Greetings Sheepdogs,
Table of Sections:
Prevention
Intervention
Postvention
Education
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Prevention ***** ***** *****
Things you can do to avoid the lethal force incident.
Table of contents:
Mindset
Safety
Training (training to avoid the fight)
Practice (practicing to avoid the fight)
Any self-defense instructor who is not teaching you how to avoid the fight is doing
you a grave disservice.
*************************************************************************
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
"Train and practice so that you can stay in your rational mind,
and force your enemy into his emotional mind. The emotional mind
makes bad judgments which will allow you to win."
-- John Hearne
Hello Jonathan,
Today's Law of Self Defense Show focuses on video of a convenience store
armed robbery in which both the clerk and customer being robbed appear
completely compliant with the robbers' demands.
Despite this compliance, the customer is shot through the head, and the
clerk is gunned down as well, both with apparent fatal results.
This video is an abject lesson that compliance cannot guarantee safety
at the muzzle of a bad guy's gun. So if you find yourself the victim of an
armed robbery, should you simply comply? Should you promptly fight back?
Should you think through that tactical problem TODAY, rather than in the moment?
Stay safe!
--Andrew
Attorney Andrew F. Branca
Law of Self Defense LLC
‟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
"Have your affairs in order."
-- John Hearne
[You must be able to fully focus on the problem at hand. You won't be able to,
if you are worrying about how your family will be taken care of upon your death.
-- Jon Low]
"Montie’s Law of Self-Defense" by Wim Demeere
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
‟Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice.”
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
In the April 2023 issue of "Concealed Carry" magazine, K. L. Jamison writes,
"Skin is an organ. In the course of a scuffle, it will be bruised, scraped or even cut.
These wounds do not cause it to be lost or suffer protracted loss of use.
There is some chance of disfigurement. The possibility of a minor scar has never
been taken as an excuse for deadly force."
You cannot predict when the attack will stop. It might not stop until after you
are dead. Are you so stupid that you will wait before using lethal force to defend
yourself? If you wait, you will be injured and not be able to defend yourself. So
please don't listen to ignorant persons. The use of lethal force does not require
you to suffer any injury. All you need is a reasonable fear of death or serious
injury. You don't even need a scrape. Jamison is steering his readers in the wrong
direction. Don't be deceived.
You never need an "excuse to use deadly force". As if it were something that
you didn't need to use, but rather chose to use, and now you need an "excuse".
Your use of lethal force was forced by the assailant attacking you or your loved ones,
or others you were defending. You had no choice in the matter, and certainly don't
need an excuse for what you did, as you were completely justified in using lethal
force. You only need an excuse if you did something wrong. If you think you did
something wrong, you should confess to the crime of murder and save everyone
a great deal of time and money. The prisons are full of such weak minded persons.
You are not such a person. Death Before Dishonor. Never confess. Maintain
your innocence to the grave. You would never lie by confessing to the crime to
get a lesser sentence or to gain parole. Because you will have to explain that
lie to God.
Why would such a ridiculous article appear in "Concealed Carry" magazine?
USCCA has always had difficulty discriminating between justified self-defense
and criminal homicide. Consider the case of Kayla Giles. Her attorney thought
it was an excellent self-defense case and was eager to take it to trial. But USCCA
pulled the rug out from under her by refusing to pay her attorney and withholding
the money needed for private investigators (to gather exculpatory evidence and
to determine which jurors need to be excused for cause or for other reasons),
expert witnesses, subject matter experts, attorneys for motion practice (all the
pre-trial motions, which really determine who wins or loses at trial), and such.
So she got convicted. Then USCCA claimed that her conviction justified their
refusing to pay legal expenses as they had promised to. Dishonest, disingenuous,
dishonorable. Because she would not have been convicted if she had had the
money for a proper defense. You get as much justice as you can afford in the U.S.
George Zimmerman had only superficial injuries after his encounter with Trayvon
Martin. Yet a jury acquitted Zimmerman of all of the crimes of which he was accused.
Because they understood that you need not suffer any injury before your use of
lethal force. So the author, Jamison, is wrong on many levels. And is doing his
readers a grave disservice.
“Willingness is a state of mind. Readiness is a statement of fact!”
-- Lt. Gen. David M Shoup, USMC Commandant, 1960-1963
"What’s the Plan?
Do you have an emergency something-goes-bump-in-the-night plan?"
by Jo Deering
Elon Musk explains leadership.
‷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
Many instructors teach their students to carry pepper spray or some other
less-than-lethal weapon system. I think this is wrong. Because a can of pepper
spray in your hands (good two handed grip), precludes you having a pistol in your
hands (proper two handed grip for weapon retention and aiming). No, you're
not going to have time to change weapon systems in combat. I have read Hick's
paper, so I believe Hick's Law: "The more decisions you make, the slower you go."
Yes, as a matter of fact, every problem is a nail, until the bad guy leaves. You
have no way of knowing if his attack will stop before your death.
You don't have to shoot him. You don't have to point the pistol at him.
But you must be able to. Pepper spray will never give the effect you desperately need.
Citation --
Hick, W. E. (1952), “On the Rate of Gain of Information”,
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Vol. 4, pages 11-26.
Yes, as a matter of fact, I have thought this through. So should you.
Andrew Branca recommends carrying: a gun, a knife, OC, and learn BJJ.
That is a lot of options, which means a lot of decisions. You're never going
to have enough time to make all those decisions.
Better would be:
Assess situation.
If necessary, present your pistol to target.
If necessary, fire to the navel (Because it moves the least and moves the slowest,
because it is the center of mass of the human body, which gives you the highest
probability of hitting your intended target. John Farnam told me so.)
Minimize decision making and WIN! Remember what John Hearne says,
the cops who shot first, hit 100% of the time.
Yes, I know that some instructors teach to use the pepper spray with your
support-side hand so that you can access your pistol with your firing-side hand.
Suboptimal on many levels. Think about it. Visualize doing this. I bet you can't.
If you can't visualize pepper spray in one hand and a pistol in the other hand,
how much training and practice would it take to become competent, much less
proficient? Be realistic. You're not going to dedicate the time and effort to
become competent at BJJ. Are you going to train and practice enough to be
competent at an obscure technique?
"Jeff Cooper's Color Code exists to help you get your head around the need to
kill someone in the immediate future."
-- John Hearne
"Do I Need A Gun? . . . Well, Do You?" by Clint Smith
"Why should you read this? Because Clint Smith wrote it. The membership
requirements for being a “gun guy” or “gun girl” consist of reading every
Clint Smith article you can find."
-- Greg Ellifritz
***** Situational Awareness *****
How to avoid being taken by surprise.
Nick J. Freitas explains why you need to be able to project dangerousness
to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Joe Gaines, retired Davidson County Sheriff's Office and colleague at work,
told me of a Sgt. in his department who brought in a frequent flier for booking.
Having arrested this frequent flier hundreds of times before, he neglected to
thoroughly search the frequent flier. Upon exiting the car in the booking area,
the frequent flier shot the Sgt. several times with a pistol.
Complacency kills. Stay vigilant. Execute protocols. No matter how
monotonous.
“ ‘Foolishness’ is more than just being stupid. It is that deadly combination
of arrogance and ignorance.”
-- Paul D. Tripp
---
“Cultural Lag” by John Farnam
Excerpt:
I don’t “honor” George Washington by carrying a flintlock!
