*************************************************************************
Greetings Sheepdogs,
It's easier to fight your enemys if you know what their plan is.
This is their play book. Notice the companies that they claim to work for.
"PREVENTING GUN VIOLENCE THROUGH EFFECTIVE MESSAGING"
PREPARED BY:
FRANK O’BRIEN | OMP
JOHN NEFFINGER AND MATTHEW KOHUT | KNP COMMUNICATIONS
AL QUINLAN | GREENBERG QUINLAN ROSNER RESEARCH
Notice how their strategy is to change what the public is talking about, reframing
the conversation.
This is propaganda. This is information warfare. This is psychological warfare.
Understand and prepare, otherwise you will be overrun.
Thanks to Lora Logan.
14th Annual Shoot for Service
Hat tip to Tom Givens.
Saturday, October 24, 2026 A.D.
8:00 AM
Enochs Farm
100 Enochs Lane, Wildersville, TN 38388
Half way between Nashville and Memphis off I-40.
Entry Fee $50 per shooter, per division — lunch included
Registration
Recommended ammunition: 100 rifle rounds, 100 pistol rounds, and 50 shotgun rounds.
Five stages
Competitors move through five dynamic stages across fields and wooded terrain.
Three guns
Rifle, pistol, and shotgun — bring all three and be ready to use them.
All skill levels welcome
Whether you're a seasoned competitor or stepping onto the course for the first time,
there's a division for you.
Beware of scam! Person will send you an email enticing you to join them in a
Zoom conference. Never enter a Zoom conference with anyone you don't know.
They will be asking for firearms instruction or whatever you offer. Beware!
"Trump honors 9/11 ‘man in the red bandana’ Welles Crowther
with posthumous Medal of Freedom"
by Emily Goodin
"Don't have a gun? Buy one.
Don't know How to use it? Learn.
Don't believe in guns? Get ready to hide behind someone who does."
-- Charlie Daniels
If you ever find yourself in the Idaho State Museum in Boise, Idaho,
ask to see the Elmer Keith Commemorative .44 magnum revolver.
Donated in 1985 A.D. The gold inlaid engraving is fantastic.
If it's still on display when you get there, it will be on the bottom level
of the museum. Walk down the stairs. There will be a glass enclosure
displaying many things. Front and center you will see the revolver.
References in this posting to Sun Tzŭ come from
"The Art of War" by Sun Tzŭ,
translated by Lionel Giles.
ISBN 978-1-62686-060-5
ISBN 1-62686-060-2
U101.S9513 2014
335.02---dc23
If you read this work, please read the version with translation and
commentary by Lionel Giles. He cites and quotes contemporary reviews
of Sun's work by literary and military persons, which help to clarify the
obscure Chinese that Sun writes in.
References to other authors come from Gile's commentaries.
My thoughts are in yellow. Thoughts by others are in light blue.
Table of Contents:
Software ---
Prevention --
Mindset
Situational Awareness
Safety
Training
Psychology
Practice
Intervention --
Strategy
Tactics
Techniques
Postvention --
Aftermath
Medical
Survival
Education --
Legal
Instruction
Hardware ---
Gear
Intelligence ---
Counter Intelligence
Signals Intelligence
Cryptology
Politics and Religion ---
"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
-- Thomas Jefferson
This week, President Trump pardoned five gun owners who were wrongfully
prosecuted and convicted by ATF.
Those convicted included Tate Adamiak, an individual whose story has become
an example of ATF's overreach and drive to prosecute law-abiding gun owners for
technical errors, going as far as to even fabricate evidence to support their case.
George Peterson was another example of this. GOA filed an amicus brief the
case US v. Peterson, which involved a situation where Mr. Peterson, an FFL holder,
was prosecuted by ATF for having a homemade suppressor in his safe.
The others pardoned were Russell Fincher, Jeremy Kettler and Shane Cox,
more victims of ATF's weaponized bureaucracy under the Biden-Harris
administration.
GOA was involved in both the Kettler and Cox cases as well.
We at GOA want to thank President Trump for pardoning these five individuals
and working to make sure the the federal government respects the
Second Amendment rights of all Americans.
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Prevention ***** ***** *****
Things you can do to avoid the lethal force incident.
Table of sections:
Mindset
Situational Awareness
Safety
Training
Psychology
Practice
“To those who have fought for it,
freedom has a flavor that the protected will never know.”
― P. McCree Thornton
*************************************************************************
“Then Jesus said to His disciples,
whoever does not have a sword should sell his coat and buy a sword.”
– Book of Luke 22:36, New Life Version of the Bible
------------------------------ Mindset and Attitude --------------------------------
Figuring out the correct way to think.
“There is a rank due to the United States, among nations, which will be withheld,
if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult,
we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful
instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times ready
for war.”
—George Washington (1793)
"Principles of Personal Defense" by Jeff Cooper
Click link at bottom of page to download your copy.
As Claude Werner says, you need training because much of what you know
is FALSE. Every time I attend a conference, I realize this is TRUE. My underlying
assumptions are dispelled. My myths are busted. Forcing me to rewrite my
curriculum. Because teaching students obsolete / incorrect shit is the worst
thing a teacher can do. And if you haven't taken a class or attended a conference
in the last decade, you are teaching obsolete tactics, techniques, and procedures
(TTP). Because things do change that fast. Sorry, that's reality.
"Some things are fundamental. They never change."
False, completely false. When I went through Marine Corps Recruit Training
in 1981, trigger finger in the register position was not taught. It is now a standard
safety practice. I could go on for pages, but you get the idea.
I ran into a police officer who showed me his patrol rifle that he kept in his
police car (that he kept at all times). It had a flashlight attached too far back
on his hand guard. I explained to him that it would cast a shadow, and that he
should move the flashlight forward, so the barrel would not cast a shadow.
He told me it didn't matter, it was fine. Sad. He either didn't know what he
didn't know, or what he knew was false. Don't ever let yourself fall into that
position, because you won't be able to correct it during combat.
"You often don't know where the bad guy is who is shooting at you."
-- Phillip Groff
"The Apprehensions Women Have About Carrying a Firearm —
And How Training Helps Overcome It"
by Lorraine Crescimanno
"Survival is a mindset, not a skill set."
-- Greg Shaffer
"Five Shooting & Self Defense Myths" by Justin Carroll (Swift/Silent/Deadly)
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"Without discrimination,
you're going to shoot the wrong person really fast."
-- Paul Howe
"Trump Asked The Question Every Gun Owner Was Thinking" by Colion Noir
Trump is not a gun guy, but on a fundamental level, Trump understands
that we carry guns to protect ourselves and loved ones.
". . . only shoot as fast as you can assess, and . . . assess after each shot,
both of which, we should be training to do all the time anyway."
-- Ralph Mroz, "Street Focused Handgun Training"
"9/11: The Islamist Threat Is Still a Clear and Present Danger
Unfortunately, there is a direct correlation between the amount of time since 9/11
and the erosion of our national resolve to prevent another exponentially more
catastrophic attack."
by Mark Alexander
"Your gunfights will always be anomalies.
So are those of all the instructors you venerate.
It’s useful to keep those facts in mind."
-- Greg Ellifritz
"What is a Fudd?" by Massad Ayoob - Facts and Firearms
Excerpts:
"Self defense is the highest of all human rights."
-- Lord William Blackstone
We are human rights activists. We are civil rights activists.
‷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
"All warfare is based on deception."
-- Sun Tzŭ, Chapter 1, paragraph 18.
That's why it is so important to study magic (stage magic, theatrical magic,
not occult magic); misdirection, inattentional blindness, distraction, etc.
"An unarmed man can only flee from evil and
evil is not overcome by fleeing from it." -- Jeff Cooper
". . . cowardice, which leads to capture; . . . "
-- "The Art of War", chapter 8, paragraph 12.
Commentary -- "Mêng Shih gives the closer paraphrase “he who is bent
on returning alive,” this is the man who will never take a risk."
You may think that your goal is to get home at the end of your shift.
You may think that if you're a good cop, your goal is to ensure your partner
gets home at the end of your shift. It is a common saying in the police
community.
"But as Sun Tzŭ knew, nothing is to be achieved in war unless you are
willing to take risks."
"Creativity is not rewarded.
What is rewarded is precision and analytical thinking."
-- Magnus Carlsen
"To begin by bluster, but afterwards to take fright at the enemy's numbers,
shows a supreme lack of intelligence."
-- "The Art of War", chapter 9, paragraph 37.
In personal combat, in the context of self-defense or defense of others,
you cannot bluff. But, you will leak information. Let that information be
strength and confidence borne of training and practice.
"Your life is as good as your mindset." -- Nicola Cavanis
"The Art of War", chapter 11, paragraph 37 --
Commentary --
Chang Yü, in a quotation from another work, says: "The axiom, that war is based
on deception, does not apply only to deception of the enemy. You must deceive
even your own soldiers. Make them follow you, but without letting them know
why."
[Note that this is contrary to modern U.S. Armed Forces doctrine. We
believe that the commander must make his intent known to his subordinates,
down to the Private. So that his subordinates may continue the mission after
communications have been destroyed, after the situation has changed.
Knowledge of the commander's intent is essential for mission accomplishment.
As Marines, we were expected to accomplish the mission, even if the entire
headquarters unit has been destroyed, even if all other friendly units had been
destroyed. Which they often were in exercises.
-- Jon Low]
"Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist.
Children already know that dragons exist.
Fairy tales tell children that the dragons can be killed."
-- G.K. Chesterton
Believe it or not I came into this hobby on my own.
She defines the acronyms that she uses. BOSS!
‟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.
It is high time for society to stop worrying about the criminal,
and to let the criminal start worrying about society.
And by "society" I mean you.”
-- Col. Jeff Cooper, "Principles of Personal Defense"
"The Active Shooter vs. The Street Criminal - Rules Of Engagement?"
by Gabriel Suarez
There are actually a lot of people who believe that buying self-defense insurance
is driven by the propaganda spewed by the insurance companies, and that good guys
in real self-defense situations never get prosecuted. So, it's all a big scam. Howard
Marbury, a federal prosecutor in Miami, FL said as much at the Bullets & Bibles
conference.
And then there are those who disagree. A lot of persons who testify as expert
witnesses for the defense in self-defense cases, also at the Bullets & Bibles conference.
There are a lot of instructors who preach, not my monkeys, not my circus. The
victim had the same opportunity as I did to get training and to buy a gun. He chose
not to. His bad choice, does not make me responsible for risking my life for his
wife and kids. I got my own wife and kids to think about.
And then there are those who couldn't live with themselves if they didn't intervene.
Some people can't stand by and witness innocents being killed.
Things are never cut and dried.
"There are no victims, only volunteers.
You volunteer by looking uncertain and afraid.
You volunteer by being, as grass-eaters invariably are,
unprepared to confront the hazards of life."
— Jeff Cooper
Email from Gabe Suarez -- Concerning
CHRISTIAN FORGIVENESS (OF JIHADISTS)
“I believe that forgiving them is God’s function.
Our job is simply to arrange the meeting.”
- General Norman Schwarzkopf
"Be so focused on watering your grass that
you don't have time to check if someone else's is greener."
-- Nicola Cavanis
‟Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice.”
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, U.S. Navy
"The line between everyday life and sudden violence is thinner than most realize."
-- Tim Larkin
“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
“Your character is what you do when no one is looking.”
-- Thomas Jefferson
“The Man in the Arena”
by Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), 26th President of the United States
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how
the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have
done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in
the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who
strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who
does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at
the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and
who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so
that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who
neither know victory nor defeat.”
"I do not carry a pistol so that I may impose my will on others.
I carry a pistol so that others may not impose their will on me."
-- Tom Givens
"Nobody is coming to save you.
On the bright side. . . it means
nobody is coming to stop you either."
-- Gabe Suarez
"Without courage, all other virtues lose their meaning."
-- Sir Winston Churchill
“When you will not fight when you can easily win, without bloodshed,
and when you still will not fight when victory is sure and not too costly,
you may well come to the moment when you will have no choice but to
fight with the odds against you, and you have only a small chance of survival.
