet that Molson Coors Beverage Company
showed their gratitude to DailyMail.com, as is standard practice in the industry.
"The 5 Elements of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca (free of charge)
lawofselfdefense.com/elements/
"Ohio's Bold Move: Strongest Self-Defense Immunity in the US! [NOT!]"
by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jyj_ue_qnw
Meat starts at around 16:39. End of video got messed up. So the video below
finishes the article.
"PART 2: Ohio's Bold Move: Strongest Self-Defense Immunity in the US! [NOT!]"
by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0j0WDQm5oU
Prior to 2019, Ohio defendants had to prove that it was self-defense by a
preponderance of the evidence. The burden of proof was on the defendant.
In 2019, Ohio changed to the modern national standard, prosecution must prove
beyond a reasonable doubt that it was not self-defense. This is the law in all 50 states.
In 2021, Ohio became a hard stand-your-ground state. No duty to retreat when attacked.
Thirty-nine states are stand-your-ground states, no duty to retreat. Eleven states have
a duty to retreat when attacked. Of the thirty-nine, thirty-one are soft stand-your-ground
states. The prosecutor can argue that the defendant not retreating was unreasonable,
and therefore, not self-defense. Of the thirty-nine, eight states are hard stand-your-ground
states. The prosecutor cannot argue the reasonableness of retreating.
In some states, there are self-defense immunity pre-trial hearings. (South
Carolina is one of the best. Prosecutors have appealed the self-defense immunity
hearing decisions all the way to the South Carolina Supreme Court. And the
South Carolina Supreme Court has let the self-defense immunity pre-trial hearing
decisions stand. Yeah, South Carolina!)
If the judge finds by clear and convincing evidence that it was self-defense,
he can grant immunity from criminal prosecution and / or civil law suits.
Now in Ohio in 2023, HB233 would create a self-defense immunity pre-trial
hearing where the prosecutor would be required to prove by a preponderance
of the evidence that it was not self-defense. Failing to do so, would give the
defendant a rebuttable presumption that the defendant acted in self-defense.
So, when the case goes to trial the prosecutor has to overcome the presumption
that the defendant acted in self-defense. Which may cause the prosecutor to
drop the case, since it increases the difficulty of getting a conviction.
Not as good as South Carolina or Florida, but a step in the correct direction.
Actually, in a sense it might be better than South Carolina or Florida because
a judge would be more likely to grant the hearing and rule in favor of the
defendant under the Ohio standard. Let's pray this bill passes.
---
"LIVE INTERVIEW: Ohio Rep. Fights to Strengthen OH's Self-Defense Laws!"
by Law of Self Defense (Andrew Branca)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdOVjIkeLtM
This is deep.
---
The prosecution presents their case for murder. When they rest, they
close their case in chief.
Then the defense presents their case for self-defense. At this point,
how does the prosecution prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was
not self-defense? The prosecution has already closed their case in chief,
and cannot reopen their case.
---
Saying that you fired a warning shot negates your self-defense claim.
NEVER FIRE A WARNING SHOT!
NEVER SAY THAT YOUR FIRED A WARNING SHOT!
---
Strong self-defense laws are good for minorities. For it is most often the
minority person living in the high crime areas that is forced by the criminal
to use lethal force to defend self and others.
---
The 911 operator never told George Zimmerman to stay in his car.
The liberal media lied. It was propaganda. Even the FBI agents
believed the propaganda. And they propagated the propaganda. When
confronted with the 911 recording, they felt psychological conflict
because they were so emotionally invested in the lie that they had told.
---
The amount of resources you bring to the case is decisive.
Even in a perfect self-defense case, the criminal justice system will
still imprison you (so you lose your job), bankrupt you, take your children,
cause your divorce, etc.
After you get acquitted at trial, you don't get anything back, not the
time you missed with your kids, not the money you spent on your
defense, not the job you lost, NOTHING.
