Hi Sheepdogs,
Super Important! Please read this.
"Post-Shooting Procedures for the Active Killer Gunfight" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/post-shooting-procedures-for-the-active-killer-gunfight
God Bless Johnny Hurley!
If you will be in the Lebanon, Tennessee area on September 4th of 2021,
please attend the Tennessee Firearms Association annual banquet,
https://tfalac.org/2021-annual-event/
doors open at 10am – Lunch around noon – auction to follow
and of course spend some money. It's a fund raiser
for the Political Action Committee, to remove anti-gun RINOS and
replace them with pro-gun conservatives in the primary elections.
"What about the anti-gun Democrats?"
The Republicans hold a super-majority in both houses. Tennessee
Republican is not synonymous with Christian pro-gun fiscal conservative.
The text in square brackets [] are my words.
***** ***** ***** Software ***** ***** *****
----- Basics -----
“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
This is in the Basics section, because this is more a matter of attitude
than gear or anything else.
"Stop Using Your Car as a Holster: 6 reasons" by Matthew Maruster
https://www.concealedcarry.com/firearms-ownership/car-is-not-a-holster/
"These [car holsters] are universally bad ideas." -- Greg Ellifritz
"Sight Picture: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?" by Caleb
https://www.targetbarn.com/broad-side/sight-picture/
"Why You Should Carry a Handgun Every Day" by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2021/6/25/why-you-should-carry-a-handgun-every-day
Excerpt:
". . . the handgun is not a magic wand. If you don’t have
it on you and know how to use it, it is absolutely useless."
Super Important! Please read this.
"Post-Shooting Procedures for the Active Killer Gunfight" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/post-shooting-procedures-for-the-active-killer-gunfight
God Bless Johnny Hurley!
If you will be in the Lebanon, Tennessee area on September 4th of 2021,
please attend the Tennessee Firearms Association annual banquet,
https://tfalac.org/2021-annual-event/
doors open at 10am – Lunch around noon – auction to follow
and of course spend some money. It's a fund raiser
for the Political Action Committee, to remove anti-gun RINOS and
replace them with pro-gun conservatives in the primary elections.
"What about the anti-gun Democrats?"
The Republicans hold a super-majority in both houses. Tennessee
Republican is not synonymous with Christian pro-gun fiscal conservative.
The text in square brackets [] are my words.
***** ***** ***** Software ***** ***** *****
----- Basics -----
“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
This is in the Basics section, because this is more a matter of attitude
than gear or anything else.
"Stop Using Your Car as a Holster: 6 reasons" by Matthew Maruster
https://www.concealedcarry.com/firearms-ownership/car-is-not-a-holster/
"These [car holsters] are universally bad ideas." -- Greg Ellifritz
"Sight Picture: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?" by Caleb
https://www.targetbarn.com/broad-side/sight-picture/
"Why You Should Carry a Handgun Every Day" by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2021/6/25/why-you-should-carry-a-handgun-every-day
Excerpt:
". . . the handgun is not a magic wand. If you don’t have
it on you and know how to use it, it is absolutely useless."
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
----- Aftermath -----
(You have to be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.)
Please check out the web page "Self Defense Insurance" by clicking on the
link in the column to the right.
Can you list the physical and psychological symptoms you will suffer
after a high stress event such as a lethal force encounter? If not, you
better take a class that teaches you. Otherwise, you will be taken by
surprise. And it will be a nasty devastating surprise that will cause you
to think all kinds of false self-destructive thoughts, and may even drive
you into fear and panic. In fear and panic, you will do and say all kinds
of stupid things that will ensure your conviction.
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
"CCX2 S02E06: John Murphy w/ FPF Training"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cRpMTzhUPg
"Where choice is set between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence."
-- Nelson Mandela (citing Gandhi) [Oh, you thought Gandhi was a man of
peace. No, that's not true. The Indians drove the British out by killing
the British. Didn't learn that in your history classes? Such is the
state of education in the U.S.]
My paternal grandmother felt that there was often nothing one could do
about one's circumstances. I had just finished a driver's education class
in high school and mentioned to her that I would be able to avoid auto
collisions by driving defensively; correctly adjusting and glancing in my
rear view mirrors; looking far in front of me, not just at the car in front
of me; and such. Her response was, "What if you are stopped at an intersection
and someone hits you from behind? There is nothing you can do about that."
For several years, I thought she was correct. But, then Brad Ackman gave
us a lecture at Front Sight, where he told the story of his mother who was
stopped at a red light at an intersection. Because she was constantly
looking in her mirrors, she saw a car barrelling down behind her. So, she
pulled out of her lane and onto the sidewalk. The speeding car smashed into
the car that was in front of her and pushed it into the intersection,
causing a major pile up.