George Washington’s period weapons now properly reside in museums,
while modern Americans carry modern weapons, and adhere to modern
weapon protocols.
"Situational Awareness Tips & Drills" by Ken J.
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
In the comments section --
Dennis says:
Situational Awareness works both ways. For both the potential victim
and the potential aggressor.
My son and I were in the largest city in our state to attend
a sporting event. We were approaching the entrance to our hotel from the
parking lot. An older model car with two young women pull into the
parking lot and parked in a space just passed us, rolled down a window,
waved at us and asked if we could help them. I had noticed that the car
had a “donut” type spare tire on the right front as they had driven in.
The girls ask if we could please change their tire on the front with the
“new” one in their trunk. At about the same time, I observed a second
car pull into the parking lot and park about three spaces down, driven
by a couple of meth head looking young men in their twenties. Thinking
we were being “set up” for a robbery, I stepped back a couple of paces
and told the women that my son would be glad to help them, while
I watched. My hand slid into my pocket, resting on my, you guessed it,
Ruger LCP. I alternately looked between the young women’s car and
the car carrying their accomplices that had followed them in. The woman
driver observed what I was doing, looked at the other car with the young
men, then started the car and took off, leaving my son standing at the rear
waiting for her to open the trunk. The other car followed them out of the
parking lot. Their plans obviously foiled, not worth the possible risk.
I recognized the possible intent, they recognized my awareness and
resolve. They chose to find an easier victim(s).
"Understanding Bad Guys: A Psychological Endeavor With Ross Hick (part 1)"
"Understanding Bad Guys: A Psychological Endeavor With Ross Hick (part 2)"
"Understanding Bad Guys: A Psychological Endeavor With Ross Hick (Final Part)"
“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.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER
UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
"Understanding Reactionary Zones
More room gives you more options when things get weird.
by Shelley Hill
‟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, "Principles of Personal Defense"
"Gun Safety: What Are Misfires/Hangfires?
These terms have made it into popular slang,
but they're potentially dangerous events.
Here's how to spot them, and what to do."
by NRA Staff
The criminal predators know who you are. Take precautions.
"Over 100 handguns stolen from Michigan vendor
2 suspects arrested in Dunham's Sports heist in Benton Harbor, MI"
by Associated Press
Comments by Stephen P. Wenger --
At least the manager was not killed; it's unclear whether he was armed when he
was accosted. A few decades ago, a classmate from my NRA-LEAD Firearms
Instructor Development School was killed as he unlocked the door of the range
where he worked by gangbangers who proceeded to steal the range's rental guns.
Several years ago, a Utah man known to be a gun collector, answered his door
unarmed, was taken at gunpoint and forced to open his safe, after which he was
killed and his entire collection stolen.
"15-year-old charged in deadly quintuple shooting at north Tulsa home"
by KJRH Digital
Comments by Stephen P. Wenger --
This tragic story offers a few lessons. Know whom you invite into your home.
Once you've persuaded unwelcome visitors to leave, don't follow them out of
the home unless you feel that they may attempt an attack such as arson from
outside. Just because you've got a rifle does not mean that you can't be shot
with a handgun. If you are forced to engage multiple threats, engage the ones
posing the most immediate threats in that order and don't stand in one place
while doing so. Make use of any available cover or concealment. While the
latter may not stop bullets, it can gain you time and obscure your subsequent
movement.
"Home Defense with Tom Givens" by Shawn Vincent
Excerpts:
"In many of the high-profile home defense cases we have explored,
untrained home defenders seem drawn to confront the intruder at the
front door. This is almost always a mistake. Some are tempted to open
the door and confront the intruder outside where they lose both the
tactical and legal advantages of being a home defender. Others lose
their nerve and fire through the closed door – before the intruder legally
posed an imminent threat. In these cases, the defenders often find
themselves in legal hot water. Some wait at the door and wait until the
intruder breaches before firing, and although they face less legal
scrutiny than those who exit the house or fire through the door,
these defenders have sacrificed the tactical advantage they could
have gained by taking a more defensive position deeper in the home."
“If you’re concerned with someone breaching the front door,”
Tom says, “why the hell would you go to the front door?
Go somewhere in a corner and cover it. If somebody comes
through it, you dominate that space.”
Tom is an advocate for having what he calls “pre-made decisions.”
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:
Don’t go to stupid places.
Don’t associate with stupid people.
Don’t do stupid things.
Be in bed by 10:00 PM. (Your own bed!)
Don’t look like a freak.
Don’t fail the attitude test.
*************************************************************************
----- Training (figuring out the correct tasks to practice) -----
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)
[I had a conversation with a fellow shooter. In less than an hour of friendly
conversation I mentioned 3 things that he believed that thought were false.
So we will both be doing some research and getting back together in the
future to discuss our findings. So, when Claude says,
"Much of what you know is false.", he is speaking truth.
-- Jon Low]
--- Start of Classes ---
"Understanding the Terrain:
An Overview of Brain-Based Tactical Training Design (2 Day Version)"
by Dustin P. Salomon
Cost: $325 (Includes Range Fee)
Location & Date: St. Cloud, MN (Location TBA), April 1-2, 2024
PROGRAM IS LIMITED TO 24 PARTICIPANTS.
PRIORITY GIVEN TO ACTIVE LE/MIL INSTRUCTORS AND POLICY MAKERS.
This seminar is POST certified by the State of Minnesota for 11 credit hours.
Course Number: 10670-00001
Tom Givens' classes
My son and I are going to attend the
"Protective Pistolcraft Instructor Development Course"
June 19, 2024 · 9am - June 23, 2024 · 6pm EDT
Apache Solutions LLC
5239 US 601 HWY Yadkinville, NC 27055
"Practical Performance Class Overview" by Tim Herron
I took a class from Tim at a Tac Con a few years ago. I recommend.
I took John Hearne's class,
"Who Wins, Who Loses, & Why:
Understanding Human Performance When Death Is On The Line"
John passed out a binder at the beginning of class, which made taking notes
and discussions much easier. Excellent andragogy! This was a super nerdy
class with deep dives into psychology and vision / neuro science.
Some of the things I learned:
Bottom Line Up Front -- Eat rib eyes and take naps.
Skydive. Climb rocks. Race motorcycles.
Overlearned skills are fundamentally different.
No one can multi-task. A person can only work on one task at a time.
The person just switches between tasks that the person is working on.
[Exactly the same for computers. -- Jon Low]
4 levels of learned skills:
Untrained
Adequately learned
Adequately learned and refreshed properly
Overlearned.
If you overlearn a skill, you will use less muscle energy to execute the skill.
If you want to win in combat, turn into the guns. (As opposed to running away
from the guns.)
Train and practice so that you can stay in your rational mind, and force your
enemy into his emotional mind. The emotional mind makes bad judgments
which will allow you to win.
Do you have what it takes? You should be able to answer YES! to the
following questions.
Are you a competitive shooter?
Have you competed in major matches and placed and won awards?
Can you perform well under pressure or fear?
Are you a hunter? Have you shot big game?
Do you like outdoor physical sports? (participant, not spectator)
Do you collect firearms? Do you reload ammo?
If you are over 28, are you married? Do you have children?
Do you like people? Do you attend civic affairs?
Lessons learned: shoot first. Police officers who shot first, hit their target
100% of the time.