"Firearm Law Update: Supreme Court Issues Stay on Firearm Definition Ruling"
by U.S. LawShield
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On4YspEmnQo
"End Conceal Carry Laws? Court Strikes Down Law NATIONWIDE
carry Implicated in Commonwealth v Donnell"
by Tom Grieve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahl2YpWMMIg
Not precedent setting, but significant.
"Federal Court [Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals] Won’t Let Colorado
Enforce Under-21 Gun Ban During Appeal" by Jake Fogleman
https://thereload.com/federal-court-wont-let-colorado-enforce-under-21-gun-ban-during-appeal/
"Tennessee court allows lawsuit to proceed against Governor Lee
to challenge the state’s prohibition on carrying firearms in public
parks and recreational areas as unconstitutional."
by JohnHarris
https://tennesseefirearms.com/2023/08/tennessee-court-allows-lawsuit-to-proceed-against-governor-lee-to-challenge-the-states-prohibition-on-carrying-firearms-in-public-parks-and-recreational-areas-as-unconstitutional/
“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 a dishonorable population represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
***** ***** ***** 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
"Firearm instructors: Just be better!" by Todd Fletcher
https://apbweb.com/2023/08/firearm-instructors-just-be-better/
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
"Many simply don’t understand the level of performance
they’re capable of because no one has allowed them to safely
push their limits."
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 Salomon
Some of the things I found interesting in
Title: "No Safe Alternative"
Subtitle: "Improving How We Teach Cops To Kill"
Author: T. C. Fuller, Ed. D., aka Dan Bernoulli
ISBN: 9798395966636
Date of publication: 7 July 2015 A.D.
Page 15 - Forward by Greg Ellifritz.
Page 83 - "It is a well established fact of law that the American government has NO duty
to protect its individual citizens." Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1
(D.C. Ct. of Ap., 1981).
Page 108 - "Some recruits know that they cannot kill another person and would not
no matter what, a fact that many manage to keep to themselves." [Think about what
a disservice this is to their fellow officers who will be depending on them to protect
them by killing the bad guy. -- Jon Low]
Page 123 - "When it comes to firearms instruction, it is far more important that the
instructor knows HOW to shoot well than they are ABLE to shoot well."
Page 123 - "He must remember that he is an experienced instructor and that things
that appear blatantly self-evident to him might be Greek to his students."
Page 148 - In a study of 72 police officers who survived deadly force incidents,
88% diminished sound (auditory exclusion)
82% tunnel vision
78% automatic pilot (automatic response with no conscious thought)
65% heightened visual clarity
63% slow motion
61% memory loss of events
60% memory loss of one's actions
50% disassociation (sense of detachment)
36% intrusive distracting thoughts
19% memory distortion
17% intensified sound
17% fast motion
11% temporary paralysis
Page 150 - [Fuller believes in evolution as developed by Darwin and taught in the
liberal universities, and uses it to explain some things about the human nervous
system. Having studied the geologic record / stratigraphic record / fossil record
and finding spontaneous creation and mass extinction, but no evolution; I find
his explanations of the human nervous system unsatisfying. -- Jon Low]
Page 195 - Fuller advocates psychological, ethical, and legal training on the
subject of deadly force.
Page 204 - "Training provided to adults must be difficult for it to be effective.
If it is too easy, adults will not value it and will consequently not retain it."
Page 211 - ". . . being a good shot is not required for the difficulty of the SHOT,
but rather for dealing with the difficulty of the CIRCUMSTANCES."
Page 257 - "Once the violence has begun, it is imperative that officers be able
defend themselves and others." [I find that a strange statement, because police
officers are never around when the violence starts. They invariably show up
after the fact, and write reports on whatever evidence they find. The civilians
are the first responders. As Ed Monk says, after the incident is finished and
you've finished your third cigarette, the cops show up. Then, after the cops
secure the scene, which may take hours, the emergency medical personnel
will enter the scene. Except for the recent happy exception of the Nashville
Police at the Covenant School, that is the norm. -- Jon Low]
Page 258 - "[Police officers] must be crafted into professional, disciplined
warriors . . ." [I find that a strange statement, because Fuller must know that
police departments in metropolitan areas are recruiting for social workers,
not warriors. They intentionally weed out the warriors. Because a warrior
might shoot a citizen, and that would cause problems for the politicians.