Mrs. Ackman was able to avoid the collision because she left sufficient
space between her car and the car in front of her, she regularly glanced in
her rear view mirrors, she knew what to do, and she actually did what needed
to be done (as opposed to freezing in panic).
THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY TO AVOID THE NEGATIVE OUTCOME,
if you know what to do (which takes training), and do the correct action
(which takes practice and decisiveness).
"Be who you are and say what you feel,
because those who mind don't matter,
and those who matter don't mind."
-- Bernard M. Baruch
Hat tip to Ella Dawson
"Chaos!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/chaos-3/
"VBC" stands for "Victim, by Choice"
"Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman:
Never Trust Your Gut Unless You Can Say Yes to These 3 Questions"
by Jessica Stillman
https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/never-trust-your-gut-unless-you-can-say-yes-to-these-3-questions.html
Excerpt:
"So next time your gut is screaming at you to do or not do something,
take a moment to check in with science. Is this an area where patterns
actually exist? Do you have long experience of the subject? Have you
tested your understanding of it against reality previously? If you can't
answer yes to all three of these questions, take a step back and think
through the problem more rationally."
"Thinking Clearly about Self-Defense and Personal Protection"
by Claude Werner
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/2021/06/23/thinking-clearly-about-self-defense-and-personal-protection/
Lots of good stuff in this book. I highly recommend it. The flashlight
shooting exercise makes this book well worth getting. The analysis is deep.
Excerpts:
". . . our priorities should always be:
• Avoid,
• Escape,
• Confront,
• Resist"
"Males of the household will often confront an intruder unarmed.
It’s not uncommon for another family member to have to access the
firearm and bring it to the fight. A handoff to the Male periodically
occurs at that point."
[Claude has an article on how to pass a pistol to another person,
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/2015/12/01/passing-a-gun-to-someone-else/
-- Jon Low]
". . . your Number One Option for Personal Security is:
a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation."
-- Andy Stanford
"There is little common sense in the law; in fact, much of it is the
opposite of common sense. And common sense, in general, is a conscious
process. Unfortunately, gunhandling and shooting, like driving a motor
vehicle, are largely unconscious processes. We learn unconscious processes
during the mechanical repetition of training and practice, not by reading
and thinking."
"The notions that ‘the light draws fire’ or that criminals will wait
in ambush for you if they hear you coming are nonsensical."
[As the Tactical Professor says, you don't need training to use your pistol to
defend yourself from bad guys. Hundreds of thousands of people with no training
do it every year in our country. You need training to avoid shooting people that
you don't want to shoot (including yourself) and avoiding other persons using your
pistol to shoot other persons that you don't want shot (like some two year old
shooting someone with your pistol). -- Jon Low]
---
"It is a detailed explanation of the process that Travis McMichael
and his father Gregory McMichael will be going through for the next
several years regarding the February killing of Ahmaud Arbery last
February here in Georgia. Note that they have been denied bond and
will be in the custody of the State, which is probably not the most
pleasant experience."
[The, perhaps unintended, consequence of this is that all the other
good people looking at this are thinking, "Well, if that's what I'm
going to suffer for doing the right thing, I might as well walk away
and not report the incident to the police." Hey, that's what we did
in the Marine Corps. We never had any problem. If you just walk
away, don't scatter your business cards all over the place, don't post
photos or videos on social media (I remember telling my son to take
pictures off his Facebook page when he was in the Marine Corps. I
reminded him that his grandmother would be viewing the page.), and keep
your mouth shut, you've got even odds of never being arrested.
"Out of 54,868 homicides in 55 cities over the past decade,
50 percent did not result in an arrest." -- Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/investigations/unsolved-homicide-database/
(That was in 2018. Now days, the probability of getting arrested is
much lower.)
Of those arrested, some get competent attorneys who get the charges
dismissed; some plea bargain to meaningless misdemeanors; only the poor,
stupid (did not keep their mouth shut), or those with long criminal
records actually get convicted of significant crimes. Sorry, that's
just reality. As Andrew Branca says, in America, you get as much
justice as you can afford. That's why you MUST have self defense insurance.
The legal beagles and most instructors will say that
you should never flee the scene of the incident (unless it is unsafe
to loiter), because that demonstrates consciousness of guilt. Which
is true. On the other hand, if you have done nothing wrong, why
should you subject yourself to hell? (Remember, a lot of nice people
like you get gang raped on a daily basis, beaten, mutilated, and
murdered in prison. Are you willing to take that chance? Have you
got what it takes to survive in prison?)
"I would be a nervous wreck, fearing being arrested.
My conscience would bother me."
If you have done nothing wrong, why would your conscience bother
you? (Murder is wrong. Homicide has no moral value. There are lots
of moral and legal justifications for committing homicide.)
Lots of people in the U.S. get arrested. It's not that big a deal.