There may even be a worse case: you may have to fight when there is no
hope of victory, simply because it is better to perish as warriors than to
live as slaves.”
-- Winston Churchill
*************************************************************************
Celine Bethmann
------------------------------ Situational Awareness --------------------------------
How to avoid being taken by surprise.
Zugzwang is a thing. But with situational awareness, you can avoid it.
"Always stand on principle, even if you stand alone"
– James Madison
In Matthew 10:16, Jesus says,
"Stay alert. This is hazardous work I'm assigning to you.
You're going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack,
so don't call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake,
inoffensive as a dove."
-- The Message (The Bible in Contemporary Language)
"Many people don't realize that your awareness skills
are more important than your marksmanship skills.
Well, you can't shoot something you don't know is there,
or don't know it needs to be shot!" -- Tom Givens
"Jeff Cooper's Color Code exists to help you get your head
around the need to kill someone in the immediate future."
-- John Hearne
---
Jeff Cooper's Color Code of Mental Awareness
UNAWARE - of what's going on around you. (White)
AWARE - of who is around you and what they are doing. (Yellow)
ALERT - to a POTENTIAL threat and taking action to avoid the threat. (Orange)
ALARM - by a REAL threat and taking action to escape the threat,
which might include shooting to PREVENT the attack. (Red)
COMBAT - front sight, press. Shooting to STOP the attack. (Black)
"An officer may be forgiven for losing a battle,
but never for being taken by surprise."
-- Jeff Cooper
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Safety --------------------------------
How to prevent the bad thing from happening in the first place.
How to avoid shooting yourself, friendlies, and innocent bystanders.
How to prevent unauthorized persons from using your guns.
“Cogito, ergo armatum sum” by John Farnam
Jeff Cooper′s Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
[This rule is not saying to treat all guns as if they were loaded.
This rule is commanding you to keep all guns loaded at all times.
If you don't understand this, please read
"The Modern Technique of the Pistol" by Gregory Boyce Morrison
Page 8.
Instructors who teach "Treat all guns as if they were loaded."
Are telling you to PRETEND the gun is loaded, even if you know
that the gun is not loaded. Col. Cooper is telling you to BELIEVE,
not pretend, that all guns are always loaded, because you keep all
guns always loaded, as a matter of safety.
So the "safety" rules of the IDPA matches, the USPSA matches,
and the NRA courses that require you to unload your pistol when
not actually shooting create horrible training scars, that you must be
aware of.
-- Jon Low]
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING
THAT YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER
UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
[Best practices change. And hopefully improve over time. You
should keep your trigger finger in the register position, straight on
the frame or slide (depending on the range of motion of your trigger
finger) above the trigger; never in the trigger guard, never on the
trigger guard.
You can relax your hand when in the register position. You can't
relax when the trigger finger is touching the trigger. It's neurologically
impossible. If you don't believe me, ask your neurologist to hook you
up to an electroencephalogram and see for yourself.
Being able to relax prevents fatigue, physical and mental.
-- Jon Low]
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
Know what it is, what is in line with it, and what is behind it.
---
RULE V: Maintain control of your gun.
-- Stephen P. Wenger
---
Tesla's Door Handles
"Gut feelings are guardian angels."
-- Nicola Cavanis
If the exercise isn't safe, walk away. Ya, you might lose your job, but it's better
than losing your life.
"Photos, documents detail moments after shooting death of Ohio corrections officer"
by 10TV
Hat tip to Steven Cline. Hat tip to Jason Hubble.
"You brought a gun to the fight. That doesn’t mean it’s YOUR gun.
The gun belongs to whomever can keep it. Think about that before
intervening in other folks’ problems. When is the last time you practiced
your in-hand weapon retention skills?"
-- Greg Ellifritz
"Two Contemporary Training Issues to Ponder" by Greg Ellifritz
---
Docent's comments in,
"Downsides of Mandatory Evacuations" by Docent
---
Jon Low's comments,
I have taken classes in which we were taught to never move people into well defined
(as in written in a plan) rally points. Rather the instruction was to disperse them /
send them home / send them to another site, etc.
It's hard to get a big bomb into a building. It's easy to get a big bomb into a parking
lot. So drive the car or truck bomb into the parking lot and cause an evacuation into
the parking lot. Lots of documented cases of such. So, if the plan is to evacuate to a
well defined (written in a plan that the enemy knows, one must assume spies) rally point,
the planners are idiots and should not be trusted, because they are not competent. In
such cases, tell your children to run away, run home, run away and call you to pick
them up. Tell your children to NEVER hang out in a well defined rally point.
-- Jon Low
"It's easier to stay out of trouble than to get out of trouble."
-- Claude Werner
Mickey Schuch explaining how to unloaded various firearms.
With video of guy 1 shooting guy 2 in the gut. Notice that guy 1 inserts magazine,
racks slide (chambering a round), removes magazine, and lays the pistol down on the
table. He clearly had no training and did not know that he had NOT unloaded his
pistol.
You would never do this, because you have had expert training, right? So you
know the sequence of events necessary to unload a pistol.
You would never lay a pistol down on the table, right? You know that the pistol
is in its case, in its holster, or in your hands properly gripped. Never anywhere else.
It's not enough not to be a jackass, you must avoid shooting with jackasses.
Because they will shoot you.
As John Farnam says, avoid stupid people. Which includes people who
refuse to obey our safety rules (see Safety Rules above).
"You are not responsible for negative reactions to your boundaries."
-- Nicola Cavanis
If you ever see training like this, LEAVE!
"In the line of being fired? Extraordinary moment shooting instructor flouts
'basic rules' by dodging bullets on a live gun range"
by Janet Tappin Coelho
Hat tip to Phil Wong.
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.
Have a “normal” appearance.
Be in bed by 10:00 PM (your own bed).
Don’t fail the attitude test.
"How to Travel Safely" by Tatiana Whitlock
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
That includes pepper spray – I know so many people who carry pepper spray
but have never taken a class on how to use it or deploy the device they’re carrying.
I always keep a paper copy of vital contacts and addresses with me.
“It is usually impossible to know when you’ve prevented a bad outcome.”
-- Mokokoma Mokhonoana
"Drive-Thru Followup" by John Farnam
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
"Keep a car-length between your vehicle and the one in front.
That open space continuously affords you the opportunity to escape when necessary."
"Safety is something that happens between your ears,
not something you hold in your hands."
-- Jeff Cooper
"Managing The Traffic Stop While Armed" by Suarez Tactics
https://www.patreon.com/suareztactics/posts/managing-traffic-153690310
*************************************************************************
Hat tip to Tom Givens.
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Training --------------------------------
Figuring out the correct tasks to practice.
Greg Ellifritz's comments --
And speaking about the Idaho active killer attack, one armed citizen attempted
to intervene, but he was carrying a pistol with an empty chamber. He took a round
into his primary gun arm before he was able to draw his gun. When he eventually
got the gun out, he was unable to chamber a round due to his injury. How would
you like to be that guy right now, knowing you could have stopped the killing, but
you didn’t do so because you were unwilling to get enough training to feel
comfortable with your loaded carry pistol?
If you don’t feel it’s safe enough to carry a chambered striker fired pistol, you
need more training. If you are unwilling to seek training to become competent,
you should be carrying a revolver.
But none of the chamber-empty carry folks will ever carry a six-shooter, even
though it’s a far more capable weapon than a chamber-empty semi-auto. A revolver
doesn’t look cool enough. What does that tell us about a person like that?
They are unwilling to take a couple of days worth of training to be comfortable
carrying a semi-auto with a loaded chamber. They are unwilling to carry a revolver
with a heavier trigger that is less likely to be accidentally pulled. Those folks just
want to feel like a badass carrying a gun. They don’t have either the mindset or
ability to use the gun to save lives. The gun for them is some kind of a magical
talisman that prevents evil acts from occurring in their proximity. They are more
concerned with appearing capable than actually being capable. I find those folks
to be worse than worthless in an emergency. Contemptible, actually.
If you are carrying chamber empty, fix your shit before you get yourself or a
loved one killed.
-- Greg Ellifritz
---
"Empty Arguments over Empty Chambers" by Rich Grassi
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
Rule 1. And if it’s Rule 1, it’s loaded. All the time, everywhere.
---
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
That means always keep your gun loaded. That means a round in the chamber.
This is a safety rule. With a loaded gun, you can defend the safety of yourself
and your loved ones. With an unloaded gun, you cannot. No, as a matter of
fact, you will not have time to chamber a round. No, as a matter of fact, you
won't have a support-side hand available to chamber a round; you'll have to
chamber the round one-handed, possibly support-side-hand only. As we saw
in the above cited incident. You can do that, right? Because you've had training
and practice regularly (weekly at least).
Last week, I stopped to eat at the In And Out burger shop in Twin Falls, ID.
It was all cleaned up and running smoothly. We did notice 3 discreetly armed
private security officers and one private security office with a full duty belt rig.
All were directing traffic and patrolling around the parking lot.
I also noticed that the two ladies behind the counter were carrying concealed.
Well concealed, I had to look carefully to see. Idaho has the best gun laws in
the country, according to the anti-gun group EveryTown.
Ten training facilities to put on your bucket list.
"Top 10 Destination Training Facilities" by Kenzie Fitzpatrick
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities,
but in the expert’s mind there are few.”
— Shunryu Suzuki
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Learn from the experience of others.
"Lesson 11: Don’t provoke a potential aggressor." by Shawn Vincent
If you like to listen,
"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
This is why you need training. If you legally and justifiably defend yourself,
by shooting at 4 armed robbers, and hit 4 innocent bystanders,
you are not the good guy, you are not a hero. You're incompetent.
"Charges Dropped Against Man Who Shot at Armed Robbers" by News Room
The News Room is "Gun USA All Day", https://gunusaallday.com/
"Ineffective and potentially dangerous, point shooting should be avoided
at all costs and aimed fire employed in any lethal-force scenario."
-- Massad Ayoob
"Police Chase Ends With The Roadside Temperature Challenge"
by Active Self Protection (John and Mike)
One of the points is that after being shot several times, the guy is still fighting,
still shooting. You should expect nothing less.
"There are three different areas, or disciplines,
in which the armed person must train.
These are mindset, gun handling, and marksmanship.
Each is equally important, and you must be at least
competent in all three areas."
-- Tom Givens
"Getting good without an instructor" by Ben Stoeger
"You Don't Need A Shooting Instructor" by Ben Stoeger
I disagree completely.
On my flight back to Nashville, TN from Boise, ID, I had an in depth
conversation with a process engineer who works for a Taiwanese chip
manufacturer (integrated circuits, not potato [Idaho is famous for their potatoes.]).
He showed me videos of his golf swing from his recent golf games with his
family in Boise. Just about everything that could be wrong was wrong.
I encouraged him to seek out expert coaching (I avoid using the term professional
coaching, because they don't mean the same thing.) I gave him some suggestions,
but clearly, there wasn't much I could explain or demonstrate while belted into an
airline seat.
I explained to him how the length of his clubs was wrong for his anatomy.
I told him that the angle of the club head relative to the shaft was wrong for his
anatomy. I explained how the head weight was wrong for his swing, and clearly
when he took lessons, and got his swing corrected, that would change.
He responded by saying that he had heard that you can't buy improvement.
And that any good player could take his clubs (which he had bought as a beginner
set at DICK'S Sporting Goods) and play well with them. So he didn't think that
he should spend money on getting a custom set of clubs.
I explained to him that while that might be true, using a set of clubs that did
not fit him was akin to attempting to drive a car without adjusting the seat and
mirror positions. Ya, you can still drive the car, but not well.
The only reason Ben Stoeger makes such statements is that his kinesthetic
awareness is so high and his visual perception is so tuned in that he can watch
YouTube.com videos and figure out what the shooter is doing (not just copying
the guy in the video). This is a level of analysis that the vast majority of persons
in our population can't achieve.
"If you’re not measuring your training,
what you’re doing is called playing."
-- Chris Sajnog
"In order to measure, we must be able to quantify."
-- Aaron Cowan
Do you understand how this applies to your trining?