To think that any training regimen will change a social worker into a warrior
strains credulity. -- Jon Low]
“The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives.”
-- Robert John Meehan
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Gear ***** ***** *****
*************************************************************************
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
"Is the PDW (Personal Defensive Weapon) Still Relevant?" by John Farnam
https://www.ammoland.com/2023/08/is-the-pdw-personal-defensive-weapon-still-relevant/
"How to Tell If Your Gun's Safety Is On or Off
Not all guns have external safety mechanisms,
but if yours does, it's important to understand how it works."
by Frank Melloni
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/how-to-tell-if-your-gun-s-safety-is-on-or-off/
"Ask TTAG: Why Does X Gun Cost So Much More than Y Gun?"
by Travis Pike
https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/ask-ttag-why-does-x-gun-cost-so-much-more-than-y-gun/
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
"Prepper's Armory: Magazines, Part 1" by David Bock
https://bluecollarprepping.blogspot.com/2023/06/preppers-armory-magazines-part-1.html
Hat tip to Docent.
https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-primer-on-firearms-magazines.html
An absolutely terrible idea for our purposes (civilian concealed carry for self-defense).
"G-Flex Reflex Trigger For Glock"
https://sigglockincolt.com/shop/g-flex-binary-trigger-for-glock/
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
On the other hand, if you're just plinking, it's only a bad idea.
---
"Are forced-reset triggers illegal machine guns?
ATF and gun rights advocates at odds in court fights"
by DAVE COLLINS
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/forced-reset-triggers-illegal-machine-guns-atf-gun-102402318
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
These devices allow you to make noise and waste ammo. They do not help
you with making accurate shots on positively identified targets.
When I was a child I lived in custom built houses because my mother would sit
down with the architect to design the house and then mom would oversee ever
detail of the construction. So it never occurred to me how well designed the houses
were.
When I got married (the first time), my wife fancied herself an architect and
designed our house. She got a structural engineer to sign off on the blueprints.
It was suboptimal. But it was her baby, so it was fine.
Over the years I have been modifying pistols for clients and students. Well, I
do the work on the plastic parts with a Dremel tool and files, Aidan Hoffman
does the precision machine work on the metal parts. Recently a former student
sent me an email in which she described a class she took in which the students
shot each other's pistols to get a feel for what others use. (I had a similar
experience when I took a long range rifle class at Strategic Edge Gun Range,
Tony Shankle was the instructor.) My former student mentioned how the
other pistols (factory standard, no custom work) did not feel comfortable in
her hand. She mentioned how the other students asked her about work that
she had had done on her pistol. She didn't know what work had been done
on her pistol. She just accepted it from me, and assumed that I had done
whatever was needed to make it comfortable and reliable.
Most people don't care how their car works, just that it works. So they don't
notice a suboptimal car until they have to drive a loaner when their car is in
the shop for repair. Most people would never think to ask their mechanic to
adjust the gas and brake pedals to get them even, so that they can pivot on their
heel to quickly move from one pedal to the other.
But it is important. Send me an email if you would like the list of
modifications that I recommend for reliability and comfort.
“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.)
AmmoSeek Search Engine
https://ammoseek.com/
For finding cheap ammo.
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Cryptology ***** ***** *****
"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe,
and preserve order in the world as well as property.
Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of their use."
-- Thomas Paine
[Cryptosystems are considered "arms" by federal law.
ITAR, International Traffic in Arms Regulations]
There are different Unicode characters that render as the same image
in your word processor or web page. So you need to use a bit level editor
to see what's written.
"DEF CON 22 -
Philip “Soldier of Fortran” Young -
From root to SPECIAL: Pwning IBM Mainframes"
by DEFCONConference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xfl4spvM5DI
Hat tip to EveryoneIsGreen.
Ah, the fond memories. I recognized all the jargon and terminology.
There's a lot of stuff that I publish in this space for others that I have
no idea what the stuff is.