And if you don't get convicted, you can get your arrest record expunged,
it cost me about $800 in New Jersey. (My sister never got her arrest
record expunged, because she is very proud of it. She is presently
a prosecutor in Texas.) If you are proud and happy about your kills,
you don't get PTSD. When I was in the Marine Corps, we were always
very proud and happy about our kills.
Some instructors will say things like,
"No sane person takes pleasure in killing a human."
But, that's not true.
As Mad Dog (General James Mattis, USMC) says,
"It's fun to kill bad guys."
The truth is that there are lots of evil people in this world that need
to be killed, and killing them makes the world a better place for all.
(Why do you think we have not had another 9/11 type attack since 9/11?
The Global War On Terrorism, killing bad guys without arrest, without
trial.)
As Marcus Wynne says, (in the context of defending yourself and
your loved ones from the wolves),
"Sometimes it's easier to kill the wolf."
He also said,
"One of the best indicators/predictors of successful professional violence
is the satisfaction, enjoyment, even glee, one takes in righteous violence
executed in an appropriate context."
https://marcuswynne.com/dan-gable-street-fights-and-mental-toughness/
As Jeff Cooper said,
"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 be taught to fear is his victim."
-- Principles of Personal Defense, page 37.
"Staff, you're conflating international terrorism with local criminals."
Yes, because both will kill you just as dead.
If you murdered someone, then by all means, you should turn yourself
in and confess. But, who is going to take care of your children?
-- Jon Low]
---
When you buy the book "Thinking Clearly about Self-Defense and Personal Protection"
for $8.00, you also get the book "Serious Mistakes Gunowners Make".
Excerpts:
"Our Mindset leads to our Decisions. Our Decisions lead to our Actions.
Our Actions lead to our Outcomes. This sequence controls our destiny in
everything we do, including using a firearm for Personal Protection."
"Guns are limited purpose tools for use in a very limited context. In that
context, defending against the threat of serious bodily injury or death, they are
indispensable. In any other context, they are useless."
"Keep in mind that almost everything you read on Internet gun forums and
hear in gunshops is wrong. . . . POlice officers are, unfortunately, often
a terrible source of information."
"At home, have a flashlight next to your gun. Pick up the flashlight first
and the pistol second. Use the flashlight to identify the suspect before making
a SHOOT decision."
". . . you must have the ability to shoot one handed."
"Unless the long gun is equipped with a weapon mounted light, there is no
way of visually identifying a suspect in darkness while holding a long gun.
If the long gun is equipped with a weapon mounted light, then the gun itself
has to be pointed at the suspect to identify them. While law enforcement is
okay with this concept, it is not a good practice for those who do not regularly
practice working the light and the trigger independently."
[This is why you should use a pistol without a weapon mounted light, and a
hand held flashlight for home defense, not a long gun. There is no reasonable
way to manipulate a long gun with a flashlight in your support side hand.
-- Jon Low]
". . . shooting without reference to sights or some other visual index
of the weapon is unconscionable and unacceptable."
"Speed Close"by Rich Grassi
https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/6e5f65f1-f5c7-4c90-8b25-04c4b80716c9
----- Safety -----
Jeff Cooper's Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
Rule 5: Always store weapons where they are not accessible to unauthorized persons.
"I didn't know they were bringing their rug rats into my house.
It's their fault that they didn't keep control of their kids."
No, it's your fault. Adults take responsibility for their actions,
such as leaving a loaded pistol unsecured. Leaders take responsibility
for the actions of their subordinates, such as your children letting your
grandchildren run around your house. Take responsibility!
Well, I got another Defensive Driving Certificate, because I took
another driver education class, because I got another speeding ticket.
I fear I have a mental disorder. I tried to explain to the police officer
that it was the tachypsychia effect. But, he just gave me the ticket and
walked away. Though he was kind enough to escort me to his jurisdictional line.
Tom Givens says shame on me for not seeing the cop before he saw me.
This driver's ed course was all about attitude.
Driving is the most dangerous thing we do everyday.
No accidents! Crashes have a cause and are preventable.
[Just like negligent discharges.]
Not all safety features enhance safety. Especially for elderly persons.
[That's why we don't have manual thumb safeties on our pistols. It takes
a huge amount of training and practice to defeat the thumb safety under
stress. It's easy to find after action reports from survivors saying they
could not get their pistol to fire. It can also be assumed in the case
of those who don't survive.]
Keep it simple.
Back into parking spaces.
Walk completely around your car before getting in.
Wear your seat-belts. Make sure it is flat against your body. Make sure
it crosses your collar bone. Make sure the lap portion touches your hip
bones. If you are not buckled in, during a collision, your body will fly
around the passenger compartment and injure the other occupants.