You are training for an event that never happened to you in the past.
That you could not have predicted with any accuracy.
"When you're training to protect yourself and others, speed always comes last.
In the more than twenty-five years I've been training people in self-protection,
I've never heard from someone who used self-protection tools in the field and
felt like they suffered from a lack of speed at the moment of truth. In fact, I
usually hear the opposite: it's much more common to suffer from a lack of
accuracy or force." -- Tim Larkin
Email from John Murphy --
To prepare for success across the spectrum of scenarios we can face as armed
citizens, we must possess several attributes. Foremost is willingness to act
decisively. This is a highly personal decision that ultimately comes down to the
capacity to ruthlessly employ lethal force when justified. (I often wonder how
many people have really thought about that topic. I think there’s an article there . . .
Next we must have the requisite skills to enforce the boundaries we’ve
established and employ force. Ideally these skills are quantified through repeated
training sessions that are measured against an objective standard. The advent of
the shot timer has given us the means to measure the time between an audible
stimulus and the delivery of bullets onto a target. A big leap, to be sure, but it
leaves significant gaps.
But there are other skills we must consider possessing that don’t require the
application of deadly force and they require the allocation of training time as well.
Additionally, the audible cue to act provided by a shot time is artificial. A range
officer won’t be following you around through life and prompt you with
“Shooter ready? Standby . . . BEEP!” at your moment of crisis. The reality is
that your cue to act will be visual, and that action can’t always be drawing a pistol
and shooting.
My solution to this training gap was the invention The Determinator, a visual
cueing system that allows students to “skill cycle” through the spectrum of
responses from seeing a problem and walking away, engage in appropriate
de-escalation, the application of pepper spray, or based upon what they’re seeing,
shooting to eliminate the threat and then cycle to post-incident actions. This
approach requires students to cycle through their options and apply the
situationally required response. Many experienced shooters find that their draw
times increase by 0.25 - 0.3 seconds when faced with this ambiguity.
-- John Murphy
"In reality, we are training for an unknown event, against unknown threats,
by developing as many known skills as possible."
-- Jeff Gonzales
I am very disappointed with the Buckeye Firearms Association for advertising
this nonsense. Hat tip to Deron Bo.
---
"Ineffective and potentially dangerous, point shooting should be avoided
at all costs and aimed fire employed in any lethal-force scenario."
-- Massad Ayoob
---
If you don't have time to aim, you should not shoot, because you cannot guarantee
not hitting innocent bystanders. That's the difference between good guys and bad
guys.
Hey, just because they wear a badge doesn't mean they are good guys. If they
hit (and often kill) innocent bystanders, they are not good guys. Because they have
violated out safety rules. Safety Rule 2 and 4, see above. Qualified immunity
allows them to carry on, in spite of the consequences, as long as they can reasonably
claim that they were acting within the scope of their duties. But good guys do not
kill innocent bystanders; not accidentally, not as part of collateral damage, not ever.
That's sort of the definition of good guy.
"A mistake that makes you humble is better
than an achievement that makes you arrogant."
-- Nicola Cavanis
Lee Trevino (professional golfer), when practicing chipping from off the green
onto the green, recommends scattering balls around the outskirts of the green,
rather than dumping your shag bag in one place and practicing from the same
location.
Practicing the same thing over and over will get you good at that specific drill.
But that's not what you want. You will never have that particular shot in a real game.
Every shot you practice should be different. Your fundamentals should be
correct for that slope of ground you are standing on, for the grass you are playing
from, for the wind, temperature, sun conditions, clouds, etc. But to practice the
same shot from the same conditions is counter-productive, because what you are
practicing is too specific. The practice is not forcing you to accommodate your
environment.
[I, of course, paraphrase. -- Jon Low]
"Shoot sooner, not faster."
-- Matt Little
Advice from Mickey Schuch,
“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
I believe this is a competent analysis.
"How Shooting Competitions Build Skills for When It Matters Most"
by Austin Chamberlain
---
Disparaging competition shooting as not relevant or counter-productive
to combat shooting because it is not realistic, is not intellectually honest.
All training is not realistic. Because civilian trainers cannot tolerate 3% casualties
and 1% fatalities in their classes. They actually strive for 0% casualties, including
heat casualties. (See Greg's article elsewhere in this blog posting.
"Two Contemporary Training Issues to Ponder" by Greg Ellifritz)
Even in our U.S. Armed Forces training, where 3% casualties and 1% fatalities
are tolerated in combined arms exercises, the training is still not realistic. Because
in combat much higher casualty and fatality rates are expected and tolerated.
In the U.S. Navy, the surface warfare fleet expects a ship to continue functioning,
being combat effective, with 50% of the crew dead. Sorry, that's just reality.
When I was young and stupid, I was working intel for an exercise. We told
the command staff that the winds were too high and advised them to abort the jump.
Lt. General Klingston ordered the airborne paratroopers to jump. Every Lieutenant
aboard every aircraft ordered their men to jump (as would be expected of any
officer). They suffered 3% casualty, 1% fatality. Now that I am older and smarter,
I understand how essential such training is. Failure to train realistically ensures
defeat in combat.
But the civilian self-defense industry would never tolerate such. Look at who
attends your classes. They are predominantly there for entertainment and to have
fun. It is rare to have a student who has recently survived a traumatic event that
motivates her to learn to defend herself, because she knows that her life depends
on the skills to be learned.
"Most deadly force encounters occur spontaneously, without warning and
at extremely close ranges. Realistically, you may not have the time or the
space to effectively draw, no matter how fast your draw stroke."
-- Jeff L. Gonzales
"Your Brain on Survival Mode"
Transcript is below the audio window.
Dr. Alexis Artwohl breaks down what actually happens to memory and perception
during a high-stress encounter - tunnel vision, auditory exclusion, and why even
trained people don't remember events the way they think they do.
Seeing is believing? Have you ever ordered a “grande” coffee convinced it was
way bigger than a “tall,” only to find out you were wrong? That’s the same trick
behind the “Shepard’s Tables” illusion Dr. Artwohl breaks down in this episode:
proof your brain can be confidently wrong.
Mentioned at 17:28/59:15
Ever lost your keys and drawn a total blank on why? Something grabbed your
attention in the moment — a text, a phone call — and your brain never actually
recorded where you put them down. It’s the same tunnel-vision mechanism that
can leave someone unable to recall details from a high-stress incident.
Mentioned at 26:43/59:15
The “quiet eye”: In a force-science study, the officers who reacted fastest weren’t
scanning everywhere - they locked onto one specific spot: a suspect’s elbow, the
first thing that moves before a weapon comes out. You don’t have to be a trained
officer for this to matter: knowing where to look, not just to look, can buy you the
split-second you need to react.
Mentioned at 44:27/59:15
“The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns,
we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise,
they will win and decent people will loose.”
-- James Earl Jones
"PRIORITIES…" by Massad Ayoob
Hat tip to Docent.
Excerpt: (concerning the Twin Falls, Idaho attempted mass murder)
"There would have been four potential victims returning fire on him,
but one was a former cop carrying a pistol with an empty chamber who
was shot down by the murderer before he could rack a torpedo into the
launch tube.
Lesson: carry a gun that’s ready to shoot, and if you’re not comfortable
with an autoloader [with a round] in the chamber, consider a revolver.
Another was a courageous young woman who picked up the pistol
the killer had started with and dropped [when] it jammed,
but couldn’t clear the malfunction and get the thing to work against
its vicious original owner.
Lesson: if you’re in a situation where a mass murderer is doing his thing,
make sure you can get a picked-up gun up and running.
"Proper training ingrains the proper responses.
Repetition is the mother of all skill. With skill comes confidence.
With confidence comes the ability to think under pressure and
make sound tactical decisions."
-- Tom Givens
"Gunhandling: The Oft Neglected Part of the Combat Triad"
by Daniel Reedy
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
---
The book cited in the article,
"The Modern Technique of the Pistol" by Gregory Boyce Morrison
Click on "Download Original PDF". The compressed version doesn't work.
As the author advises, read the glossary first to understand the words used in the
book. The glossary is at the end of the book.
“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.)
Simple is faster. Simple is more reliable. So, simple is better.
"Before all else, be armed." -- Nicolo Machiavelli
"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
"Superior judgment trumps superior skills." -- Dan Millican
"Never believe anything you read or hear.
To figure out what’s best for you,
experiment until you have no doubt."
-- Brian Enos
"Having a gun is important.
But knowing WHEN to use it is even more important."
-- 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)
Ansatz is a thing. And the better your training, the better your guesses / estimates.
*************************************************************************
When squatting, you need to get your heels on the ground.
Good posture is not enough.
------------------------------ Psychology --------------------------------
“There are things that you cannot imagine,
but there is nothing that may not happen!”
-- CIA Axiom
Email from Orion Taraban, Psy.D --
"Become observant." Wednesday, September 9th, 2026
I'm a pretty observant guy – at least, when it comes to human behavior.
As a result, people often ask me what they can do to improve their perceptivity
with respect to the intentions of others. I've given this some thought, and I think
there are two things that are necessary to accomplish this.
First, your own mind needs to be quiet. If your head is full of your own
thoughts, it's much harder for the world to inform your consciousness. The more
of you there is, the less room there is for others. So the first step is to get that
inner chatter to go quiet.
Second, you need to have no agenda. Focus is a magnifying glass protected
by blinders. If you're looking for something in particular, you'll generally miss
everything that you're not looking for. What's more, anything you do find will
be distorted by your desire to find what you're looking for.
When you clear your mind and observe people without an agenda, all kinds
of things will immediately and spontaneously become clear.
This week's behavioral experiment:
Have a conversation with someone without any ulterior motives. What do you notice?
Warmly,
Orion
"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
"Be stronger than your strongest excuse."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment
to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor."
-- Vince Lombardi
“Training deals not with an object,
but with the human spirit and human emotions.”
--Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Conferences --------------------------------
Attending classes and conferences is required for growth.
There is nothing worse than teaching obsolete shit. Because your
students don't know any better.
"The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword;
because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force
superior to any bands of regular troops that can be, on any pretense,
raised in the United States."
-- Noah Webster
Gun Rights Policy Conference, Second Amendment Foundation, $25
September 25–27, 2026 A.D.
in Dallas at the Westin Dallas Fort Worth Airport hotel.
Click on the link to book a hotel room for $159.00 per night.
The Tactical Anatomy Summit, $650.00
DESOTO, KS: OCT 3-4, 2026
Mill Creek Rifle Club
7215 Gardner Rd
De Soto, KS 66018
2026 Combatives Summit, $897
When:
Range Day: October 22, 2026
Conference: October 23, 24, and 25, 2026
Where: American Top Team
10380 Auto Mall Pkwy, D'Iberville, MS 39540
Rangemaster Tactical Conference
www.TacCon.info
Friday-Sunday, April 2-4, 2027 A.D.
Dallas Pistol Club; Carrollton, TX
*************************************************************************
Well, that's a little better.
I know the boots are restricting.
------------------------------ Classes --------------------------------
Attend classes so you know what the best practices are. They change.
It is a mistake of youth to think that the way things are
is the way they have always been, or that they always will be.
Red Dot Sight Handgun Instructor by Sage Dynamics, $700.00
open enrollment
September 23 – 25, 2026 A.D. (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday)
Royal Range USA, 7741 US-70S, Nashville, TN 37221, USA
Course description:
To register:
Firearms Instructor Development Course by Tom Givens, $ 795
Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT – Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT
8:00 AM – 5:00 PM CDT
17 South Rod & Gun Club, Fleming, GA
Church Security Team Critical Skills, $200.00
October 10, 2026 A.D.
8:30AM-5:00PM
Dallas Pistol Club
1830 W Belt Line Rd
Carrollton, TX 75006
Register at
Civilian Use-of-Force: The Legal Realities of Self-Defense, $ 99
Sun, Oct 11, 2026,
2:00 – 4:00 PM EDT // 1:00 – 3:00 PM CDT
R&D tactical Solutions - Shooting Range
1031 NE 16th Street, Ocala, FL, USA
Highly recommended by Tom Givens.