Cackalacky Con
https://www.youtube.com/@CackalackyCon/videos
Hat tip to EveryoneIsGreen.
“Your character is what you do when no one is looking.”
-- Thomas Jefferson
Nice places to look things up -
---
Encyclopedia of Mathematics
https://encyclopediaofmath.org/wiki/Main_Page
---
MathWorld
https://mathworld.wolfram.com/
---
The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences® (OEIS®)
https://oeis.org/
---
Association des collaborateurs de Nicolas Bourbaki
https://www.bourbaki.fr/
I flunked French in 7th grade. But I'm still trying.
[BOURBAKI 2020] Théorie de Hodge et o-minimalité - Fresán - 25/01/2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJvQwlhA5Uc
Free magma = a free algebra in the variety of magma.
Magma = a set with one binary operation. Closed under that operation.
"Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.
Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have
perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must
believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing
must be attained."
-- Marie Curie
The email thread has degenerated into a book club discussion.
So this is the inaugural "Crypto book club". (Isn't that far less pretentious
than the "Theoretical Cryptology Colloquia"?) The first book will be
"Lie Groups, Lie Algebras, and Some of Their Applications"
by Robert Gilmore, Wiley-Interscience, 1974.
ISBN 0-471-30179-5
Wiley-Interscience does not carry the book anymore.
Dover Publications carries the book.
https://store.doverpublications.com/0486445291.html
"Computer science has nothing to do with computers or science."
-- Donald Knuth
"I Can Hear Your Passwords" by Dr. Michael Klipstein, CISM, CISSP
https://www.bakerdonelson.com/i-can-hear-your-passwords
Hat tip to Ray Harvey, "Tempest using two mikes and cell phone . . . ".
----- Electronic Warfare stuff -----
"Probability and Uncertainty: the quantum mechanical view of nature"
by Professor Richard P. Feynman of the California Institute of Technology
The title at the end is "The Character of Physical Laws".
https://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/fml.html#6
Transcript is in the right hand column.
The web site highlights the words being spoken.
Lecture to a lay audience.
---
"Origins of the Quantum Wavefunction"
by Elliot Schneider
https://www.physicswithelliot.com/wavefunction-mini-notes
The notes (transcript) are below the video.
---
If you don't understand a thing, you can't model it. If you can't model it, you can't
write code to implement it. We don't care about simulating it. We need to implement
it. Only then can we build it and use it (in the engineering sense). So it's important
that you study it until you understand, until it becomes obvious. Which it will.
You will have an epiphany.
So you can defeat your enemy by superior understanding. For example,
the enemy doesn't understand the Uncertainty Principle (or how to implement it).
So he is building a laser weapon to destroy your aircraft and designing it to burn
a hole through the skin of your aircraft (or spacecraft / satellite). He does his
testing and determines that it takes a megawatt to burn a hole in the your aircraft
skin. And so designs his laser weapon accordingly.
But you understand the Uncertainty Principle. So you build your laser weapon
to output kilowatt pulses (or less). You make the pulses very short in time / space.
The Uncertainty Principle says that your short pulses are going to have a huge
uncertainty in energy. You figure out the probabilities and determine how many
pulses, how long it will take on average, to get a pulse powerful enough to disable
the enemy aircraft. And you adjust your specifications (pulse length, frequency, etc.)
accordingly, in software, in real time. Software defined radios, software defined
weapons.
"But, Staff, that violates Conservation of Energy. You can't transmit a kilowatt
pulse and have the target receive a megawatt pulse."
Conservation of Energy is a high school physics concept. You're in the Fleet now.
Consider interference. Where the waves destructively interfere, there is no
energy. Where did the energy go? In places where the waves constructively
interfere, there is more energy than the sum of the individual waves. Where
did the extra energy come from? Oh, it gets much worse.
The possibilities are endless. Limited only by your imagination. Yes, you can
defeat your enemy by superior imagination. Here is one for you to play with.
(A thought experiment if you will.) Imagine a weapon system that allows you to
kill an individual anywhere on the surface of the Earth with zero collateral damage,
on demand within minutes of the command.