"I don't want to get trapped in the car." This is a nonsense excuse.
The seat-belt will prevent you from becoming unconscious, which will allow
you to escape. A vehicle catching on fire or sinking in water is extremely
rare, 0.05%. But, if it does happen, you have to be conscious to escape or
to help others escape.
"It's better to be thrown free." Ejected persons are 4 times more
likely to be killed than those who remain in the vehicle.
Everyone must be buckled up. If one person is not, in a collision,
that person will be thrown around the passenger compartment banging into
the other passengers. They showed us a video in class were the unbuckled
person effectively killed 2 other persons in the vehicle as well as himself
and caused permanent brain damage to a 4th person when his head hit her head.
Air bags work in conjunction with your seat-belts. Some air bags
won't deploy if the seat-belt is not buckled.
Hold hands on steering wheel at 9 and 3, otherwise the air bag will
drive your arms into your face. If you are holding anything in your hand,
it will be implanted in your face.
You must have at least 11 inches between your torso and the steering
wheel.
Put small persons or elderly person in the backseat.
Airbag recalls are because the airbags are dangerous. Take care of it!
Let an expert check the installation of your car-seat. 90% have them
installed incorrectly. Yes, it does matter!
If you put small children in their booster seats with their backpacks
on, there will be space between their heads and the head rest of the booster
seat. In a rear end collision, the whiplash will kill the child. [Well
documented. Happens all the time.]
Removing head rests is an act of criminal stupidity.
Do not flash your headlights at assholes who have their bright lights on.
As this may trigger a road rage incident. (Of course, they said it much more
politely in the class.)
Wear amber glasses to cut glare during the night.
Dash-cams pointed at the drivers indicate that the primary reason
the driver crashed is that they never used their rear view mirrors. They were
just constantly looking straight ahead. [No, not texting on cell phones.
Lack of situational awareness. That's why we teach the Color Code of
Mental Awareness, situational awareness, or whatever you want to call it.]
Check mirrors ever 3 to 5 seconds.
Set mirrors correctly. [Not the way you're doing it, CORRECTLY!]
If you can see your car or the car directly behind you in your side view
mirrors, you are WRONG!
Preventative maintenance prevents crashes. Tires have to have tread,
have to be inflated, have to be balanced. Change windshield wipers every
3 to 6 months. Check oil and all other fluids. Check your brakes.
This will save your life.
How do you avoid collisions? Scan ahead, slow down (press your brakes),
steer right (never left, because that will cause a head on collision).
Practice until you do this automatically.
Check the intersection before entering. (Situational awareness!)
Wear polarized sun glasses to cut glare during the day.
Turn on your headlights, so other drivers will see you (during the day).
Always leave yourself an out. Leave space between you and the car
in front of you. To avoid a carjacking.
If the car in front of you hits you in a roll back, it's your fault.
You didn't leave enough space in front of you.
Use your turn signals! [Do you know your arm signals for turning?
I do. I don't think they teach it anymore.]
The left lane is for passing, by law. [Road rage coming!] Let the
other car pass. They may have a medical emergency and need to get to the
hospital emergency room.
"When one lane of traffic is shut down due to construction, you should
merge early even if it means joining a long line in the open lane."
False! You should fill both lanes of the road up until the merge point,
then use the zipper merge which allows more traffic to get through the
construction zone.
Hitting the squirrel is better than swerving to avoid the squirrel.
Don't hit the deer. You may damage your car and end up dead.
Retired CSX engineer said that in his career, he had killed 23 persons
attempting to cross the railroad tracks against the lights and gates. Only
2 of those were known suicides. The other 21 were people trying to beat
the train across the crossing. The train may take a mile to stop.
Cell phones don't cause crashes. Distracted drivers cause crashes.
In 1983, zero crashes involving cell phones. Today, 1.6 million per year.
[Just like guns don't cause murders. Criminals cause murders. So, don't
blame cell phones. Blame the incompetent driver. Blaming inanimate objects
is always an act of stupidity.]
"A Fraction Of A Second" By Tiger McKee
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/a-fraction-of-a-second/
Excerpt:
"When anyone else is handling a firearm, I operate under the assumption
nobody knows what they’re doing until proven otherwise. You’d be surprised
how many gun owners don’t even know the four basic safety rules. Verify,
then trust."
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:
Don't go to stupid places.
Don't do stupid things.
Don't hang out with stupid people.
Be in bed by 10 PM. Your own bed.
Don't look like a freak.
Don't fail the attitude test.
----- Training (figuring out the correct tasks to learn) -----
You need training because:
You don't know what you don't know.
Much of what you know is false.
It's good to the have the answers before the criminal tests you.