Recognition Primed Decision Making. Combat should not be the first time
you've seen this scenario. You must have experienced a similar scenario in training.
[Experiencing a similar scenario in previous combat counts too. But we would
like to give the student the experience without the danger of combat. -- Jon Low]
How to improve? Proper exercise, nutrition, hydration, good sleep, breathing
exercises. [This means daily exercise, not to the point of hurting yourself.
Reading labels so that you don't eat junk (High fructose corn syrup is not food.
Artificial sweeteners are not food. Preservatives are not food. Etc.).
Large volumes of clear urine, always. If your urine is yellow, you are WRONG.
Going to sleep early enough, such that you never need an alarm to wake you up,
the sun never wakes you up.
4 second inhale, 4 second hold, 4 second exhale, 4 second hold at the respiratory
pause. Repeat until calm. -- Jon Low]
The typical self-defense incident is relatively simple. The church shooter
incident is complex. Church security teams need lots of training and practice.
The modern police department will fire you after 3 justified shootings. They
just don't want such persons in the department. So, none of the officers have
the combat experience necessary to operate competently in combat. Note that
this is the opposite of military infantry units, especially the special forces units.
The presence of a partner is only positive when the officer believes that his
partner is competent.
Interest in firearms will prevent you from being hired as a police officer.
Shooting a firearm well is an unnatural act. [TRUTH! ABSOLUTE TRUTH!
People who think otherwise are delusional. -- Jon Low]
Jeff Cooper's Color Code exists to help you get your head around the need to
kill someone in the immediate future.
Use your sights. People who teach "point shooting" (not using your sights)
are WRONG!
Having read
Hick, W. E. (1952), “On the Rate of Gain of Information”,
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Vol. 4, p11-26.
from which we have
Hick’s Law: "Reaction time increases with the number of choices."
I took exception to John's interpretation of Hick's conclusions. John cites
Richard Schmidt, "Motor Control And Learning: A Behavioral Emphasis",
Second Edition (1988), Page 85
and
Robert Proctor, "Skill Acquisition and Human Performance", (1994), page 74.
I wrote to John about this, but haven't received a response yet.
My conclusion is -- always clear your concealment garment the same way
(no matter what garment you are wearing),
always wear your equipment in the same place,
always execute immediate action when the gun fails to fire
(It will be obvious when something else needs to be done.),
always shoot to the center of mass of whatever the available target is.
Thinking takes time, which slows you down. So all thinking in your weapon
system that can be eliminated, should be eliminated. This leaves more mental
bandwidth for tactical thinking, which is outside your weapon system.
"Training once a year is not a viable mode of learning . . ."
-- Dr. Darrell Ross
Force Science Newsletter 75
If you dry practice twice a week, it's never more than 3.5 days since you've
worked the gun.
Live fire every 30 days, even a small amount, seems hugely beneficial.
People rust faster than equipment.
Factor most likely to affect the retention of a motor skill:
The last time the skill was practiced.
Avoid carrying a gun in public without a collard shirt. (People will judge you.
No matter what the Apostle Matthew commands. No matter what the liberals say.
Humans judge other humans. That's reality. -- Jon Low)
Shooting quickly in a staged environment under no stress does not make you
tactically proficient.
Standards for police officers in the U.S. have been lowered to the point of being
meaningless. For instance, 1.5 mile run in 30 minutes. (That's 3 miles per hour.
An able bodied human can leisurely walk 3 mph.) [By comparison, the Marine
Corps requires a 3 mile run in 21 minutes (8.6 mph), as in you get kicked out
of the Marine Corps if you don't make the time. (That was the standard when
I went through recruit training in 1981.) -- Jon Low]
Sooner is better than faster.
[My friend Audy Kimura took a class from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's
Department many years ago, in which they taught "Break leather early."
Meaning, don't rely on your quick draw. Get you gun out before you need to.
-- Jon Low]
You get strong when you sleep, not when you exercise.
You must teach skill sustainment as part of training.
Have your affairs in order. [You must be able to fully focus on the problem
at hand. You won't be able to, if you are worrying about how your family will
be taken care of after your death. -- Jon Low]
You should have a rectangular front sight in a rectangular rear sight window.
[Circles and squares (or other shape combinations) don't make sense. And don't
work in high stress situations. -- Jon Low]
--- End of Classes ---
“Take training from different instructors.
We are all wrong about something.”
-- John Farnam
"Trained vs. Taught" by SLG
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
“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
"Adaptive Shooting Techniques:
Nick on Wheelchair Shooting Techniques on Christian Warrior Training"
by Christian Warrior Training
Beware of pressure sores.
Concealment.
Shooting while moving, no bouncing as a walking person would.
Smooth as long as you're not on gravel.
Get training before you carry.
---
Suggestions from Craft Holsters for mounting to a wheelchair --
Hey Jon!
Good to hear from you again after such a long time!
Jon, we've recently added these 2 holsters that fall under the category
of "bicycle holsters" -
While I know it's not exactly what you're looking for,
I think it's the closest to a wheelchair solution we can offer right now.
I'm not quite sure if they can be mounted on just any wheelchair,
but they're worth a try.
The only other thing we've recently added that might work is this
magnetic gun mount -
provided one can find a way to fix it to the wheelchair
(it would require some handiwork I guess). Unfortunately,
the mounting screws are not a part of the packaging,
but I can ask around if we can get you some.
Stay safe!
Best regards,
Al
Feedback Guy at Craft Holsters
Cyber Monday: 30% OFF - Code: CYBER30
---
Suggestions from Falco Holsters for mounting to a wheelchair --
Hi Jonathan,
We do not have a standard product for this, however, we have developed
a wheelchair holster for a customer in the past and will be happy to assist you.
My colleague Veronika
Veronika Mojžišová
Email: veronika.mojzisova@falcoholsters.com
will go over your requirements and specifications with you.
A simple drawing of what the holster should look like and
where you would like to mount it will help us a lot.
The one we manufactured in the past was mounted in between
the armrest and the body.
All the best,
Katarína Zacharová
VP of Sales & Marketing
Phone: (800) 490-7147 ext.KAT (528)
EU: +421 901 709 612
Email: katarina.zacharova@falcoholsters.com
---
Suggestions from Galco Holsters for mounting on a wheelchair --
Hello Jonathan,
Thank you for reaching out to us. Unfortunately we do not have
holsters that will mount to a wheelchair. Most of our customers that
are in a wheelchair tend to use the Fastrax Waistpack. The link below
will take you to it.
Have a great day,
Kris Wall | Consumer Sales Representative
623.434.7070 X1006
customerservice@galcousa.com
2019 W. Quail AVE
Phoenix Arizona 85027
---
Other holster manufacturers did not respond.
"Safe gun handling and knowing how to operate the gun competently is one thing.
How to fight with the gun is a whole other plane of knowledge."
-- Tiger McKee
"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
Do not give verbal warnings, you will lose the element of surprise.
To quote Tuco from “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”,
“When you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk.”
We are not police. We have no obligation to give a verbal warning.
If you waste time saying, “Halt! Military Police.” You’ve given the enemy 7 syllables,
enough time for him to shoot you several times. The way human brains are set up,
talking is a high order intellectual activity. It’s almost impossible to talk and shoot
at the same time. But it’s easy to get punched, shot, or stabbed while talking.
‟Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice.”
-- Claude Werner
And practice is the preparation for combat. Self-defense is combat.