I know Howard Marbury, a federal prosecutor in Miami, FL, and
I have taken a couple classes from him. I too recommend.
Protective Pistolcraft Instructor, 5 Days, $ 1350
Mon, Nov 2, 2026 – Fri, Nov 6, 2026, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM CST
Last Resort Firearms Training, 4220 Gravel Pit Road, White Hall, AR, USA
This is the 3-day Firearms Instructor Development Course and
the 2-day Advanced Firearms Instructor Course given in 5 days.
Taught by Tom Givens, Tiffany Johnson, Aqil Qadir, and John Hearne.
No prerequisites. Includes a night shoot and much more.
Defensive Handgun by John Farnam, $850
14 - 15 November 2026 A.D.
Description of course at
Deer Hollow Range, White House, TN
"The Tactical Anatomy Summit", $650.00
January 30-31, 2027 A.D.
Lakeland Training Center
1421 Fish Hatchery Rd
Lakeland, FL
Time: 8 a.m - 6 p.m.
Last Resort Firearms Training (Ed Monk)
Agile Training and Consulting (Chuck Haggard)
Thunder Ranch (Clint Smith)
Classes,
ConcealedCarry.com (Jacob S. Paulsen et al)
Project Appleseed
"The Liberty Pole" (newsletter)
Gunsite Academy
Lee Weems
Massad Ayoob Group
West Coast Armory North, Martha Holschen
Active Response Training, Greg Ellifritz
Dustin Salomon
KR Training
Kari Grayson
Citizens Safety Academy
Carry Trainer, Mickey Schuch
Paladin Training, Inc.
Citizen-Defender, John Murphy
Defensive Training International, John Farnam
Rangemaster, Tom Givens
This appears to be a new web site for Rangemaster classes,
Trident Concepts, Jeff Gonzales
Apache Solutions, Tim Kelly
Harris Combative Strategies, Randy Harris
Mead Hall Range & Tactics, Bill Armstrong
Two Pillars Training, John Hearne
Mike Seeklander
Claude Werner, The Tactical Professor
Tatiana Whitlock - Training in Context
Rangemaster Certified Instructors
Map of Rangemaster Certified Instructors
NRA Instructors and their classes.
‟Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice.”
-- Claude Werner
*************************************************************************
In case you don't recognize the picture, that's Nick Shirley.
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Practice --------------------------------
How to get proficient at that task.
"Where to Shoot" by National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc.
"Train The World:
Why September 2026 Is About Getting Your Reps In"
by Cara Conry
Excerpt:
"It Is Not a Time Problem, It Is a Priority Problem"
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
Tu Yu quotes Wang Tzŭ as saying: "Without constant practice, the officers will
be nervous and undecided when mustering for battle; without constant practice, the
general will be wavering and irresolute when the crisis is at hand."
-- "The Art of War" by Sun Tzŭ, Chapter 1, paragraph 6, commentary.
"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
I'm Jess and I teach retards how to shoot on the internet.
When she says "fuck around", you should understand her to means "experiment".
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
Dry practice.
‶Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.″
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
Jess doing dry practice.
"Why are the little things called little things?
They are everything."
-- Nicola Cavanis
You will often hear "dry fire". This is of course ridiculous, because "dry" means
no live ammunition and "fire" means to detonate live ammunition. So we use the
term "dry practice". But just as fire needs tinder to start, so you should be thinking
about the tinder for your fire (which can be done dry). What words are you using
to start your shot process? What words are you using during your shot process?
At every stage of your shot process? During your follow-through? Your words
will help you to control your shot process. Your words will help you to think
through your shot process. This is what the top coaches mean by shooting is
90% mental. Not that you have to think, but that you have to control your
thoughts during the shot process. Your words will allow you to control your
thoughts. Precision of language is precision of thought. So choose your words
carefully and precisely.
Let me give you an example. (No, you do not have to copy my example.
You should create your own, in your own words that are meaningful to you.)
"Line up the sights." (Sight alignment)
"Place the top of the front sight"
where I want my point of impact to be on the target. (Sight picture)
"Touch the trigger." (Touch to find out where the trigger is. No, as a
matter of fact, I don't know where the trigger is, because in a high stress
situation, I may not have gotten a perfect grip.)
"Slack out." (Take the slack out of the trigger. I am now at Break Dawn.)
"Keep pressing, keep pressing, keep pressing, . . ." (Smooth increase of
force on the trigger, but never intentionally firing the pistol. To achieve a
surprise trigger break, thereby defeating all autonomic nervous system responses
to the recoil and report.)
BANG! (The trigger Breaks. The sears disengage.)
"Keep pressing, keep aiming, keep pressing, keep aiming, . . ." (This is
my follow through. I watch the muzzle flash, indicating that I did not close
my eyes during the shot process. I watch the sights through recoil and attain
my second sight picture after recoil.)
"Reset." (I reset the trigger.)
"Slack out." (I take the slack out of the trigger.)
Yes, this is a long process. But with practice, it will compress in time and
become very fast. Eventually, it will become unconscious and automatic.
A lot of things will happen automatically with practice. Before 1975
(because they gave us a lecture on this stuff in 1975), the U.S. Army
Marksmanship Training Unit determined that with sufficient practice, and
without specific instruction, the shooter will automatically release his shots
at the respiratory pause between breaths (between the exhale and the inhale).
With further practice, the shooter will automatically release his shots between
heartbeats. This has been confirm by studies at the U.S. Olympic Training
Center in Colorado Springs, CO. I believe it because Col. Lones Wigger
told me.
So you don't have to teach breath control. In fact, it's probably counter-
productive. And you certainly can't teach heartbeat control. I've only known
one person who could feel her heartbeat / pulse while shooting, Thrine M. Kane,
a U.S. Olympic smallbore shooter. I met her at a Level 3 coaches course at the
Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
"People rust faster than equipment."
-- John Hearne
"Remember, the day you plant the seed is not the day you earn the fruit."
-- Nicola Cavanis
“Willingness is a state of mind. Readiness is a statement of fact!”
-- Lt. Gen. David M Shoup, USMC Commandant 1960-1963
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.”
-- Aristotle
"Maybe you can't achieve it in one day.
But you can achieve it one day."
-- Nala Knight
"Remember, growing may feel like breaking at first."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"You have to be lucky to win. And the more you practice, the luckier you get."
-- Col. Lones Wigger
“An ounce of practice is worth a ton of theory.”
-- EF Schumacher
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Intervention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to deal with the incident that you failed to avoid.
Table of sections:
Strategy
Tactics
Techniques
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Strategy --------------------------------
Deciding on the end state and how to achieve it.
Generally speaking, you want to escape.
"Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently."
-- Henry Ford
"What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins,
but excels in winning with ease."
-- Sun Tzŭ, chapter 4, paragraph 11.
So, it is not enough to be competent, you must be unconsciously competent,
proficient, highly skilled. So, that you can win easily.
You must win immediately, so you and your loved ones don't get hurt.
Fighting and struggling to win over several seconds will leave you permanently
disabled, or dead.
"Never let fear decide your fate."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is
the strategy out of which victory is evolved."
-- "The Art of War", Chapter 6, paragraph 27.
Commentary -- i.e., everybody can see superficially how a battle is won;
what they cannot see is the long series of plans and combinations which
has preceded the battle.
Everyone has the will to win. Few have the will to prepare to win.
The training [attending at least one class or conference a year, etc.],
the practice [daily dry practice, monthly live fire, semi-annual competition],
the planning [What if? Visualizing scenarios, etc.],
the conditioning [running 3 miles everyday, etc.],
the maintenance of health [sleeping and eating correctly, etc.] and
morale [being at peace with your God, being at peace with your loved ones,
being free of debt, having enough life insurance to take care of your loved ones,
etc.].
“How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.”
-- John Farnam
"You win gunfights by not getting shot."
-- John Holschen
************************************************************************
------------------------------ Tactics --------------------------------
Maneuver and fire in support of your strategy to escape.
Sometimes you must close with the enemy to
destroy him with fire and close combat.
"Shooting quickly in a staged environment under no stress
does not make you tactically proficient."
-- John Hearne
Another thing that was demonstrated and explained at the Bullets & Bibles
conference in Olsburg, KS by David Reed -- (I paraphrase.)
The further away from the enemy you are, the smaller solid angle, measured in
steradians, you subtend. The further away from any barrier you are, between you
and the enemy, the smaller you appear to the enemy relative to the barrier.
So stay back away from barriers. The way competitors crowd barriers in
competitions is WRONG! The barrier may appear too small to cover you, but if
you back up enough, it will completely cover you.
If you back up from the barrier enough, you will be able to see the enemy
around the edge of the barrier before he sees any part of you. Of course,
you must remove brimmed hats and lean over so as not to expose any part
of yourself before your eye can see the enemy.
Always better to go around the side of barriers, rather than over the top.
Going over the top exposes the part of your head above your eyes. And the
distance between your line-of-sight and your bore may cause you to hit the
barrier, even if you can clearly see the target with your sights. Because your
bore is lower than your sights. A lot of people were hitting the barriers in class
because of this. If the barrier is black from your muzzle blast, you are too
close to the barrier. Back up! It's good for your health. A real barrier would
have thrown bits of barrier and bullet back as you.
[If you use a right-handed Weaver position and aim with your right eye
when going around the right side of a barrier, and a left-handed Weaver position
aiming with your left eye when going around the left side of a barrier, you will
expose much less of your body for the enemy to see and shoot at.
If you practice, you will be confident doing this. It's worth it, no matter
which eye you use for aiming.
-- Jon Low]
"You often don't know where the bad guy is who is shooting at you."
-- Phillip Groff
Ho Shih says: "Haste may be stupid, but at any rate it saves expenditure
of energy and treasure; protracted operations may be very clever, but they
bring calamity in their train."
Chang Yü says: "So long as victory can be attained, stupid haste is preferable
to clever dilatoriness." [Of course, there is no way to predict that victory can
be attained. So this is so much intellectual masturbation. -- Jon Low]
-- "The Art of War" commentaries.
“People shoot you because they see you.
They see you because you let them.
Don’t let them see you.”
-- Clint Smith
Chia Lin: "In presence of the enemy, your troops should be arrayed in normal
fashion, but in order to secure victory abnormal maneuvers must be employed."
-- "The Art of War" commentaries.
You must do what the enemy does not expect. Generally speaking, in a civilian
self-defense context, that is immediate counter-attack with overwhelming violence.
Don't give the enemy time to react.
“Fortuitous outcomes reinforce poor tactics.”
-- Chuck Haggard
"Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory,
but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances."
-- Sun Tzŭ, chapter 6, paragraph 28.
This is why it is so important for instructors to teach principles, not situationally
specific tactics. If the student knows the principles, he can figure out which tactics
to use. If he knows tactics, but does not know principles, he will use the tactics
that he knows, regardless of circumstances. [This is why Pat Tillman is dead.]
“No possible rapidity of fire can atone for
habitual carelessness of aim with the first shot.”
-- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States,
"The Wilderness Hunter", 1893
"The Modern Technique of the Pistol" by Gregory Boyce Morrison
Excerpt:
"MAXIMIZE YOUR DISTANCE FROM CORNERS AND POTENTIAL
DANGER AREAS" Page 13.
[DANGER AREAS include doors, doorways, windows, gaps in cover, etc.
-- Jon Low]
---
So the practice of crowding cover, that you will see in IDPA and USPSA matches,
is WRONG. It is a training scar that you must be aware of and avoid.
---
Morrison recommends studying sports psychology to improve your training.
See page 19.
Self-talk. Positive talk induces positive thought which induces positive talk
which induces positive thought, ad infinitum. A beautiful positive feedback loop.
Trigger words.
Mental imagery. Visualization.
"Real fights are short." -- Bruce Lee
“When you’re in the dark, stay in the dark;
when you’re in the light, light up the dark.”
-- Stephen P. Wenger
*************************************************************************
Ella Langley
------------------------------ Techniques --------------------------------
Ways to execute a given task in support of your tactics,
especially when disabled or under stress.
"The secret is applying extreme force with the pinkies and
working your way up the rest of the digits."