-- Claude Werner (paraphrased)
The 2022 Tactical Conference, scheduled for March of 2022,
sold out in early June of 2021. If you want to go in 2023, you better
get your ticket as soon as they become available in March of 2022.
https://taccon.info/
The Active Self Protection National Conference 2021
https://activeselfprotection.com/asp-national-conference-bullets-and-bibles-2021/
Sept. 24-26, 2021 A.D., outside of Manhattan, KS is not sold out yet.
Tom Givens writes, "For those of you who have graduated from our
Three-Day Firearms Instructor Development Courses, we have an
Advanced Firearms Instructor Development Course coming up on
July 23-24, 2021, just outside Pittsburgh, PA."
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advanced-firearms-instructor-development-course-pa-tickets-101908125948
There is also an Advanced Firearms Instructor Development Course
Sat, Aug 14, 2021, 9:00 AM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 6:00 PM CDT
Nashville, TN 37221
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advanced-firearms-instructor-development-course-tn-tickets-101235558280?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
(I'm planning to attend this one.)
For those who have graduated from the Advanced Firearms Instructor Development Course
there will be a Master Firearms Instructor Development Course by Tom Givens
Fri, Jan 14, 2022, 9:00 AM – Sun, Jan 16, 2022, 6:00 PM CST
Nashville, TN 37221
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/master-firearms-instructor-development-course-tn-tickets-101240194146?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
(I'm hoping to attend this one.)
"The real value of training and practice isn't gaining technical competence,
it's achieving confidence in your abilities."
-- Claude Werner
When reading news reports of crimes, I'm sure you ask yourself, "Why
didn't she just shoot the bad guy?" The answer is that she didn't have any
training, because she didn't know that she needed training, because no one
told her to get training (much less paid for her training and sent her to
the training). You always hear liberals screaming at the politicians,
"Do something!", which is stupid because the demand is not specific.
Since, we are conservatives, I will tell you specifically,
"Send your women folk to expert training, and pay for it."
When I say, "pay for it", I mean round trip air fare, hotel, rental car,
tuition, and money to buy food. And if you're really dedicated,
go with her to hold her hand through the process. Telling a girl that
you love her is so much hot air.
"Love is action. Love is the things we do."
-- Pastor of Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church (Sunnyvale, California, USA)
So, if you love her, demonstrate it by sending or taking her to
all-expense-paid training.
Never attempt to teach, train, or coach someone that you are
emotionally involved with, including: girlfriends, wives, daughters, etc.
("wives" is plural because my Saudi readers all have 4 wives.)
[I have never noticed that emotionally involved females teaching males
causes the kind of social problems that the other way around seems to
consistently cause. But, that's just my limited experience.]
(In Islamic cultures, it is inappropriate for women to teach men.)
If she doesn't want you around when she is learning (which is
common) or doesn't want other men around (which is not unusual), send
her to an ladies' class. Such as
https://defense-training.com/store/?model_number=59493970&option=16-17%20Oct%202021%20-%20Nashville,%20TN
During Desert Storm (or one of those operations) there was this
female Warrant Officer, Leslie Binns, who was driving a Humvee. These SANG
(Saudi Army National Guard, regular army, not like our national guard)
(foreign allied troops at the time) told her to stop and get out of the
vehicle because it was illegal for women to drive. She refused.
So, they pointed their rifles a her. So, we pointed our rifles at them.
(It was obvious to us by the way they handled their rifles that they did not
have much training in close quarter combat with rifles. It was obvious to
them by the way we handled our rifles that we would immediately kill all of
them.) They lowered their weapons and we drove through. A little awareness
and humility would have avoided what could have turned into a tragic
diplomatic incident.
“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
"The Goal" by Brian Enos
https://brianenos.com/the-goal/
"Training the trigger finger" by Claude Werner
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/2021/06/18/training-the-trigger-finger/
"Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice".
-- Claude Werner
----- Practice (how to get good at that task) -----
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
"I keep on making what I can't do yet in order to learn to be able to do it."
-- Vincent van Gogh
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
Patrick Kilchermann writes --
In nearly ALL instances of armed-defense that we have surveyed,
the good guy (or gal) FIRES THEIR HANDGUN ONE-HANDED.
And in more than half of them, that good guy NEVER manages to get a full,
two-handed grip on his/her handgun.
Often they never even try - and 100% of their shots are fired one-handed.
Fascinating. Counter-Intuitive. That's a fact that most people are not
aware of. But the reason is simple:
When you see a gun pointed at you in anger and when it goes from
'confrontation' to 'fight' . . . you definitely aren't even thinking
of getting a 2-handed grip.
In fact, doing so would severely limit your mobility and throw off your balance.
Not to mention, there's a very good chance you'll need your off-hand to
try to bat away your attacker's weapon or to keep his hands away from yours.
The average gunfight lasts around 3 seconds.
The 'bad guy' ambushes the armed victim in 76% of situations.