*************************************************************************
----- Practice (how to get competent at that task) -----
"People rust faster than equipment."
-- John Hearne
"What about the such and such" by Ben Stoeger
You don't need all this shit. Just dry practice with your real equipment.
Spending money on gear might make you feel good, but it's no substitute
for practicing.
“Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans.”
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
‶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
Excerpt from an email from Mike Ox --
(edited so that the excerpt will make sense)
When it comes time to shoot, shooting is a critical skill.
But there are several things besides shooting that are more
important in a gunfight: the "pre-fight", the "fight", and the
"post-fight" skills.
Pre-fight -
Awareness is more important than shooting.
Accurately assessing threats is more important than shooting.
Avoidance is more important than shooting.
Deterrence is more important than shooting.
All of these can prevent you from even needing to shoot.
Fight -
Did you accurately determine that you needed to shoot?
Did you keep shooting after the threat was stopped?
Did you re-holster only to have the threat "re-animate"?
Post-fight -
Did your interaction with 911 or law enforcement turn
justified self-defense into legal jeopardy?
[No, you don't have to explain what happened. No, you
don't have to tell your side of the story. YOU must keep
your mouth shut! If you think you are articulate and intelligent,
you are WRONG! Just as protestations of love are meaningless
during and after orgasm, so declarations of "truth" are nonsense
after a high stress lethal encounter. Because you will have false
memories, amnesia, warped perceptions, time distortion,
distance distortion, tachypsychia effect, tunnel vision (so there
are all kinds of things that you didn't see), auditory exclusion
(so there are all kinds of things you didn't hear), et al. If you
think your experience, training, and practice puts you above
all that, you are a damn fool. -- Jon Low]
Have a conscious plan, not just a subconscious reaction.
What will I do if a bad guy enters that door?
What will I do if someone tries to rob the cashier?
Etc.
Have your plan in mind before you move.
"You win gunfights by not getting shot."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Tactics (maneuver and fire in support of your strategy) -----
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, Escape
"Your Tactical Training Scenario- A Weapon in Each Hand" by Greg Ellifritz
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"Attempted Home Invasion in LA" by The Tactical Professor
You're not a cop. Don't chase the bad guy. Once the bad guy flees, you WIN!
Go back inside your house, lock the door, and call 911. Because you've WON!
Chasing the bad guy is a path to losing.
“Fortuitous outcomes reinforce poor tactics.”
-- Chuck Haggard
Cover refers to anything that prevents a bullet from hitting you.
Concealment refers to anything that will prevent the enemy from seeing you.
". . . one of the first principles we want to apply for using cover is to create
distance between our body and the objects we are using for protection. This
reduces the danger of being injured by fragmentation and debris."
"Another advantage of having distance from cover is that it widens your
field of view, allowing you to see more of the threat environment."
"If possible, you always want to work around the side of an object, which
exposes less of your body to the threat, as opposed to working over the top,
which presents the threat with a full view of your head."
-- Tiger McKee
When Mr. McKee says fragmentation, he is referring to spalling.
When the bullet hits one side of the barrier, it may cause fragments
of the barrier to blow off the other side (even if the bullet does not
penetrate the barrier). This is common with armor plates.
When shooting from cover, shoot at whatever first becomes visible to you,
e.g., a foot, an elbow, etc. The idea is to shoot the enemy without exposing
yourself. You don't need to get a center-of-mass shot. Shooting his elbow or
foot may be enough to make him stop the attack. You win fights by minimizing
your injury. What happens to the enemy is incidental to your purpose of
stopping the attack. (Thanks to John Holschen.)
"Shooting quickly in a staged environment under no stress
does not make you tactically proficient."
-- John Hearne
"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
"Getting out in front" by Ben Stoeger
"Following Through: A Shooting Fundamental" by Richard Nance
"The Walking Wounded" by John T Grohn
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
"If you get injured, you need to adjust your thinking — and hardware — to make do."
"Press the trigger smoothly" by the Tactical Professor
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"How Far To Extend Your Arms?" by Karl Rehn
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
When you reach the limit of your range of motion, you'll find yourself
bending your elbows and automatically going into a left or right handed
Chapman modification of the Weaver position to get that target from that
awkward position. If you've practiced.
"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
Medical
Survival
*************************************************************************
----- Aftermath (You must be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.) -----
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him,
but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton
"Self-Defense: The Post-Incident Environment" by John Murphy
You must hire your own private investigators.
The police will not investigate for you.
The police will lie to you. The U.S. Supreme Court says it's okay.
Keep your mouth shut.
Buy local. In the context of hiring your attorney.
35% closure rate on homicides.
The prosecution can "lose" the 911 recording. Happens all the time.
In the right hand column, click on the link labeled "Self Defense Insurance".
Or, the direct link is,
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
"Project: Contacting Self Defense Liability Providers Post Event"
by Paul T. Martin
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
---
"So You've Decided to Purchase Self Defense Liability Protection"
by Paul T. Martin
---
"SELF DEFENSE LIABILITY PRODUCTS – WHAT ARE THEY,
HOW DO THEY WORK, AND HOW DO I KNOW
WHICH PROGRAM IS BEST FOR ME?"
by PAUL T. MARTIN
---
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
In the right hand column of this web page, click on "Never Talk To The Police"
or use the direct address
Do you have to call 911? No, the question is, "should you call 911?"
“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
*************************************************************************
----- Medical -----
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
*************************************************************************
----- Survival -----
"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
"Ubiquitous Battlefield!" by John Farnam
Excerpt:
Israel’s National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, didn’t mince words:
“This event proves, once again, how much we must not show weakness;
how much we should talk to Hamas only through a gunsight, only through war.
My stance about this ‘ceasefire’ is known: Hamas must not be allowed to
speak to us with two voices.”
Ben-Gvir then makes this pregnant point:
“Despite criticism from various people, I will continue my policy of distributing
weapons everywhere, both to emergency response teams and to civilians.
Guns save lives! We see it time after time. In every place where there is a
weapon, civilians, police officers, and soldiers save lives.
Police cannot be everywhere, which is why civilians need guns.”
From an email from Jason Hanson --
The following is from my CIA buddy about the 3 types of people when it
comes to surviving an economic meltdown.
There are some very important lessons here . . .
---
I was sent to the Philippines back in the mid-1980s. The tyrant,
Ferdinand Marcos, was in power at the time. He’d been in power for about
twenty years and he was gradually destroying the economy and the political
system. In the last few years, it accelerated, right up until 1986 when he
was overthrown.
This seems all too familiar to me when thinking about the chain of events
occurring in America’s economy today . . .
What I got to see during those years before Marcos was removed was
the different ways people prepared for what was about to happen. I could
see what I would call 3 different categories of paradigm. Those paradigms
wound up determining whether people were unphased, basically starved or
just didn’t make it through the economic collapse at all.
The ones that wound up starving I would call the mindless and
unprepared group. They were the group of people that had seen and heard
all the signs of what was going to happen, but refused to think it could
happen to them. And so, they decided to do nothing and didn’t make any
preparations.
In the Philippines at the time, they ate dog meat the way we consume
beef or pork on a regular basis. For those who survived, all they were
trying to do was make sure they had dog meat on their plate.
The next category of people was the nervous group or the observers.
These people would observe their friends investing in a stockpile of food
or having a reserve of water, but not doing it themselves. In other words,
these people watched, but didn’t take any real action. They didn’t gather
any preparedness supplies even though they witnessed others stocking up.