-- Jeff L. Gonzales
"Stop Shooting Like a Rookie (It Only Takes Two Fixes)"
by Tom McHale
Lean forward, not backward.
"ignore the wobble" [Short version of strive for a surprise trigger break.]
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
"How to Use a Light and a Gun Together" by Massad Ayoob - Facts and Firearms
Excerpt:
"The weapon mounted light is not for search."
". . . only shoot as fast as you can assess, and . . . assess after each shot,
both of which, we should be training to do all the time anyway."
-- Ralph Mroz, "Street Focused Handgun Training"
"Maybe It Isn’t You: Understanding the Challenge of a Red Dot Sight"
by Jeff Gonzales
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"I can always do nothing more consistently than I can do something."
-- Ben Stoeger
"Yes, You Can Shoot With One Hand" by Tatiana Whitlock
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"Grip first, then press."
-- Mike Seeklander
"Sinister Studies 2026 – Serious Scrutiny into Southpaw Shooting"
by (The author is not cited, but there are 3 persons listed at
)
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
"Handheld vs Weapon Mounted Lights: Which One is Better?"
by Riley Bowman
Excerpts:
"None of This Works Without Training"
"The version of low-light shooting that gets sold most often goes like this:
you search with your handheld, you find a threat, you draw your pistol, and
then you transition to your weapon-mounted light to do the actual shooting.
It sounds tidy. In practice it's very close to a fantasy, and I want to be direct
about why."
"Momentary vs. constant-on. A momentary function (light on while you
hold pressure, off when you release) is a good feature to have, and plenty
of excellent shooters build their technique around it. I'll be honest with you,
though: I don't really rely on it anymore. I mostly just click the light on and
click it off. I've found I can do that just as fast as running momentary, and
for me it's more reliable. Figure out what works for you, but don't assume
momentary is mandatory."
"Lumens matter up to a point, but once you're past a reasonable floor
(I'd call it about 500 lumens as a minimum), candela becomes far more
important for defensive use."
"For a defensive light, I'd treat roughly 18,000 candela as a practical minimum,
and more is better. A tight, intense beam beats a big, soft one every time for our
purposes."
---
Comments --
"Not mentioned is the fact the the real world need for a pistol mounted light
in a CCW context approaches almost absolute zero. I’m not talking made up
hypothetical scenarios which are so popular, I’m talking real life."
-- Chuck Haggard
In response to a recommendation to use the Rogers Technique --
". . . have you actually run through any live fire scenarios or courses of fire
while using the Rogers technique? I have and quickly realized it just did not
work for me! I instantly begin using the Harries technique and still do today
after 20 plus years of extensive training as a LE Active Shooter Instructor.
We should always apply what we’ve learned in real life circumstances to make
sure it actually works for us in reality."
-- Kevin R
[I agree. Rogers Technique is not practical in combat. -- Jon Low]
---
[Remember Task Overload Confusion. Use your support side thumb to
operate your weapon mounted light, never use your trigger finger. -- Jon Low]
[The light should have only two conditions: On full brightness or off.
Anything more complex than that will not serve you well. No strobes,
no multiple brightness levels, no colors. Just on and off. -- Jon Low]
"Whatever you leave alone is perfect." -- Brian Enos
Jess demonstrates how to access your mag release.
"The foundations of your grip are established
before you even draw the pistol from the holster."
-- Tanner Denton
Jess demonstrates how to reload.
"In my strategy the footwork does not change.
I always walk as I usually do in the street."
-- Miyamoto Musashi
Jess demonstrates how to charge a magazine.
We don't "load" magazines. That is overloading the word "load". Which will
cause all kinds of problems.
We "charge" and "void" magazines.
We "load" and "unload" guns.
“What’s the number one reason for reloading?
Missing the target!”
-- Claude Werner
"Grip, Trigger, Sights: Diagnosing the Strong Hand"
by Tatiana Whitlock
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
". . . I encourage shooters to think of strong-hand-only shooting as more than
an emergency or defensive skill. It is also an excellent diagnostic tool.
. . .
Removing one hand does not simply make shooting more difficult. It gives us an
opportunity to study grip mechanics, trigger control, recoil management, and
visual information with fewer competing inputs."
"Unfortunately, maximum effort and maximum control are not necessarily
the same thing."
"Sometimes the fastest route to improvement is not trying harder.
It is creating enough time and attention to actually see what is happening."
"Perhaps your trigger press became cleaner because you were less concerned
about movement. Maybe you became more visually patient. Perhaps reducing
the physical workload allowed you to relax your grip. The target shows you the
result, but your job as a developing shooter is to investigate the cause.
That habit of asking why is where real improvement begins."
"Write down the observation that mattered most. That becomes your next
training assignment."
"Change One Variable at a Time"
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Postvention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to treat your wounds or the wounds of your loved ones.
Suggestions on how to avoid prosecution, conviction, and prison time.
Suggestions on how to avoid the civil law suit and judgment.
Table of sections:
Aftermath
Medical
Survival
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Aftermath --------------------------------
You must be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.
"What Is Psychological Support?" by Dr. Alexis Artwohl
“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
"How Much Should You Spend On A CCW Gun?" by Active Self Protection Extra
Ya, this article is in the correct section. John is a former Baptist minister.
In the right hand column of this web page, click on "Never Talk To The Police"
or use the address,
"Understanding the Longer-Term Emotional Impact of a Defensive Shooting"
by Joel T. Nadler
Excerpt:
"Estimates suggest that the proportion of Americans who have taken another
person’s life—through police action, self-defense, military action, or homicide —
falls somewhere between .01% (1 in 1,000) and .001% (1 in 10,000). This means
very few people have faced the psychological consequences of taking a life.
This rarity is important when compared with estimates of civilian uses of force,
which are approximately 61,000 per year in the United States, or about
1 in 5,600 people."
Citation
"Levels and Changes in Defensive Firearm Use by US Crime Victims, 1987‒2021"
by David McDowall, Brian Wiersema, Colin Loftin, Richard McCleary
In the right hand column, click on the link labeled "Self Defense Insurance".
Or, the 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
“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
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Medical --------------------------------
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Course - NAEMT Certified
DEFEND SYSTEMS
(615) 480-7758
Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Course - NAEMT Certified - GHCC26, $695.00
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Survival --------------------------------
"Survival is a mindset, not a skill set."
-- Greg Shaffer
Stretching exercises.
‟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
Core exercises.
"Survival is not based solely on technique.
Survivability may hinge on the use of the correct technique
appropriate to the environment you are fighting in.
Oh, and yes, marksmanship is always valuable."
-- Clint Smith
Abdominal exercises.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
--Benjamin Franklin
"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 ***** ***** *****
Table of sections:
Legal
Instruction
*************************************************************************
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Gun Owners of America digital magazine
Langdon Tactical Technologies.
Gun University
"Defensive Use of Firearms" by Stephen P. Wenger
Get on his emailing list for his newsletter,
Greg Ellifritz's reading list,
American Rifleman
and American Hunter
are now online free of charge.
Practical Eschatology
2nd Amendment News & Articles
Citizen-Defender, John Murphy
YouTube.com channel
Blog posts,
Rangemaster Newsletter, Tom Givens
Active Self Protection, John Correia
"My Gun Culture" by Tom McHale
Quips, John Farnam
Active Response Training, Greg Ellifritz
Make sure to check out the Weekend Knowledge Dumps.
The Tactical Professor, Claude Werner
American Handgunner Magazine
Tactical Science
International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors
Alien Gear blog
Shooting Classes Blog
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Legal --------------------------------
"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, Constitution of the United States of America
“It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men
of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read,
or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.” —James Madison (1788)
"Trump Pardons Patrick ‘Tate’ Adamiak, George Peterson After ATF Prosecutions"
by John Crump
In case there is any doubt in your mind that the ATF is populated by corrupt
liars.
"Law of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca
(free book, just pay shipping so you don't have to go to Colorado to pick it up)
"Wife’s Affair Partner Fatally Shoots Her in the Neck Yet
Husband Is Charged With Her Murder"
by Dr. Todd Grande
You can't go to the fight and claim self-defense. You must always be trying to
get away from the fight or trying to prevent the threat from approaching you.
Driving to the guy's house to confront him is NOT self-defense.
You start a second gun fight when you leave to get a gun and go back to fight
the other guy. Don't do such stupid shit.
Felony murder is a thing. You don't have to shoot and kill the victim. All
that needs to happen is that you were committing a crime when someone got
shot and killed, incident to you committing a crime.
[If you don't understand the word usage, I am using the third definition of "incident"
in Dictionary.com. -- Jon Low]
Gun Law Database
"Gun Owners Will LOVE These Jokes! 🤣 ABSOLUTE Comedy Gold"
by Alex Assoune
"Build A Reciprocity Map:" by Concealed Carry, Inc.
"Fairlane shooting:
19-year-old who acted in self-defense killing mall gunman, sentenced"
by David Komer
Hat tip to Luke Nordvick.
Even if you're the hero, the liberal anti-gun anti-self-defense political hacks will
prosecute and convict you. Notice that liberal politics trumps race. Liberals will eat
their own.
Martinez Long carried his gun to stop the mass murder. A good and righteous
purpose. At sentencing, the judge said that carrying the gun was poor judgment.
Quite the contrary, it was excellent judgment that saved innocent lives. The judge
is just a liberal hack advancing the anti-gun anti-self-defense agenda, as is the
prosecutor.
“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
"Nightmare Mom Cheered, While Super Mom Convicted"
by Emmy Griffin
Having worked in the system as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children,
I can assure you that the bureaucrats in the Department of Children's Services are
flaming liberals who feel the state can better care for children than their biological
parents. Thank God, most of the judges still feel it is their duty to return children
to their biological parents or blood relatives. The DCS bureaucrats are happy to
flood the foster parents with children removed from their homes based on frivolous
charges.
"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
"SWAT Team Wakes Up Innocent Man and Shoots Him" by Liberty Doll
In case you're wondering why "Defund the Police" gets so much traction among
normal people.
At 19:48 she lists the names of the officers involved in the incident.
It's very important to name names. Nameless faceless bureaucrats is one thing,
individually named officers is different.
“Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore,
be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not
to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything mean
everything or nothing at pleasure.”
— Thomas Jefferson (1823)
"ATF Quietly Expands Legal Suppressor Repairs and Caliber Conversions"
by AmmoLand Editor Duncan Johnson
"Firearms are second only to the constitution in importance,
they are the people's liberty's teeth." -- George Washington
"21 Attorneys General Appeal to Congress to Repeal National Firearms Act"
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
So sad to see that Tennessee's Attorney General is not on the list.
We will remember.
"The Wal-Mart Parking Lot Killing Legal Outcome" by Tactical Professor
Idaho is the best for guns, ranked 50 out of 50 states.
Tennessee gun laws.
Clarence Thomas Explained The Second Amendment In One Sentence
*************************************************************************
Haley Jaymes Richey
------------------------------ Instruction --------------------------------
"Remember,
the students who require the extra effort
are the ones who need us the most!"
-- John Farnam
*************************************************************************
----- Instructors -----
"Let's face it, most of us are not half as smart as we may sometimes think we
are - and for intellectuals, not one-tenth as smart."
- Thomas Sowell, "Random Thoughts," December 2010
I keep many pistols of varying grip sizes and appropriately fitting accessories
for students to use, because it is unreasonable to expect the beginner to spend
hundreds of dollars on equipment that may or may not be correct for the student,
and it is unreasonable to expect such an expenditure before that student has
decided to make a commitment to the armed way of life. Which can only be
made after he understands it.
"I only deal with serious students."
Stop and think about the arrogance of that statement.
"I don't give beginner classes."
Stop and think about what you're saying. How would any student rise to the
level that you would deign to teach them?
As Tiffany Johnson says, teaching beginners is the most difficult instructional
task and requires the best teachers.
Claiming that you don't teach beginner classes means you are assuming a
level of marksmanship competence and safe gun handling. A dangerous
assumption. Which is the reason there are so many more "accidents" in higher
level classes. It's not that the class is teaching more dangerous skills, it is that
the instructors are assuming a level of competence and safety that the students
do not possess. And as we see in the record of students killed in training, the
instructors don't possess either.