What pieces would you need to assemble to achieve such?
"We can already do that with a drone strike."
No, drone strikes often cause collateral damage. Think of something
without bombs. (Anytime you bomb a city, about half the persons killed will be
sympathetic / friendly / non-partisan. U.S. cites are the exception. That's why
the enemy doesn't bomb U.S. cities, espsecially Washington, D.C. That's where
all of their allies live. D.C. votes 95% Democrat.) The plans for such were drawn
up in the early 1980's. The concepts were discussed in the Theoretical Physics
Colloquia in Pupin Hall in the late 1970's. So it's an engineering problem,
not a scientific problem. All the science is done. All of the required technology
already exists. It's just a matter of figuring out which pieces to assemble.
Why were the 9/11 attackers effective. Because they were audacious.
Fredrick the Great taught and encouraged audacity. That's why he won.
After the fact, it's obvious. Before the fact, it's inconceivable. Except to those
who understand, who are audacious.
[audacious - Definition: extremely original; without restriction to prior ideas;
highly inventive. Random House Dictionary of the English Language.]
I never understood ransomware attacks that encrypt the victim's data.
Just restore from backup. Am I missing something?
"There are no backups."
Well that's a maintenance problem. Lots of things can cause data loss
or corruption. Every correct system has backup. Most have continuous
instantaneous backup. Don't they?
"Back up is expensive."
No, storage is free. (Ask any computer engineering professor in any university.)
Even RAID 5 disk arrays are fast enough for this purpose. Network Attached
Storage (NAS) is easy. At ApplianceWare in Fremont, CA we built an encrypted
NAS system in negligible time and negligible cost.
"It's not that simple."
“It is that simple.” -- Massad Ayoob
It may not be easy, but it is simple. No, actually, it is pretty easy.
Dara Korchagina wishes you pleasant dreams.
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil."
-- Donald Knuth
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Intelligence ***** ***** *****
"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 purpose of the 2nd Amendment is to ensure that the people always have the
means to overthrow the armed forces of the government. Just as the British subjects
of the 10% of American Colonialists who fought in the Revolutionary War overthrew
the British Colonial government forces to form the United States of America.
The American Colonists did not overthrow the British government in Britain,
nor did they overthrow the British monarchy.
As they taught us in the Marine Corps, you don't have to destroy much to
get a good result. Destroying 10% of an enemy unit will usually cause the
rest of the unit to panic and become combat ineffective. If your snipers can
kill the top 1% of the enemy officer corps (or 4% of the total), that's probably
enough to make the unit ineffective (they won't know what to do, even if they
are still capable of combat action). Unfortunately, Marines don't have snipers
anymore. No Scout Sniper School. No Scout Snipers. So the commanders
don't have any eyes and ears forward in the field. Whose responsible for that?
Gen. David Berger, the last Commandant.
Of course, the real trick is to kill a competent Commanding Officer (CO),
where the Executive Officer (XO) is incompetent, or to leave an incompetent CO
in command, or to kill the competent officers from the top down until you get to
an incompetent. If you've got a good Intel unit (G-2), you've got this information.
Why was the Colonial Army successful against the British Army and its
mercenaries? Because the Colonial snipers killed British officers. Why would
the Biden administration eliminate the scout / sniper capability from the
U.S. Marine Corps?
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
"China now has a geosynchronous radar imaging satellite, a world's first"
by Binkov's Battlegrounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZctvA6MAUk
Hat tip to Tenth Legion.
Always interesting to read the comments. Of course, some of them are idiots.
Some of them are bots. But, sometimes . . .
Always interesting to read the credits that roll at the end of any film. Even more
interesting is what is missing.
The ChiComs are going to learn all the lessons we learned from the MilStar
satellites. Unless, their spies have already stolen all the lessons learned. Which
I suspect they have.