Lastly, there was the group of people I would categorize as the
intelligently prepared. They seemed almost unphased by it. Their daily
lives didn’t change much. They didn’t have to worry about food or water.
They had seen this coming and they had a long-range view. In other words,
they were the smart ones who prepared well in advance and had a good
amount of gear and other supplies.
I think the big problem in America right now is that we have way too
many people preparing for an economic recovery . . .
Many people still don’t think anything truly bad is going to happen long-term.
They foolishly think the government is going to save them. They have not
properly prepared and don’t have a long-range view. This is a massive
mistake that is going to cost a lot of lives and I don’t want you to be one
of them.
. . .
Stay safe,
Jason Hanson
[The elites are destroying our economy, because they think that when
the dust settles, they will be on top. Let us ensure their error. -- Jon Low]
"FBI Agent CARJACKED in DC!" by Guns & Gadgets
Isn't the FBI Special Agent's job to stop crime? Armed and trained, but
lacking the balls / courage / will to fight. He'll probably get promoted.
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Education ***** ***** *****
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
Rangemaster DECEMBER 2023 NEWSLETTER
Excerpt:
It has been reported that several of the dead charged the gunman in an attempt
to stop the carnage. They were shot down. One has to applaud their courage,
but if only one of them had the sense to be armed a number of lives might have
been spared. So, they had the balls but not the equipment. Without the equipment,
the balls are useless. Without the balls, the equipment is useless.
Balls + equipment = success.
All thirty of these adults abdicated their responsibility as a spouse, a parent, and
a citizen. Be armed.
---
Read the article on "INTERACTING WITH THE MENTALLY ILL"
---
Tom recommends this article,
"One-Handed Shooting: Your Life May Depend On It"
by Dave Anderson
Civilian Marksmanship Program announced a partnership with Locton Affinity.
Through a new partnership with Lockton Affinity Outdoor, clubs and members
of the CMP community may now access a wide range of affordable insurance
solutions to protect themselves and their firearm property.
Starting as low as $50 per year, coverage with Lockton Affinity Outdoor
helps protect against loss to personal items, property damage, third-party
injuries and more.
Products include:
Firearm Insurance to protect your firearm property and accessories
Personal Firearm Liability Insurance to protect your personal assets
Firearm Instructor Insurance to protect your livelihood and reputation
Club Insurance to protect your property and on-site injuries
See all the available plan opportunities at
About Lockton Affinity Outdoor:
Lockton Affinity Outdoor offers best-in-class insurance protection that’s
tailor-made for outdoor enthusiasts. The company has more than 20 years
of industry experience and is currently trusted by over 5,000 clubs –
protecting $300 million worth of firearms around the country.
Whatever your outdoor needs, Lockton Affinity Outdoor has an insurance
solution to suit. Learn more at
Not available in all states.
"Weekend Knowledge Dump- December 1, 2023" by Greg Ellifritz
"Moment four female Chicago police officers spend three minutes
trying to arrest 'shoplifter' who easily escaped . . . as commenters'
claim the women's WEIGHT stopped them performing their duties
Video shows the attempted arrest by four Chicago police officers of one man
Despite being outnumbered, the suspect is able to flee the scene
Social media commenters are questioning the police fitness standards"
by Rachel Bowman
Comments by Greg Ellifritz --
I’ve commented extensively about the problems with contemporary
American policing. This video illustrates the primary issues.
– No one wants to be a cop in this political environment.
The good cops who have other career options are taking
other jobs and retiring at an unprecedented rate.
– Many candidates applying for new cop jobs are folks who would
have been judged unsuitable and passed over just 5-10 years ago.
Now departments have to hire them because they need bodies.
– Fitness and performance standards have been relaxed because
departments need more officers.
– Training has been radically decreased nationwide. With the huge
personnel shortages, cops are needed to work patrol shifts.
Departments can’t pull them off the streets to do training.
Combine these factors with activist prosecutors and police
administrators trying to discipline or criminally charge officers
who conduct legal arrests using reasonable force that merely
have “bad optics.”
The result is that you get unfit and untrained officers who are
hesitant to act. Maybe not such a big deal in a shoplifting arrest,
but remember, these are the same cops who will be responding
to your 911 call or when you kid’s school is getting shot up.
The problem is only going to get worse. You’d best prepare
to take care of yourself.
-- Greg Ellifritz
"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
"BREAKING:
FEDERAL COURT RULES 18-20 year old FIREARM BAN . . .
UNCONSTITUTIONAL!" by Langley Outdoors
"I have asserted the right of Negroes to meet the violence of the Ku Klux Klan
by armed self-defense – and have acted on it. It has always been an accepted right
of Americans, as the history of our Western states proves, that where the law is
unable, or unwilling, to enforce order, the citizens can, and must act in self-defense
against lawless violence."
Excerpt from "Negroes with Guns" by Robert Franklin Williams, first published in 1962.
ISBN-10: 0814327141
ISBN-13: 978-0814327142
Mr. Williams was a U.S. Marine and a World War II veteran.
Mr. Williams received a charter from the National Rifle Association in 1957
and founded the Black Armed Guard. (NRA charters were a way to get around
the gun control laws of the times.)
"A Well-Outfitted Militia: German Translation of the Second Amendment Offers Insight"
by Ranjit Singh
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
Primary source,
"A Well-Outfitted Militia:
German–American Translations of the Second Amendment and
Original Public Meaning" by Brandon Kinney
American Journal of Legal History, Volume 62, Issue 3, September 2022,
Pages 237–261,
Published: 26 September 2022
---
"Some historically minded list members may recall the 1886 case of Presser v. Illinois,
in which SCOTUS ruled in favor of the state's “collective” interpretation of Amendment II:
“Unless restrained by their own constitutions, state legislatures may enact statutes to
control and regulate all organizations, drilling, and parading of military bodies and
associations except those which are authorized by the militia laws of the United States.”
Per Wikipedia: “Herman Presser was part of a citizen militia group, the Lehr und Wehr
Verein (Instruct and Defend Association), a group of armed ethnic German workers,
associated with the Socialist Labor Party. The group had been formed to counter the
armed private armies of companies in Chicago.” "
-- Stephen P. Wenger
"Law of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca (free book, just pay shipping)
"NYS [New York State]" by John Farnam
Don't let this happen in your state.
"The 5 Elements of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca (free of charge)
"Know WHEN Disparity of Numbers Equals DEADLY FORCE!"
by Andrew Branca
The real lesson is, don't send your kids to government schools.
The criminal students are never expelled. So they are always there
to beat and kill your kids. Just as criminal repeat offenders are let
loose in our society by the government to prey on us.
Protect your loved ones. Home school. Private school.
Public schools are a historically recent creation of the communist
state. Avoid them at all cost. The way things are, is not the way
they have always been. Private schools and church schools was
the norm in the United States of America before the explosion of
government, that came with the people foolishly passing a
Constitutional amendment allowing the government to tax the
people's income. May the persons who voted for the 16th
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forever rot in hell.
"Defenders Punished, as Criminals Go Free!" by Andrew Branca
Lesson learned: stay out of Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY.
(And all other such cities.) It is that simple.
"Analyzing the NYC Hallway Shooting:
When Self-Defense Turns Into Murder"
by Attorneys On Retainer
Detailed analysis.