“The student’s purpose is to expand their body of knowledge and social network.
The instructor’s purpose is to help the student achieve the student’s goals.”
-- Amy Schwartz
Concerning local guides.
-- "The Art of War", chapter 11, paragraph 52.
Commentary --
Livy records: Hannibal, we are told, ordered a guide to lead him into the
neighborhood of Casinum, where there was an important pass to be occupied;
but his Carthaginian accent, unsuited to the pronunciation of Latin names,
caused the guide to understand Casilinum instead of Casinum, and turning
from his proper route, he took the army in that direction, the mistake not
being discovered until they had almost arrived.
---
To teach, you must enunciate and correctly speak the language of your audience.
Do not be so arrogant as to think that because you speak "proper English" the
audience must strive to understand you. English has no academy of language and
culture as do the French. English is defined by common usage. In this case,
the usage of your audience.
There is an Idaho expression: You got to keep the grass low enough for the
goats to see over it.
[The grass being too high means your language (thought) is too complex for your
audience to comprehend what you are saying. Simplify and clarify until the goats,
your audience, can easily understand you. Which is not the same as dumbing down.]
Often used in the context of writing bills that the legislators can understand.
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God's gift to our students.
Our students are God's gift to us."
“He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”
-- Richard Henry Dana
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith
“Qui docet, discet.” (Who teaches, learns.)
-- American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers
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
"A false path will always be tensely, angrily, violently defended
by those it has deceived, because those who are so easily deceived
are ever too arrogant to repent.”
-- Instructional axiom
"You must teach skill sustainment as part of training."
-- John Hearne
"Your curriculum needs to be recent, relevant, and realistic."
-- Austin Killmer
"The limited time you spend with students
may be the only training they ever receive!"
-- John Farnam
“Pick a lane, master that lane, and stay in it.”
-- Chuck Haggard
“The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives.”
-- Robert John Meehan
************************************************************************
----- Students -----
"Thinking is the hardest thing a person can do.
That's why so few people do it."
-- Henry Ford
Primary and Secondary's recommendations for instructors.
https://primaryandsecondary.com/extended-ps-network/
“Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans.”
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
"Keep in mind that this is some seriously next level material.
It is totally normal that the first time you see this stuff, you find
it confusing. You find it difficult to understand. So, confusion
should not discourage you. It does not represent any intellectual
failing on your part. Rather, keep in mind that it represents an
opportunity to get even smarter."
– Tim Roughgarden, Professor of Computer Science and other
stuff at Stanford University
"Try.
Try again.
Try once more.
Try differently.
Try again tomorrow.
Try and ask for help.
Try find someone who's done it.
Try to fix the problem.
Keep trying until you succeed."
-- Nicola Cavanis
“It may seem difficult at first but everything is difficult at first.”
-- Miyamota Mushashi
"It's better to be wrong than to be vague."
-- Freeman Dyson
*************************************************************************
----- Andragogy (as opposed to pedagogy) -----
‟An instructor should not expect any learning to
take place the first time new information is presented.”
-- ‶Building Shooters″ by Dustin Salomon
"Growth is uncomfortable because you've never been there before."
-- Nicola Cavanis
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
------------------------------ Gear --------------------------------
And the safe storage thereof.
Action Target
For free shipping use Code "LDFREE"
For 25% off your order use code "LD25OFF"
Thanks to Ed Monk.
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
"What Training Immediately Reveals About Your Equipment"
by Jack Bogart
"Why are the little things called little things?
They are everything."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"There's No Perfect Carry 1911.
That's the Point."
by Tom McHale
"Leather Outside (and Inside), Kydex Where It Counts:
Falco Holsters Talonguard"
by Tom McHale
"There are no dangerous weapons, only dangerous men."
-- Robert A. Heinlein
"Choosing a Safe Holster" by Sarah Hauptman (Langdon Tactical)
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
---
1. Holster must completely cover the trigger guard, making it impossible for anything
to press the trigger when the pistol is holstered. If you can bend a paper clip into
a proper shape to slip into your holster to press your trigger, the holster fails.
2. Retain the gun in the holster and the holster to your body. So this includes the
function of your gun belt. If your belt can be ripped off your body, it fails. If your
holster can be ripped off your belt, it fails. If you can turn the holstered pistol
upside down and shake your gun out of your holster, the holster fails.
3. Your holster must allow for one-handed holstering. Otherwise, you're going
to muzzle your support-side hand. Or you won't be able to holster when your
other hand is not available. (Injury to the other hand, holding a baby with the other
arm, applying pressure with the other hand to stop the bleeding, etc.) If you must
point the pistol at your body in order to holster your pistol, your holster fails,
because you have violated Safety Rule 2.
---
"Finding the Optimal Carry Position for Concealment" by Sarah and John Hauptman
(Langdon Tactical)
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
---
"How to Conceal Carry in a Dress" by Brittany Klein (PHLster)
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
"Beginner’s Guide to Pistol Ammo" by Chris Baker
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
The purpose of a high capacity magazine is NOT to let you shoot more;
it is to let you reload less.
-- Tom Givens
The maximum effective range of a rifle is the distance at which the bullet remains
supersonic. (That's a generally accepted definition in the community, which is not
the maximum range. The bullet can kill things way beyond the maximum effective
range.) Because when the bullet transitions from supersonic to subsonic, it is in its
own shock wave, a very turbulent environment, and so unstable. The trajectory is
not well defined after this transition because of the turbulence.
Ya, it will generally travel along the same trajectory, as a mass, but not as a
gyroscopically stabilized prolate form. Because it might be yawing, pitching,
or both due to passing through the turbulent shock wave. (You might want to
take a fluid physics class in turbulent flow to understand this.) In a worst case,
the bullet might be tumbling. [I've had 9mm bullets go through the target side ways.]
The dirty little secret is that the standard 9mm self-defense load when fired from
a pistol length barrel, will make the supersonic-subsonic transition at about 30 yards.
Plug your data into any online ballistic calculator to find your distance. Sonic is
about 1100 to 1200 feet per second, depending on temperature, air pressure, humidity,
and such. So "long range" shots out to 25 yards are reasonable. Shots beyond 30 yards
are not what a competent rifleman would consider reasonable, because the shooter
cannot mechanically or theoretically ensure precision at those distances, because
of the turbulence due to the sonic transition destabilizing the bullet.
Sorry, that's just reality.
"DROP SAFE?" by Gabe Suarez
Excerpt:
"But many high end pistols have done away with the mechanism (trigger block
to make the gun drop safe) to improve performance. Notably the Stacatto and
some other 2011/1911 models. And of course the new CZ Shadow 2 Compact
lacks one as well."
"Selecting a pistol because it is ‟safe” is like selecting a car because it gets
great mileage, and is great in a crash. Some people would love a car like that
but not everyone. Some of us prefer a performance machine that places the
driver experience and handling characteristics above making it eternally safe
to crash."
"Defiant Ammunition" by John Farnam
This is a must read. This article is full of useful and definitive quotes.
‶Terminal Ballistics 1: How Pistols “Stop” Bad Guys″
by Justin "Danger" Carroll
Excerpt:
"Gabriel was dating a woman with an unstable ex-boyfriend. The ex-boyfriend
had made a number of threats, so Gabriel was making sure his girlfriend got home
safely. The ex-boyfriend ambushed Gabriel, shooting him 15 times with a .45 ACP.
It’s fairly safe to say that a mobility stop was achieved: Gabriel’s shooting arm was
completely inoperable. He was still able to draw his handgun, though. With his
weak (right) hand, Gabriel drew his HK VP9 from the 8 o’clock position and fired
it upside down, pulling the trigger with his pinky. [A well defined technique taught
in the Georgia State law enforcement academies. I teach the technique in my classes,
because I believe that from experience and the experience of others that drawing
and shooting support-hand only is an essential skill.
-- Jon Low]
Even though a mobility “stop” was achieved, Gabriel was still able to get his
gun out. Getting to the pistol and firing at the bad guy ended the fight. Has a
mobility stop ever worked? Sure, but it’s not reliable enough to depend on as
a first-line intervention in a fight for our lives."
"Factors that make no sense whatsoever: We also have to realize that there
are factors that are likely to make no sense at all to a reasonable, rational, sane,
sober person. Criminals do not think like we do."
"CRIMINALS DO NOT THINK LIKE YOU DO."
---
YouTube.com video,
The meat starts at 0:52.
---
This is the first in a three part series on terminal ballistics. In this first part,
I’m going to take a look at how pistol bullets achieve stops.
In part two, we’ll take a look at what pistol bullets do (and don’t do),
address caliber concerns, and things like penetration, and expansion.
In the third part, we’ll talk about tactical anatomy and where you need
to aim to end fights quickly. Along the way we’ll dispel some myths like
“stopping power” and “knockdown power” and perhaps even address the
question of 9mm versus .45 ACP. I almost hate to wade into these waters,
but this debate seems never ending so, I might as well throw my hat in the ring.
-- Justin Carroll
---
My take away from the stories related in this article is that if you carry a
revolver or a low capacity semi-auto, you're a damn fool, because you don't
have sufficient ammunition to win in combat.
Some of the persons reloaded multiple times in these stories, but that takes
time that you probably won't have in combat.
You make time by hitting with the rounds that are initially in your pistol.
-- Jon Low
"Police Trade In As A CCW" by Active Self Protection Extra
---
Reliability should be your top priority in choosing a carry pistol. Of course,
this includes the ammunition and your training. Because you can do things to
induce a stoppage (improper grip, improper skeletal structural support, interfering
with the slide, etc.).
Fitting your hand should be your next priority (the grip must be long enough
to allow you to get all of your fingers on the grip, the girth must be small enough
to allow you to have the tip of your middle finger pointing back towards you),
because that's the human-pistol interface, that's how you control the pistol.
The trigger must be in the correct position to allow you to press the trigger straight
to the rear (no vector component of lateral force) when holding the pistol correctly.
Ability to shoot your chosen pistol accurately should be your next priority.
Can you control the recoil? The 45 ACP has less recoil than the 40 S&W.
The 9mm has less recoil than the 45 ACP. Less recoil than the 9mm means
you're playing with low probabilities of a one shot stop. More recoil than the
40 S&W means you're playing with enough recoil to make subsequent shots
difficult, because getting the sights back on target takes more time, because the
recoil has thrown your sights further off the target. You, of course, must
experiment to find what you can shoot accurately. No one can do the
experiments for you.
"Remanufactured 9mm 115gr FMJ 1,000 Rounds – $194.27 w/ Code"
The code is ALAND5. You put in the code at the bottom of the payment page,
second page. It's hard to find. I had to contact Ammunition Depot to find the
"Apply Discount Code" at the bottom of the page.
Including tax and shipping, it comes to $230.73.
Remanufactured means mixed brass.
When I acquire a pistol with the intention of using it as a loaner for students,
I will make some modifications:
Undercut and thin the trigger guard where it meets the grip. This is to avoid
Glock Knuckle, a painful and disfiguring repetitive stress injury caused by the
trigger guard rubbing against the proximal interphalangeal joint of the firing-side
hand middle finger. I had known of this ailment, but didn't have a term for it until
Aqil Qadir told me what it was called in the industry.
Widen the rear sight by 2/100ths of an inch. By machining out 1/100th of
an inch on each side of the rear sight notch. Otherwise, the student won't see
any light on either side of the front sight in low ligh conditions.
[I offered to do this for an instructor at Royal Range. She was scattering horizontally.
Because she could not center her front sight in your rear sight notch, because the
notch was too narrow. She declined my offer. She couldn't believe that the
manufacturer would make such an error. And so refused to believe that my suggestion
would fix her problem.]
Cut serrations on the slide to prevent the student's hand from slipping on the
slide when attempting to rack the slide. I have found this to work much better
than applying friction tape to the sides of the slide.
Polish all bearing surfaces. And if necessary, machine surfaces that interact to
move the barrel / chamber during cycling. I have found this drastically increases
reliability in some models. Of course, I leave this to a competent machinist.