Understanding these two facts alone helps you to see why MOST armed-defense
gunfights result in the good guys shooting 1-handed 100% of the time.
But here's the thing . . .
One-handed shooting is its own skill that we've got to practice.
Shooting 2-handed doesn't make us any better at one-handed shooting.
And most critically:
IF ALL WE DO is practice 2-handed shooting with our pistols,
we're setting ourselves up for failing miserably in the event
of a self-defense armed-encounter.
But why do so many 'good guys' experience weapon-related malfunctions
in their moments of truth? Well, it's all directly related to this
business of 'unpracticed 1-handed shooting.' You see, even the best
quality semi-automatic pistols require a fairly tight grip on them in
order to cycle (function) properly. That's because if you don't grip
them tightly enough, the energy of the pistol's recoil (needed to
allow the slide cycle and eject and load a new cartridge) is absorbed
in your WRIST instead of in that slide spring.
THE DREADED LIMP-WRIST MALFUNCTION:
I really hate that term, "limp wrist malfunction."
Sadly, that's exactly what it is.
You see, every pistol has a critical number - an amount of recoil
that has to be RETAINED inside its mechanisms in order to function properly.
Some are extremely forgiving because they have lightweight slides and
loose springs: the CZ75D for examples needs to retain only about a third
of its recoil energy in order to actually function reliably.
Others are a lot less forgiving: the Kriss Sphynx SDP competition pistol,
with its heavy-weight slide for example, requires over 80% of its energy
to be retained.
(Gun makers and shooters prefer these top-heavy guns because they're more
comfortable to shoot. Very few of them realize what they're giving up.)
-- Patrick Kilchermann
[This is why gunsmiths cut material out of slides to lighten them,
and install weaker recoil springs. The primary attribute of a combat
weapon is reliability. So, we do whatever is necessary to make the
weapon reliable in adverse conditions. It doesn't matter that the
pistol functions flawlessly under pristine range conditions. All that
matters is how the pistol functions in adverse field conditions.
-- Jon Low]
I dry practice in my living room, so that when I'm exhausted I can
recline in my La-Z-Boy (that my neighbor gave me) and rest. I find dry
practice mentally exhausting. I think that if you are doing a good job
of visualizing, you will too.
"The Bill Drill" by Brian Enos
https://brianenos.com/the-bill-drill/
Excerpts:
"From that I learned:
there is no relationship between being knee-deep
in brass and shooting a “record run” in practice,
and shooting a stage in a match."
"It was the fastest Bill Drill either of us had ever shot — and with all A hits!
The time was 1.48 seconds, which I didn’t think was possible. We looked back and
forth at each other, wearing huge grins.
And they were not just “lucky A’s.” I saw the front sight lift and return
each time in super slow motion. I can still remember it."
"The best things happen when you truly don’t care about the result."
[See quote by Lofty Wiseman above in the Training section.]
"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
----- Tactics (tasks that you should strive to be able to do) -----
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
"A nifty script." by godsbastard
https://godsbastard.wordpress.com/2016/06/03/a-nifty-script/
You win gunfights by not getting shot.
-- John Holschen
----- Techniques (ways to do that task) -----
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
Docent at Practical Eschatology,
https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/
cited a video on strikes to the side of the neck,
"Best Knock Out Nobody Knows About" by Tim Larkin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYUJkLHIzr4
Practice this, but don't horse around with this. Because it's real.
I was once in a barber shop, where my friend from church was giving me a
haircut. The people in the shop were discussing MMA fighting and the rear
naked choke in particular. This is a blood choke that clamps the carotid
arteries, as opposed to an air choke that clamps the windpipe. One of
the customers, Ed, who I suspect was a derelict drug addict, asked this
8 or 9 year old male child to do the choke hold on Ed. I should have
said something, but neglected to. Ed didn't know how to tap out or maybe
he didn't know that he was supposed to tap out. So, the little boy
choked Ed out correctly in less than 3 seconds. Ed fell to the floor.
I started moving toward Ed to administer artificial respiration, but
fortunately Ed started moving. It could very easily have turned out
quite badly.
" “Upgraded” box/combat/square breathing " by Mike Ox
https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/upgraded-box-combat-square-breathing/
"Seven Tips for Fixing a Flinch When Shooting" by Ben Findley
https://www.usacarry.com/seven-tips-fixing-flinch-shooting/
No, flinch is not a “post-ignition push” nor is it a “concurrent-ignition push”.
The time from sear release to bullet exiting the muzzle is on the order of two
milliseconds. So, the push in anticipation of the recoil that is scattering shots
low left for right-handed shooters and low right for left-handed shooters is
pre-ignition.