“Your character is what you do when no one is looking.”
-- Thomas Jefferson
Honorable persons don't lie. Not to get a lesser sentence. Not to avoid a
potentially long prison sentence. Not to get out on parole.
To get a plea deal, you have to confess to a lesser offense. If you are innocent,
that is a lie.
To get parole, you have to confess to the crime that you were convicted of and
accept responsibility for the crime. If you are innocent, that is a lie.
Some people have sworn, "Death Before Dishonor". Some don't know what the
words mean.
I have been told by elders, you need to avoid prison because you have
a duty to take care of your wife and kids. That is true. You must decide.
Welcome to reality.
---
"Personal-Protection Practices: Does It Work for You?"
by John Johnston
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
"For everyone involved, it's important to remember that this will be a lifelong
journey for those who choose to pursue it. If you are growing and developing,
there are going to be ideas and thoughts that you abandon along the way.
The trick is to be constantly working to improve your practice,
educate yourself and be mindful of the path."
"Los Angeles Citizen’s CCW Taken Away" by the Tactical Professor
If you've used your pistol in self-defense and defense of your loved ones,
for heaven's sake, keep your mouth shut! Talking to the responding officers
is stupid. Talking to the media is criminal stupidity.
"THIS Is When You Can Legally SHOOT FIRST!"
by Andrew Branca, Law of Self Defense
If you are justified in shooting, you are justified in shooting first and should.
As John Hearne says, cops who shot first hit 100% of the time. (Cops who
did not shoot first, often expended multiple magazines without hitting the intended
target. That's just reality.) Always better to shoot first. Preemptive strikes are
part of self-defense. You are preventing the attack, which is legal.
"When Police Come A-Knocking: Dealing With Police At Your Door"
by Docent
"Armed robber shot . . .
Family furious that the store was supposed to be a "gun free" zone . . .
SERIOUSLY" by Langley Outdoors
More evidence that gun-free-zones are intentional creations of the liberals
to debilitate law-abiding-citizens and empower criminals. The family of the
armed robber is angry that the store clerk had a pistol in a gun-free-zone.
These people are not a small minority. They elected Brandon.
“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
"You must teach skill sustainment as part of training."
-- John Hearne
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
“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 -----
And the safe storage thereof.
"Weapon Lights on Handguns: Essential or Unnecessary?" by Dave Spaulding
Excerpts:
"Oftentimes, the beam will have a very bright center and that is where
the high output is measured. I prefer a beam that is wider so I get the
greatest field of view to look for additional threats. I tested a light a few
months back that had such a bright “hot spot” in the middle of the beam
that is was actually distracting! My eyes were pulled to the center of the
beam, which is not good when one needs to scan as wide a field as
possible for potential threats."
---
"Why You Need a Good Tactical Flashlight" by Richard Johnson
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
---
Press on, release off. Anything more complicated than that is WRONG!
When you press on, you should get maximum brightness. Anything else
is wrong. If you can blind the guy, you might not have to shoot him. That's
a big win for you.
Get a rechargeable battery for your flashlight. The disposable batteries
will bankrupt you. Rechargeable batteries are available to replace the
CR-123 batteries in your flashlight. You plug the battery into a mini USB
cable to recharge it.
"Set It & Forget It" by Erick Gelhaus
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
"Accuracy!" by John Farnam
Excerpt:
"Our serious rifles are there to “impress” our enemies, not our friends!"
"The Best Coat Pocket Defensive Pistols" by Greg Ellifritz
Comments by Stephen P. Wenger --
Ellifritz spends time detailing why a lightweight gun may be more suitable for
carry in a coat pocket, to which I add that, unless yo so carry a gun on each side,
a gun in the pocket of a loose coat may cause visible sagging on that side.
Scoring reliable hits beyond bad-breath range with the gun still in the pocket
is a major challenge and, even at distances of one or two yards, I urge you to
practice shooting from the enhanced quarter-hip/protected-gun position
described and illustrated in my book [free download on my own website,
linked below, in the signature block. My website's Handgun Selection page
also contains several of my own views on pocket guns.
]. Further, while I can envision firing the first shot or two with the gun
inside the pocket, I would hope that doing so would buy you enough time
and space to draw the gun for any additional shots that might be required.
Ellifritz is known, in part, for arguing that most criminals “don't like to leak”
and will desist on taking the first gunshot, regardless of caliber, hence
his recommendation of the .22 LR round. If you choose to take that advice,
if only for the greater capacity in a revolver, I have two more comments:
First, rimfire revolvers require heavier hammer springs that those that can
be trusted for reliable ignition in centerfire revolvers.
Second, gelatin testing suggests that so-called “hypervelocity” hollowpoint
loads [e.g., CCI Velocitor, Remington Yellowjacket, etc.] are the best
choices for defensive use in handguns.
A Point That I Overlooked Recently: In the discussion of shooting
while the gun is still inside the pocket, I neglected to point out that this
would require that the the gun be pocketed without a holster covering
the trigger guard, a practice that I [Stephen P. Wenger] discourage.
"Concealed Carry Corner: Concealed Carry In A Vehicle" by Vladimir Onokoy
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"Handguns And Holsters For Concealed Carry" by Clint Smith
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"In this article, we define what EDC is really about:
matching your ability and equipment in a way that makes you always an asset."
by ISG Team
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
The title is make and model specific, but the results are not.
"Fixing Failures with the Sig P365-380"
by Chris Baker
Chris has done the experiments and high speed videos. Take advantage
of his work to ensure your pistol cycles and ejects reliably.
Falco Holsters
Perry Suspenders
Ruf-N-Tuf
Discount code: BLACKFRIDAY
ETS, 20% off sitewide,
Discount code: ETSBLACK
Speed loader,
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those with small hands, or short trigger fingers, or weak hands and arms,
Walther PDP F-Series, MSRP $699. Striker action.
M&P® SHIELD™ EZ®, Striker action.
The Remington RP, $349.00. Striker action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pistols for small hands: (in order of grip girth from small to big,
in order of pull length from small to big)
Sig P365XL (the grip is long enough to allow all fingers on the grip
without a magazine grip extension. The regular P365 grip is too short.)
Walther PDP F series
Glock 48, like the Glock 43 but with a longer barrel
Glock 43
Smith&Wesson Military & Police Shield EZ
Ruger LCP Max (this has a longer grip allowing you to get all of your fingers
on the grip, the regular LCP grip is too short)
* If the grip is too short, you will pinch your hand between the grip
and the magazine when reloading. And you need the little finger of your
support side hand on the grip for the torque to prevent muzzle flip. *
================================================
Ambidextrous pistols:
Because, being right handed doesn't mean you're going to be right handed in combat.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following are truly ambidextrous --
Springfield Armory, XDM Elite
Striker action. ~$653 MSRP.
FN (Fabrique Nationale Herstal), 509 and others
Double action / single action. MSRP: $719.00.
The H&K (Heckler & Koch), VP9
Striker action. Retails for around $600.00.
Ruger, American
Striker action. MSRP:$669.00.
Global Ordnance, Arex Delta Generation 2M
Striker action. MSRP $535.
IWI (Israeli Weapon Industries), MASADA
Standard version,
Tactical version,
Striker action. MSRP $480.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following has an ambidextrous magazine release, but not ambidextrous slide stop --
The Springfield Armory XD type pistols.