"Leather Outside (and Inside), Kydex Where It Counts:
Falco Holsters Talonguard"
by Tom McHale
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sight Height Calculators
Tools to Track Ammunition Prices:
Ammo Seek
BulletScout
Caliber King
AmmoSquared Inc.
Ammo sources:
Ammunition Depot
Use code: ALAND5
Lucky Gunner
Boro Bullets (manufactured in Murfreesboro, TN)
Unlimited Ammo
Target Sports USA
GunMag Warehouse
SGAmmo
True Shot Ammo
The Mag Shack
If you know of any others, please let me know.
Parts sources:
Numrich Gun Parts
Wolff gun springs
Brownells
Midway USA
*************************************************************************
Ichelle Streekstra
***** ***** ***** Intelligence ***** ***** *****
Always cite open source.
"Antifa Mastermind Network HAMMERED in Major Counterstrike!"
by Robert Gouveia Esq.
In case you didn't understand.
"The Economics of Nightclubs" by Marcus Explains
Specific people, at a specific place, at a specific time. Expiration time of 6 hours.
Do you understand why intelligence organizations are involved?
Do you understand how the intel orgs use such?
"Ukraine’s Tank Strategy Has NATO Stunned… It’s Pure GENIUS"
by The Military Show
"I Found Something Terrifying" by Cappy Army
Purges of flag officers (and field grade officers, in China) in U.S. and China.
"How the CIA Ruined the 9/11 Confession" by John Kiriakou
Confession thrown out because it was obtained by torture.
"Something Big is Happening in Russia" by Cappy Army
"The CIA’s Hollywood Secrets & Fetterman’s Staffer Mutiny | Ep.17"
by John Kiriakou
The story at 12:02 is very important.
As Margaret Thatcher said, the only reason anyone remembers the Good Samaritan
is because he had money and he used it. Paramount Pictures, American film studio,
subsidiary of Paramount Global ponied up the money. Operators like Kiriakou and
the British mercenaries, interpreter, driver, et al are a dime a dozen. The significance
of the story is Paramont willing to pay up front in full to make it happen. Beware of
people who make excuses, they probably don't have the money.
As an Intel Analyst, it is your duty to see and understand the big picture.
Post by Eddy Bauer --
"I hear people asking why President Trump is fighting with Canada, dealing with
Venezuela, using tariffs and talking so much about energy. Those are fair questions.
When people are paying more for gas, groceries and electricity, they are naturally
worried about today.
I understand that because I am paying those bills too. But if we only look at the
price on the gas pump, we are going to miss the biggest part of what President Trump
is doing.
Remember Clinton and Bush’s new world order? Well for more than 30 years,
presidents from both parties managed America’s decline, the only way the new world
order works is to tear down America and build up the rest of the world. They sent
our factories to China, made us depend on OPEC for oil and allowed foreign
countries to control the minerals needed to run our economy. They called it free trade,
but there was nothing free about America losing millions of jobs while China grew
rich and powerful.
President Trump is the first president in my lifetime who looked at that entire
system and said we are not doing this anymore.
He is not just trying to lower gas prices next month. He is rebuilding America
so no foreign country can hold us hostage for the next 50 to 100 years.
His administration is negotiating a deal that could give the United States an
ownership stake in more than a dozen Venezuelan oil fields holding around 90
billion barrels of proven reserves. If completed, that could more than double
America’s oil reserves.
That oil will not reach your gas tank next week. Socialism destroyed Venezuela’s
oil industry, and rebuilding it will take years and billions of dollars. President Trump
is thinking past the next election and planning for the future of our children and
grandchildren.
The fight with Canada is also about much more than a few tariffs. Canada has
some of the world’s largest supplies of uranium, which is needed for nuclear power,
and potash, which is needed to make fertilizer and grow food. At the same time,
Canada has been sending uranium and potash to China while expecting full access
to the American market.
President Trump is telling Canada it cannot have it both ways. You cannot expect
all the benefits of being America’s closest trading partner while helping strengthen
Communist China.
Canada must choose which side it is on.
That is a major reason behind this trade fight. The tariffs are leverage, not the
final goal. Canada depends heavily on the American market and cannot replace it.
President Trump holds the stronger hand, and I believe we will win if Republicans
stand behind him and give him time to finish the job.
Now look at the whole map. The United States has oil, natural gas, farmland
and manufacturing. Canada has uranium and potash. Venezuela has oil. Argentina,
Chile and Bolivia have lithium. Brazil has iron, rare earth minerals and farmland.
Mexico has manufacturing capacity.
The Western Hemisphere has almost everything we need to feed ourselves,
fuel ourselves, build our own goods and defend ourselves without begging China,
Iran, Russia or OPEC for anything.
That is what President Trump is really building.
He is building an America where Iran cannot raise the price of every gallon of
gas by threatening one shipping lane. China cannot shut down our factories by
withholding critical minerals. OPEC cannot control our economy by cutting oil
production.
A war 8,000 miles away may still be a tragedy, but it should not become an
American family’s mortgage payment. Our young people should be working
good-paying jobs in American factories, mines and refineries instead of carrying
rifles through another endless war overseas.
I am not telling you every decision will be painless or that everything will happen
exactly as planned. No honest person can promise that. I am telling you there is a
much bigger plan at work than the media is explaining.
It took more than 30 years to hollow out America. President Trump cannot
rebuild it in 18 months. Factories take time to build. Oil fields take time to restore.
Supply chains take time to bring home.
That is why the midterm elections are so important.
If Democrats take control of Congress, they will not spend their time helping
President Trump lower prices or rebuild America. They will block his agenda,
fight his energy and trade policies, launch endless investigations and start another
impeachment circus.
China, Iran, OPEC and the globalists will sit back and wait for President Trump’s
time to run out while Democrats tie his hands.
We cannot let that happen.
Voting Republican in the midterms does not mean every Republican is perfect.
They are not. It means deciding whether we give President Trump the time and
support needed to finish turning America around or hand Congress back to the very
people who helped create this mess.
Vote in the midterms like President Trump’s name is on the ballot, because
everything he is building is on that ballot.
America First is not just a slogan. It is a long-term plan to make America strong,
independent and impossible to hold hostage ever again."
-- Eddy Bauer
"There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare."
-- "The Art of War" by Sun Tzŭ, Chapter 2, paragraph 6.
"Spies are a most important element in war,
because on them depends an army's ability to move."
-- "The Art of War", Chapter 13, paragraph 27.
Commentary --
Chia Lin says that an army without spies is like a man without ears or eyes.
---
That is why Commandant Smith's decision to eliminate all Marine Corps
Scout Snipers and the Scout Sniper School was an act of treason. The Scout
Snipers reported directly to the S-2 or G-2 (the Intel unit). The Scout Snipers
were the eyes and ears of the commander.
"Bombshell Report:
Netanyahu Was WARNED Before October 7th. | Ep. 18"
by John Kiriakou
"Something SERIOUSLY DISTURBING Is Happening In Russia"
by The Domino Effect
Lora Logan spoke at the Tennessee Firearms Association annual banquet on
12 September 2026 A.D. in Lebanon, TN. She said:
In Nigeria, the Muslims in the north are conducting a genocide against the
Christians in the south. The government forbids the citizens (serfs) from
keeping and bearing arms. So when the Christians arm themselves to defend
themselves, the government arrests them and imprisons them (men), leaving
the women and children to be raped and murdered. It is much worse than
you could imagine.
To recruit spies, look for corrupt individuals, egotistic persons, and those
whose ideology conflicts with the government they live in. [Honorable persons
will leave. Dishonorable persons will work against the government. The
purpose of a spy is to betray trust. The honorable are never spies. We were
never spies. We were spooks. Big fucking difference. Never let anyone
tell you otherwise. -- Jon Low]
Concerning Benghazi, Libya, Lora said that 10 minutes after the attack
intended to capture Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, the military attaché
told the Deputy Ambassador that "the cavalry ain't coming". Which means
President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton had decided not to rescue
anyone. The cover up followed.
Since the beginning of our country, the principle had been to leave no
man behind. We would send men to bring out our dead, so rescuing the
living was a absolute no brainer. The Obama administration turned that
principle on its head. Because that's the type of person Obama is, at least
since high school (Punahou in Honolulu, HI).
In recent months, the U.S. has recovered two nuclear bombs. That's why
we are at war in Iran. That's why we cannot let the Iranians become a nuclear
power. [The Iranians have publicly stated that they will use such bombs to
bring in the Mahdi (Twelfth Imam, Imam Mahdi). Who do you think they
intend to bomb? Israel. The Israelis are scared to death of Iran and need to
destroy Iran. The problem is that the Israelis need U.S. support and Trump
wants peace, not Iranian destruction. Trumps wants to return Iran to the
state of the Shah, before the Islamic Revolution. Good luck with that.
-- Jon Low]
You should take Lora seriously, because she has actually gone there and
talked to the people on the ground. She has connections and sources that
are reliable. Over the years, as an investigative journalist, she has developed
sources that are far better than the CIA assets.
Remember what John Kiriakou said, "Before the October 7th attack,
Benjamin Netanyahu considered the threat in the West Bank. Benjamin
Netanyahu considered Hamas in Gaza an asset." Stop and think about that.
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Counter Intelligence
"Knowledge of the enemy's disposition can only be obtained from other men."
-- "The Art of War", Chapter 13, paragraph 6.
Commentary --
Mei Yao-ch’ên has a rather interesting note:
"Knowledge of the spirit-world is to be obtained by divination;
information in natural science may be sought by inductive reasoning;
the laws of the universe can be verified by mathematical calculation;
but the dispositions of an enemy are ascertainable through spies and spies alone."
"The enemy's spies who have come to spy on us must be sought out,
tempted with bribes, led away and comfortably housed. Thus they will
become converted spies and available for our service."
-- "The Art of War", Chapter 13, paragraph 21.
[Sun Tzŭ is not saying that the spy knows that he is being used or
that he knows that he is providing service.]
---
Contrast this with arrest, imprison, torture, trade for captured friendly spies, etc.
Or, with kill them, make them disappear, etc. In case you're not aware, our prisons
are full of spies.
Only those protected by the good old boy network or political patronage are
difficult to catch. So they must be killed.
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Institute for the Study of war
The Dispatch
Strategy Page
"The Merge"
Breaking Defense
Intrigue
1440
29155
Global Recaps
Timber Sycamore
Ground News
Soldier Systems
Executive Order 12333
*************************************************************************
Ida Zeile
***** ***** ***** Signals Intelligence,
Ground Electronic Warfare,
Cyber Warfare,
(sometimes Air Electronic Warfare too) ***** ***** *****
Always cite open source.
"How We Found Bin Laden: The Basics of Foreign Signals Intelligence"
by National Security Agency
Note 13:23 and 30:42.
---
National Security Agency
Articles about artificial intelligence, co-authored by Claude (which is artificial
intelligence).
"Radar Trends to Watch: September 2026
Developments in AI models, infrastructure & ops, security, and more"
by Mike Loukides
An email from the Wilson County (Tennessee, USA) Chess Club --
ASCENDCHESS - What's New in v1.15
Your accuracy and centipawn-loss numbers were wrong, and we corrected them
When a game contained a forced mate, the engine records it as a special value rather
than a normal evaluation. Our move-loss calculation was treating that value as if it
were an ordinary score, so a single move could be charged thousands of centipawns
it never lost. The damage was concentrated in games with mates in them, which is
to say the sharp ones.
We fixed the calculation and then restated every affected game already in the
system: 26,175 moves across 5,034 games. If you looked at your accuracy or
average centipawn loss before this month and look again now, the number will
have moved. The new one is the correct one. No game was re-analyzed and no
move was re-evaluated - only the arithmetic on top of the evaluations changed.
Games that previously showed an average loss above 800 centipawns: 241.
Now: zero.
Theory exit is fast Building a theory-exit bank used to take the better part
of a minute because every candidate position was looked up one at a time and
every plan was evaluated in strict sequence. Those lookups now run together,
and the master-games browse got the database index its sort order always
needed. The bank and the plans come back in the same order as before -
only the waiting is gone.