Flinch, push, freeze, jerk, closing the eyes, etc. are autonomic nervous
system responses to the anticipation of report and recoil. The correct solution
is the surprise trigger break. Because by denying the brain the information as
to exactly when the gun will fire causes the autonomic nervous system response to
occur after the bullet has left the muzzle. So, the autonomic nervous system
response cannot affect the bullet's initial velocity. Velocity is the vector
describing the bullet's direction and speed.
The surprise trigger break is achieved by not intentionally firing the shot.
Any intentional firing will trigger the autonomic nervous system responses.
One of many techniques for achieving a surprise trigger break is as follows:
After aligning the sights and target,
Take the slack out of the trigger (If your trigger does not have slack, it is
inappropriate for combat. Self defense is combat.),
[Firing the pistol requires a given force on the trigger. You know that force
because you have fired the pistol many times before.]
Apply 1/8th of that force, smoothly increase to 2/8ths force, gently increase
to 3/8ths force, slowly increase to 4/8ths force, and so on.
I guarantee the pistol will fire before you reach 8/8ths. And because you were
not expecting it to fire before 8/8ths force, you will get a surprise trigger
break. And like magic, your bullets will hit where you were aiming (even if
you hold was not steady, even if you saw your sights wobbling around).
Yes, it is magic. Any sufficiently advanced technology will appear to be
magic to the ignorant. The human is God's masterpiece of creation. Technology
far ahead of anything we understand.
This may seem like a long and complex process, but with dedicated practice,
the procedure will compress in time and become very fast.
"Ball and Dummy Drill or Blind Loading of the Gun" may demonstrate to the
student that he is flinching, but it does nothing to fix the problem.
"Forget Your Flinch" by Germaine Bello Adams and Mel Dixon
https://www.americas1stfreedom.org/articles/2021/6/17/forget-your-flinch
Excerpt:
"Luckily, a flinch is fairly easy to train out of your system, . . ."
This statement is completely false and demonstrates a lack of understanding.
A flinch is an autonomic nervous system response to the recoil (push) and
report (loud noise) of the firearm. It is a low level instinctual response
to stimulus. So, you can't really train it out of your nervous system (brain,
spine, muscles, organs, etc.) and attempting to do so is bat shit stupid.
Would you attempt to train yourself not to blink when something approaches
your eyes?
The solution to the flinch is the surprise break. It's been taught
in archery since ancient times. It's been taught in riflery since at least
the American Colonial times. It's been taught in pistolcraft since at least
Col. Cooper's system of pistolcraft.
Some instructors, like Tim Herron, don't teach the surprise break
because they don't flinch, so they don't see the need to teach a technique
that is not useful to themselves. It's just like some people never get
motion sickness, so they don't practice the techniques to defeat motion
sickness. What for? The problem is that for those that do flinch (because
their nervous system is actually hooked up correctly as God intended)
the surprise break technique is required to defeat one's autonomic nervous
system to get hits on demand every time. [Tom Givens doesn't teach the
surprise break either and has never given me a satisfactory explanation
as to why. Which was a little irritating since I asked him during a
class in which I was a paying student.]
"Moats’ Notes: Reloading Practice a Waste of Range Time?" by Greg Moats
https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/eef81480-0619-42a4-8299-9b067dfbddb8
Excerpts:
"First, the need to reload quickly almost never determines the outcome
of an armed encounter in the ‘nonsworn’ world."
"The second reason is that during a training class, participants will
need to reload their firearms anyway as they discharge ammunition during
or between shooting sequences and are therefore getting practice reloading
without devoting valuable range-time to reloading-specific training drills."
Deep dive into Jeff Cooper’s “Combat Triad.”
"Rogers Range Tennessee" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/rogers-range-tennessee
Excerpt:
"One can’t pass the class using traditional shooting methods of perfect
sight alignment and a surprise trigger break. When targets appear for only
1/2 second, the shooter is forced to drive the gun to the target, obtain an
acceptable sight picture, and press the trigger quickly before it disappears."
[I disagree. A surprise trigger break can be executed instantly.
The techniques for learning to achieve a surprise break are long and
complicated, but once learned (once one achieves the epiphany), the surprise
break can be executed instantly.
Jeff Cooper taught "flash sight picture", not "perfect sight alignment".
Big difference. I like to think that Cooper's "Modern Technique" is today's
traditional method. -- Jon Low]
"How useful are sights on a pistol?" by the Tactical Professor
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/2021/06/27/how-useful-are-sights-on-a-pistol/
Excerpt:
"Using the sights (i.e., getting the pistol into the eye-target line)
is how we learn to kinesthetically index the handgun."
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
----- Education -----
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
"Best Self Defense Info You've Never Heard Pt 1" by Tim Larkin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ve9DDneL8
"Best Self Defense Info You've Never Heard Pt 2" by Tim Larkin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxk3SmMn_yw
Interview with Michael Thompson.