Striker action. MSRP $440 - $568.
Louis Awerbuck recommended the XD in 45 ACP. That's why I use it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following have ambidextrous slide stops, but not ambidextrous magazine releases --
(being able to move the magazine release to the other side is not the same as being
ambidextrous)
The latest Glocks. ~$600 to $700. Striker action.
The latest Walthers. MSRP: $649. Striker action.
The S&W M&P's. MSRP: $ 665. Striker action.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've been working on a set of gear for a client and I've found that Bianchi
holsters are very well made.
"Clark Armory 9mm Luger 69gr ARX Preferred Defense - 20 Round Box"
by Clark Armory
FREE SHIPPING ORDERS OVER $99
use code NOVSHIP02 at checkout
---
"Fluted Ammo: Great Or Gimmik?
A Different Spin On Defense Bullets"
by David Freeman
For some nice pictures of the bullets.
"Tested: The PolyCase ARX Bullet" by B. Gil Horman
For some nice pictures of the bullets after impact.
"9mm ARX Inceptor 65gr Clear Ballistics Gel Test!" by The Gun Dungeon
Gelatin test of a 65 grain bullet, no bullet expansion.
"Self-Defense Ammo: Ballistic Gel Test Update" by Chris Baker
The video of the gelatin test starts at ~4:00.
"Plastic Bullets?!? 9mm And .45 ARX Inceptor REAL Ballistic Gelatin Test!"
by The Chopping Block
"The Budget EDC Pistol Buyer’s Guide" by Patrick Sweeney
As long as it is reliable, cheap is okay.
"Understanding Defensive Handgun Bullets" by Philip Massaro
Galco Holsters
Start with 20% off sitewide, or take 25% off orders $150 and up,
or even a full 30% off orders $350 and up.
Use code BF23 at checkout to take advantage of these awesome deals.
"How an AR-15 Works" by Matt Rittman
Other videos at
“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. That means cryptosystems are
covered by the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Never let the
government infringe on your right to keep and bear cryptosystems, to
include home made cryptosystems.]
Prime P is the sum of two squares if P-1 is divisible by 4.
"Computer science has nothing to do with computers or science."
-- Donald Knuth
"Archimedes’ claw & carousel (upgrade of his greatest discoveries after 2000 years)"
by Mathologer
Do you understand the topology? Lie algebras have a topology.
Is this a Lie algebra? Do you understand the transformation? The
things that the transformation preserves makes the transformation
inherently error correcting. It's not just area. It's also angles, in a
sense. Remember what a previous author said about angles?
"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
Consider "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
(the 5th book in the series), chapter 3 "The Advance Guard",
where Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody says,
"I want three-hundred-and-sixty degrees visibility on the return journey."
Shouldn't the sentence have been,
"I want 4 π steradians visibility on the return journey." ?
Rowling is writing for young adults or perhaps juveniles.
Would such be appropriate or understandable for the intended
audience? Why would I mention this? Where else have you seen this?
"Demonstration of Spin 1/2" by Lloyd Watts
Do you see how you can use this in your protocols?
"FIDO Promises a Life Without Passwords" by Jeff Crume
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil."
-- Donald Knuth
Last time we described a theoretically and practically secure symmetric
cryptosystem. Now the question is how do we distribute the cryptokeys?
The U.S. Air Force had a cypto-courier system where their people would
fly around the world distributing paper IBM punch cards. Yes, I am that
old.
Well, actually, we don't need to distribute the cryptokeys. We only
need to agree upon a cryptokey.
May I suggest the Diffie-Hellman key agreement protocol? See
"Handbook of Applied Cryptography", by A. Menezes, P. van Oorschot,
and S. Vanstone, CRC Press, 1996.
Chapter 12, Section 12.6, page 516.
Why? Because Whitfield Diffie explained it to me. So I believe.
Ya, there's a lot more to it than appears in the literature.
It would be best to use GF[2ⁿ], the Galois Field of characteristic 2,
(the finite field of characteristic 2), which is modeled by the polynomials in
one variable, where the coefficients are 0 or 1, modulo some
primitive polynomial of degree n+1 (irreducible polynomial from
which all elements of the field can be generated), where n is the
highest possible degree of a polynomial in the field.
Because finding the discrete logarithm is still a hard problem
as far as I know and exponentiation in such a field is easy.
(Ya, you only need a group. The extra structure of a field seems
extraneous. But it's not. We can do interesting things with it.
As making the exponentiation more efficient, because we have an
addition operation at our disposal. Hey, sometimes the egg heads
talk about the first and second binary operation where the ops are
not addition and multiplication, nor anything analogous to them.)
The text mentions ". . . the group of points defined by an elliptic
curve over a finite field." Norman Hazard and I discussed that
back in 1987 on one of my first trips to the Puzzle Palace. It's
a bit trickier than alluded to in the text. I wouldn't recommend it.
You should read the whole section and pay attention to the
notes. Ya, the notes are numbered independently from the sections.
It's a bit confusing. Actually, you should read the whole book,
cover to cover. Because that is how books are meant to be read.
Patricia Sosnow wishes you pleasant dreams.
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** 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 art and practice of Intelligence is an arm. Never let anyone take it from you.
From 2021 A.D. to 2022 A.D. Mexican cartel recruitment went up by 60,000
persons, predominantly males between 12 and 16. During the same time, U.S.
Armed Forces recruitment cratered. I wonder why? No, I don't. The woke
transexuals / homosexuals recruiting for the U.S. Navy on social media says it all.
And speaks directly to the parents of the potential recruits. Yes, as a matter of fact,
this is intentional. The Democrats are getting the results they intended. The weak
turn to the government for help. Rugged individuals do not.
"Whose National Security?
Be Specific!" by T.L. Davis
Hat tip to Docent. https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/
Excerpt:
National security is non-existent in a nation without a border.
The admittance of anyone, without substantive qualifications to
enter is, in effect, an unregulated border and therefore non-existent.
To hear DHS, FBI, CIA, NSA and DOD complain then about the
need to protect and defend national security is a farce. While it is
important to enforce laws against all manner of possible threats to
the homeland, it does not comport then, to allowing the invasion
of nearly a million military-age men from hostile nations such as
Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, China, Russia and numerous hostile
African nations. The illogical pretense of securing the nation by
attacking, jailing and surveilling American citizens who hold jobs
and pay taxes for the crime of being patriotic to the Constitutional
principles that are being violated by open borders, systematic
sexual abuse of school children and censoring speech in opposition
to those violations cannot be allowed to go unnoticed.
" ‘Hemisphere’:
Secret White House Surveillance Program Allows Cops To Spy
On Trillions Of US Phone Records Without Warrants"
by Alicia Powe (smoking hot in person)
Hat tip to Docent.
Excerpts:
"Hemisphere relies on chain analysis, a technique that facilitates government
agencies to spy on the targeted individuals as well as anyone who has been in
contact with the targeted individual without warrants."
Notice that the article mentions "DAS program", but does not define it anywhere.
Do you understand this? It's noted. It's now in open source. Oh, but it is defined
a few lines down as "Data Analytical Services". Is it? Read carefully.
May I recommend "Metamorphoses" by Ovid? Out of copyright. Free online,
In case you don't understand what Netanyahu is doing to Brandon,
consider what Mercury did to Battus. Exactly the same scenario for the same
reasons, with the same motivations. So we are probably going to get the same
results. Books are fantastic. By reciting history (which includes mythology),
they predict the future with amazing accuracy. History repeats because some
humans (Brandon in particular) are too arrogant to read and learn.