Tactical Circuits draw from the full puzzle corpus Circuits were reading
a copy of the puzzle set that had been capped at 2400 rating and was no
longer being refreshed. They now read the live corpus directly, so the puzzles
you get are drawn from the whole of it.
Reporting a problem is now a conversation
If you send us a report, it appears on your reports page immediately rather than
after a delay. When we move it - triaged, accepted, shipped - you are told.
And when we write back, you can reply, in a thread that keeps both sides of
the exchange. Previously a report went into a box and nothing came out of it.
Failures say they failed
Three places used to fail quietly:
A chapter save on the study board could fail and leave the indicator spinning
forever, with no way to know the work had not been saved. It now says so.
A game analysis that produced nothing was still reported as "Succeeded."
It now reports what actually happened, and an analysis you navigated away
from is no longer counted as a failure.
A "Manage billing" click that could not reach the billing portal did nothing
visible. It now tells you why.
Drill results appear when the drill ends
The results screen used to wait for the attempt to be written to the database
before it would render. It now renders first and saves behind you. Blunder Drill
grading is also bounded, so a slow engine call can no longer leave the grade
hanging.
Smaller things
Change Password now lives in your profile.
Data & Privacy moved to the bottom of that page.
Chapter titles that name an opening are chosen by the model reading the chapter,
not by a keyword list that missed most of them.
When you add a book, the wizard asks for its subject and type instead of guessing.
Ratings: USCF Blitz is now tracked as its own pool alongside Regular and Quick.
Readability fixes on the change-password link, the selected opening filter chip's
screen-reader state, the endgame review card layout, and scrolling dialogs (which
now show an edge so you can tell there is more below).
Fewer dropped connections: a browser-abandoned script load no longer takes
the page's live connection down with it.
[Do you understand? Do you see why this is in the SigInt section?
Yes, this is real.
ONI and others are running computer simulated wargames constantly. They
make all kinds of mistakes. The mistakes are reported. Going up the chain of
command, at some point a decision is made, then the decision goes down the
chain of command to be implemented. How long does this take? Ya, we all
know. On the other hand, in the private sector we have speed and transparency
as shown above. Who would you rather work with / for / along side of?
Bureaucracy kills. Political correctness kills. Don't let it kill you or your
subordinates. Death Before Dishonor!
-- Jon Low]
---
"Psychiatrist Spots a Major Problem w/ Lindsay Clancy’s Defense | Hannah Spier"
by The Rubin Report and Hannah Spier, MD
On the other hand, don't let political correctness allow evil to escape justice.
If they can do it, so can you. The vulnerabilities won't be fixed. They will
be denied.
You see how you can use this? You see how the companies cover up.
"A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined,
but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain
a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them,
which would include their own government."
-- George Washington
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Cover Your Tracks
To get the IP address you are presently using,
Breaking Defense has a weekly newsletter, "Networks & Digital Warfare" at
Crypto-Gram by Bruce Schneier
2600
Soldier Systems
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Cryptology ***** ***** *****
Always cite open source.
Cryptosystems are considered "arms" by federal law, ITAR,
International Traffic in Arms Regulations. That means cryptosystems are
protected by the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
"The sorting algorithm that shouldn’t." by Stand-up Maths
---
"Is this the simplest (and most surprising) sorting algorithm ever?"
by Stanley P. Y. Fung
Addendum to "Is this the simplest (and most surprising) sorting algorithm ever?"
---
"15 Sorting Algorithms in 6 Minutes" by Timo Bingmann
Well, it's not really fair to compare sorting algorithms to Radix Sort.
Side note (because the video doesn't specify): The C++ standard library
function std::sort in GCC uses introsort, a hybrid algorithm combining
quicksort, heapsort, and insertion sort. It begins with quicksort, switches
to heapsort if recursion depth exceeds a threshold to guarantee $O(n \log n)$
worst-case performance, and uses insertion sort for small sub-arrays.
In contrast, the C standard library function qsort in the GNU C library (glibc)
primarily uses mergesort by default, falling back to quicksort only if memory
allocation fails. Additionally, the external command-line tool sort (part of GNU
coreutils) implements mergesort.
std::stable_sort in GCC (libstdc++) uses a Merge Sort algorithm.
---
"All the Sorting Algorithms" by Boot dev
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMV7ycKZ-mM
"You don't have to memorize theorems.
Because you can always derive them from first principles."
-- Sven Hartman
"So next time a teacher hands you a differential equation to solve,
your first question back ought to be: "With what boundary conditions?!"
-- Elliot Schneider
"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
"Anyone who considers arithmetical methods of
producing random digits is, of course, in a state of sin."
-- John von Neumann
"Computer science has nothing to do with computers or science."
-- Donald Knuth
"All that we don't know is astonishing.
Even more astonishing is what passes for knowing."
-- Philip Roth
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil."
-- Donald Knuth
"Never memorize anything. Rather, study it until it becomes obvious."
-- Norman Christ
Plain text → data compression → encryption → error correction coding
→ transmission (writing to storage) → communications channel (environmental noise) →
reception (reading from storage) → error correction decoding →
decryption → decompression → plain text (or so we would hope)
"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
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Arχiv
Sci-Hub.Pub
Explanation,
The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (OEIS)
"Handbook of Applied Cryptography"
by Alfred J. Menezes, Paul C. van Oorschot and Scott A. Vanstone
"Computer Security and the Internet:
Tools and Jewels from Malware to Bitcoin", Second Edition
by Paul C. van Oorschot
ISBN: 978-3-030-83410-4 (hardcopy), 978-3-030-83411-1 (eBook)
"An Introduction to Error Correcting Codes with Applications"
by Scott A. Vanstone , Paul C. Oorschot
Research and Publications (P. Van Oorschot)
Alfred J. Menezes
Scott A. Vanstone
*************************************************************************
Carolina Stein
*************************************************************************
*************************** Politics and Religion *****************************
“There's a critical difference between humility and gullibility.
Who can't distinguish between the two, live an unhappy life of
arrogant ignorance, and / or blind obedience.”
-- Ritu Ghatourey
"Did you notice?" by John Farnam
Excerpt:
A young American watching this so-called ‘memorial news coverage’
will think that what happened in NYC on 11 Sept 2001 was just a really
big ‘accident’.
"I hate it when I'm trying to eat a salad and
it falls in the trash and I have to eat a taco instead."
-- Nicola Cavanis
"Master Plan!" by John Farnam
Excerpt:
"When leftist politicians repeatedly return violent felons and illegal aliens,
unpunished and un-deported, back into society, and thereafter protect and
defend them by criminalizing any form of self-defense on the part of legitimate
citizens, in addition forbidding legitimate citizens from even owning guns,
then these same leftist politicians are actually recruiting violent criminals and
illegal aliens into a domestic “proxy army,” whose mission it is to terrorize all
who oppose socialism/Communism, all who cherish our American individual
freedoms and liberties, enshrined in our (as noted above, soon to be replaced)
Constitution."
"Canada's Assisted Suicide for Infants?
A doctors’ group in the Great White North is looking to get the ball
rolling to legalize MAiD for babies with serious illnesses or syndromes."
by Emmy Griffin
Never let anyone deceive you into thinking that liberalism is anything
other than a death cult. Don't let the euphemisms fool you.
abortion = baby muder.
euthanasia = elder murder.
assisted suicide = murder of the infirm or confused or mentally disabled.
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always
possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Richard Henry Lee
"The Targeting Was Worse Than We Thought
If you thought the FBI’s infamous Richmond memo targeting
“Radical-Traditionalist” Catholics was never acted upon, think again."
by Douglas Andrews
"We should not forget that the spark which ignited the American Revolution
was caused by the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the colonists."
-- Patrick Henry
Email from John Lott --
One of my op-eds discusses how the Trump administration reversed
the Biden administration’s removal of defensive gun-use estimates from
the CDC website. Gun-control advocates had pressured the CDC to
remove the estimates, with one advocate complaining that because of the
defensive gun-use figures, “gun violence prevention policy has ground to a halt.”
The CDC has now restored estimates defensive gun uses per year. I also explain
what was missing from the CDC's original post.
The purpose of war is not to die for your country.
The purpose of war is to ensure that the other guy dies for his country.
— George S. Patton
WAKE UP!
"You arent racist for telling the truth."
Ruby Ridge. We remember.
Liberal women denying accountability.
Don't let Diversity Equity and Inclusion get you killed.
The Patriot Post
*************************************************************************
************* Psychology **************************************
"Work keeps us from three evils: boredom, vice, and poverty."
-- Voltaire
"What Everyone is Missing About The Lindsay Clancy Trial" by Neal K. Shah
Very useful.
"She ain't yours: she's yours for now" by Orion Taraban
10 common lies women tell men.
Deep truth.
"Effort doesn't pay: no one cares about your struggle" by Orion Taraban
"Finding good women: how to test them" by Orion Taraban
Email from Orion Taraban, Psy.D --
"Become observant." Wednesday, September 9th, 2026
I'm a pretty observant guy – at least, when it comes to human behavior.
As a result, people often ask me what they can do to improve their perceptivity
with respect to the intentions of others. I've given this some thought, and I think
there are two things that are necessary to accomplish this.
First, your own mind needs to be quiet. If your head is full of your own
thoughts, it's much harder for the world to inform your consciousness. The more
of you there is, the less room there is for others. So the first step is to get that
inner chatter to go quiet.
Second, you need to have no agenda. Focus is a magnifying glass protected
by blinders. If you're looking for something in particular, you'll generally miss
everything that you're not looking for. What's more, anything you do find will
be distorted by your desire to find what you're looking for.
When you clear your mind and observe people without an agenda, all kinds
of things will immediately and spontaneously become clear.
This week's behavioral experiment:
Have a conversation with someone without any ulterior motives. What do you notice?
Warmly,
Orion
"Cultivating need: keep her busy" by Orion Taraban
"When empathy is evil: Lindsay Clancy" by Orion Taraban
"When empathy is evil: Lindsay Clancy" by Orion Taraban
"Empathic neural responses are modulated by the perceived fairness of others"
by Tania Singer, Ben Seymour, John P O'Doherty, Klaas E. Stephan,
Raymond J. Dolan, and Chris D. Frith
"Gambling is a tax on stupidity."
-- Voltaire
************* End of Psychology section*********************************
*************************************************************************
*** Jon's stuff ***
"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it."
-- Mary Flannery O'Connor
Rest in Peace Dr. Mary Ann Benigno.
"Denzel Washington’s Advice to Young People"
“Put God first. Put God first in everything you do. . . .
I didn’t always stick with Him, but He always stuck with me.
So, stick with Him in everything you do.”
by Mark Alexander
A couple of decades ago, a Navy surgeon removed several pieces of shrapnel from
my arms at the Naval Hospital in Charleston, SC. Some were encased in white
muscle tissue. [She said they looked cute.] She told me that my body encases
sharp objects to prevent them from cutting me up from the inside.
Earlier today, I went to a civilian surgeon [because my primary care physician
told me that the VA would take a long time, as in you might have died of old age
before your appointment, so she referred me to a civilian surgeon she knew] to get
some more shrapnel removed. The civilian surgeon explained the risks (general
anesthesia, might cut nerves that control the hands or allow sensation in the hands,
scarring, recover time, etc.) and benefits (only cosmetic) of surgery and advised
me to leave it alone, as it wasn't causing any problems and there was no pain.
If I needed an MRI in the future, they would use an x-ray machine during surgery
and ensure every piece was removed.
I had to stop and think about what the Navy surgeon had said decades ago,
"Okay! Let's do it!" and immediately laid me down and injected a local
numbing agent. The Navy surgeon had no malpractice insurance,
she could not be sued. Ah, to be a doctor in the U.S. Armed Forces.
“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
“This life's hard, man, but it's harder if you're stupid.”
- “Jackie Brown” in “The Friends of Eddie Coyle”
Love is discipline. Hatred is neglect.
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Email: Jon@DefensivePistolcraft.com
Radio: KI4SDN
Jess Mauro