"Suspected Chinese spy reportedly slept with, courted US officials to gain intel"
by Mark Moore
https://nypost.com/2020/12/08/suspected-chinese-spy-slept-with-courted-us-politicians-report/
Which cites,
"Exclusive: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians"
by Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian and Zach Dorfman
https://www.axios.com/2020/12/08/china-spy-california-politicians
"FBI Briefs Pelosi And McCarthy On Rep. Swalwell's Ties To Suspected Chinese Spy"
by Alana Wise
https://www.npr.org/2020/12/18/948210355/fbi-briefs-reps-pelosi-mccarthy-on-rep-swalwells-ties-to-suspected-chinese-spy
"Russia’s lunar lander smashes into moon’s surface" by Sarah Fortinsky
https://thehill.com/policy/international/4160787-russias-lunar-lander-smashes-into-moons-surface/
Hat tip to Docent.
That's why certain persons get paid the BIG bucks. If you can do the calculations
correctly, you can live in Hawaii, have babies, live the good life while working from
home. You don't need to advertise your business, no web site. Those who know,
know who you are. A nice niche business. Of course, it didn't hurt to have parents
who sent you to:
Punahou School
UCLA, B.S., Aerospace Engineering
Stanford University, M.S., Aeronautics and Astronautics.
And an illustrious career at NASA.
So why didn't the Russians use the best and the brightest? National pride.
Had to have Russians doing the brain work. With attendant results.
Not that unusual. When I was working for the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF)
designing their Secondary Surveillance Radar†, a retired General (who wore a
white ghutra) who was working at RSAF, told my Colonel that it was
inappropriate for an American (me) to be designing the RSAF Secondary
Surveillance Radar system. So they kicked me off the project, and I spent the
rest of my time there drinking hot sweet tea and reading books.
My Saudi friend Jadi took over the project. He was competent to do so
because he had learned the Japanese language so that he could do his B.S. in
electrical engineering in Japan, and then learned French so that he could do
his M.S. in electrical engineering in France. The problem with Saudi educated
"engineers" is that in Saudi universities, ½ to ⅔ of the course work is Koranic
study; no differential equations. You think I'm joking. I'm not.
In case you don't understand how important this is, you might recall U.S.
Air Force fighters shooting down U.S. Army helicopters in Iraq because the
helicopters had crypto keys from the previous day's crypto-period. That's
what comes of intentionally disobeying safety
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
No, the U.S. Air Force pilots did not get court martialed. Because they were
following U.S. Air Force protocol. Don't let anyone ever tell you that there
is no difference between the branches of service. A Marine fighter pilot would
have flown by to positively identify the target before attacking it. That's why
they wear the camouflage cloth over their helmets, to remind themselves of
who they are, and who they work in support of (the Rifleman, not the general).
When I was in Field Artillery Forward Observer school at Schofield Barracks,
the U.S. Army instructors told us that if we ever needed to call in an air strike,
to make sure we called Marine pilots, because they would fly low and inverted
to positively identify the target before returning to strike it. While the Air Force
pilots would release their ordnance from high altitude, so as not to get shot
down. In the Air Force, losing your aircraft is a career killer. So there was
a good chance the Air Force strike would kill our Forward Observers.
† Radar that pings a transponder on the detected aircraft (detected by the
Primary Surveillance Radar) to elicit an encrypted signal indicating friendly
aircraft. Not a "Friend or Foe" system, because lack of a correct response
only means the probed aircraft doesn't have the transponder, or the transponder
is not working, or the transponder does not have the correct crypto key, or
environmental conditions are interfering, or something else.
So it's a "Friend or Unknown" system.
Assuming that the lack of a correct response indicates an enemy aircraft
is an act of high stupidity. And you will find such stupidity written into
orders promulgated from higher commands. It is your duty to disobey them.
You will also find stupidity at the opposite end of the spectrum. Why do
you think the USS Cole got bombed? Orders from the admiral at 5th Fleet
forbidding the Gunner's Mate from shooting the attacking boat.
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
*************************************************************************
"You can’t truly call yourself 'peaceful'
unless you are capable of great violence.
If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful,
you’re harmless. Important distinction."
-- Stef Starkgaryen
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Email: Jon_Low@yahoo.com
Radio: KI4SDN
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