Horse gates:
Rack - 4 beat
Walk - 4 beat
Cantor - 3 beat (a slow gallop)
Trot - 2 beat
Gallop - 3 beat
Run - varies, all 4 hoofs are off the ground at the same time
I can identify by sound and speed. Useful if you're going to judge or
understand dressage.
---
Archeology is intelligence gathering, analysis, and dissemination.
Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site
---
Do you see how the following relates to the analysis of the genealogy
of Jesus Christ that we discussed previously?
Cask sizes, large to small, according to Lexington Brewing and Distilling Co. :
Butt,
Puncheon,
Firkin,
Tun,
Port / Pipe,
Kilderkin
Cask sizes large to small according to Mac Allan:
Firkin – 9 gallons
Kilderkin – 18 gallons
Barrel – 36 gallons
Hogshead – 54 gallons
Butt – 108 gallons (same as Port Pipe)
Tun – 216 gallons
all gallons are Imperial gallons.
Cask sizes large to small according to Simon Difford:
English Tun, 216 imp gallons
Gorda, 154 imp gallons
Madeira Drum, 143 imp gallons
Port Pipe, 143 imp gallongs
Machine Puncheon, 110 imp gallons
Sherry Shape Puncheon, 110 imp gallons
Sherry Butt, 105-110 imp gallons
Barrique (Cognac type), 66 imp gallons
Barrique (Bordeaux type), 49 imp gallons
Hogshead, 49-54 imp gallons
British Brewery Barrel, 36 imperial gallons
American Standard Barrel, 40-44 imp gallons
Kilderkin, 18 imp gallons
Quarter Cask, 11 imp gallons
Blood Tub, 9 imp gallons
Firkin, 9 imp gallons
Pin, 4.5 imp gallons
Minipin, 2.25 imp gallons
Barracoon / Barrack, 0.9 imp gallons
HDPE (high density polyethylene), 55 imp gallons
Cask sizes large to small according to Margarett Waterbury:
Note: all gallons below refer to U.S. gallons
Pin, 20.5 liters/5 gallons
Firkin, 40 liters/11 gallons
Quarter cask, 50 liters/13 gallons
Rundlet, 68 liters/18 gallons
Kilderkin, 82 liters/22 gallons
Tierce, 159 liters/42 gallons
Barrel, 200 liters/53 gallons
Hogshead, 225-250 liters/59-66 gallons
Barrique (wine barrels), 225 liters/59 gallons to 300 liters/79 gallons
Butt/Puncheon, 476 liters/126 gallons
Pipe, 650 liters/172 gallons
Gorda, 700 liters/185 gallons
Tun, 982 liters/259 gallons
As Margarett Waterbury says, research will show inconsistencies and contradictions.
Yes, I tasted just about every bourbon in Kentucky.
But I didn't swallow. (That's a Pres. Bill Clinton joke.
For those of you too young to remember. Bill said he never inhaled.)
I attended the auctions at Keeneland. In Kentucky, the three things
are bourbon, horses, and basketball. I refuse to pay big money to watch
thugs fight. (Yes, that game. You now have the date-time-group.)
Jonathan Wick is not asking how much weight the guard, Francis, lost.
He is asking, how many enemy soldiers are in the night club. The guard
told him. That's why he let Francis go. (They were speaking English in America.
But the number would not have made sense in pounds. So, dialog switches
to Russian and the guard gives the number in kilograms.)
"KEVIN NASH EXPLAINS WHY JOHN WICK LET FRANCIS LIVE"
by Gen EX Reviews
If you're listening to recordings and don't pick up on things like that,
you're really not competent. Might want to let someone else do the
analysis.
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
"Deep Intel on the Current Global Carrier Showdown" by Ward Carroll
What was Thoth doing around 1000 B.C.?
Concerning Titus Statulenus, circa 100 - 200 A.D. --
T. Statulenus quinto
ossuarium marmoreum
fecit sibi et T Statuleno
philomaso collib qui obit
suum diem ann xxx et
Iporae colliber meae
[Why can't you use your Latin textbook to decode this?
Because it is real. -- Jon Low]
"A Round Disk Through a Smaller Square Hole (Bending Spacetime)"
by The Action Lab
It's always important to consider topological deformation of your
n dimensional mathematical object in n+1 dimensional space. If you
stay in n dimensions, you can't get mirror reflections of your object.
No matter how much you rotate, you can't turn a right-hand object
into a left-hand object.
As we see from the video, topological deformation allows changing
the diameter of objects. This can also be done with algebraic complexes,
geometric complexes, etc. (Such complexes are defined and explained in
"Elementary Concepts of Topology" by Paul Alexandroff,
translated by Alan E. Farley. Originally,
"Einfachste Grundbegriffe der Topologie",
published by Julius Springer in 1932.
International Standard Book Number: 0-486-60747-X
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-1982
)
Cited paper,
"A toy-inspired kirigami pattern and its kinematic performance
by applying mechanisms and machine theory" by
Weiwei Lin, Kunjing Chen, Yuan Gao, Aihua Chen, Fufu Yang, and Huijuan Feng
An explanation of the decidability problem.
"The Impossible Problem NO ONE Can Solve" by Jade, Up and Atom
As Prof. Christ would say, being able to explain it to a person in your field
demonstrates and understanding. Being able to explain the concept to a layman
demonstrates a deep understanding.
Do you see how to use this in your protocols?
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
*************************************************************************
"US Supreme Court Makes Vaccine Move" by Facts Matter with Roman Balmakov
In case you don't understand "Climate change".
In case you don't think it's your fault.
In case you don't understand what's going on in Minneapolis
(and around our country).
Greg Ellifritz comments --
"If you cops who watch this think “it can’t happen to me,” I’d postulate you probably
shouldn’t have passed your agency psychological test. Your bosses will lie under
oath just like these police administrators did. I’ve personally experienced the very
same thing. Get out of the policing business right now if you have any other options.
A pay cut isn’t nearly as bad as a prison sentence for doing what your department
trained you to do."
In case you don't understand why your taxes are going to be much higher.
"New Scheme From IRS: 30 Million Americans Will Be Targeted"
by Facts Matter with Roman Balmakov
1099-K form triggered by $600 in transactions. Surprised? That's what
you get for not reading Biden's 240 page "American Rescue Plan". After you
hit the $600 threshold, the payment apps will simply deduct 24% and send it
to the IRS, automatically.
In case you don't understand capitalism or your place in it.
In case you don't understand why calling today's U.S. Air Force pilots
for an air strike would be a bad idea.
The U.S. Army artillery instructors in Forward Observer School at
Schofield Barracks taught us to always call Marine pilots for an air
strike. And that was back in the late 1980's.
In case you don't understand tyranny.
"Judge Allows for Indefinite Detention of Unvaccinated at Governor’s Whim"
by Facts Matter with Roman Balmakov
"Why Creative People Fail At School" by Jordan Peterson
And in most jobs.
Because I thought this was fascinating.
"The Surprising Genius of Sewing Machines" by Veritasium
"The Type Of People That Carry 9mm" by Colion Noir
---
"The Types Of People That Carry .45 acp" by Colion Noir
---
"The Types Of People That Carry .40 S&W" by Colion Noir
“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
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.