Excerpt:
"Reality is often disappointing and inconvenient."
"Racism interferes with profits and so was not tolerated."
"Encrypted CB radios in each unit of the prison. Smuggled in and controlled
by the prison gang, Brand [a branch of the Aryan Brotherhood]."
"Gray's Anatomy. To be able to kill efficiently. Because you only have
seconds." [This is real self-defense / combat.]
"Police intelligence was crippled by ego."
"Law enforcement did not share intelligence. They hoarded it." [And they
still do. -- Jon Low]
"Lots of criminal activity within law enforcement. Green Wall, a gang
made up of prison guards."
"Highly intelligent criminals creating complex successful businesses.
Hyper-rational society [referring to the criminal world]."
"Posturing is the worst thing you can possibly do." Posturing = bluffing.
In the context of killing people immediately, as opposed to fighting or
controlling a person - the smaller person has the advantage over the bigger
person. [This is true. Counter-intuitive for the untrained, but true.]
In the context of multiple assailants - identify the serious one. You can
use their energy against them. You have to learn to dance, to pivot. So, you
can win a fight against multiple assailants. You have to understand grappling.
Not being shocked by being grabbed. Rhythm is more important than coordination.
You have to step in. Stepping away is wrong. (In the context of an
assailant with a knife.) You can disarm the assailant. [When Mr. Thompson
talks about "do whatever is necessary" he is referring to gouging the eyes.]
The brain does not control the body. The body controls the brain. [Note
that Mr. Thompson has a Ph.D. in biology.]
[Notice that Mr. Thompson looks white, but was recruited by the Black Panthers
in prison. Notice that the Brand (a branch of the Aryan Brotherhood) had Native
American members. Racism was not tolerated because it interfered with profits.
Mr. Thompson is correct in that I have met many executives (officers) that
were not alpha males. Very sad. Indicative of a very bad system of promotion.]
Teach positive.
Live Learn & Prosper
https://livelearnandprosper.org/
"Early to bed and early to rise: Does it matter?" by Kenneth J. Mukamal,
Gregory A. Wellenius, and Murray A. Mittleman
-- Canadian Medical Association Journal 175, issue 12 [December 5, 2006],
pp 1560-1562.
Excerpt:
". . . [the study] found no evidence to support the Franklin or Thurber
hypotheses that sleep habits dictate health, wealth or wisdom, either for
the good or the bad."
The [Benjamin] Franklin hypothesis is "Early to bed, early to rise,
makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." Though it probably first appeared
in written form in the book "The Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle"
published in 1496, as
"As the Old English proverb says:
'Whoever will rise early shall be holy, healthy, and happy.' "
The [James] Thurber hypothesis is that early rising and early sleep
makes us "healthy, wealthy, and dead."
"An olde prouerbe hath longe agone be sayde That oft the sone in maners
lyke wyll be Vnto the Father." [Like father, like son.]
-- Alexander Barclay from "Ship of Fools" published in 1509
(which is partially a translation of a German poem by Sebastian Brant)
Please note that "oft" is derived from the Middle English "oft",
which is derived from the Old English "oft". The "t" is pronounced.
"Often" is derived from the Middle English "oftin" or "often",
which is derived from the Old English from the West Germanic from the
Germanic "offen". So, the "t" is not pronounced. Look up the word
"often" in any scholarly dictionary and you will see the "t" is not
pronounced.
Even if you didn't know this, you wouldn't pronounce the "t" in
"often" because it is not euphonic. As any native speaker of English
can tell.
Separating the sheep from the goats.
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
***** ***** ***** Hardware (which includes you) ***** ***** *****
"I would like to see every
woman know how to handle
guns as naturally as they
know how to handle babies."
-- Annie Oakley
----- Gear -----
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
"INSPECTION OF CARRY AMMUNITION" and
"Birdshot vs Bad Guys - Bad Idea!"
by Tom Givens
https://secureservercdn.net/45.40.151.233/d74.722.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-07_RFTS-Newsletter.pdf
"Modern Holsters: Carrying into the Future" by Tamara Keel
https://www.recoilweb.com/modern-holsters-carrying-into-the-future-168196.html
Aqil Qadir writes, "I make my own pillows, but for those not so handy
with a sewing machine . . ."
https://www.facebook.com/groups/CitizensSafety/permalink/996790677724862/
with a link to
https://www.mastermindtactics.com/shop/acp-w
Custom made holsters by Craft Holsters
https://www.craftholsters.com/custom-shop
Starting at $299
contact at craftsman@craftholsters.com
"What are the Best IWB Holsters? 5 Great Options" by Annette Doerr
https://www.guns.com/news/reviews/best-iwb-holsters
When setting up systems for my students, I will often (pronounced with a
silent "t") use the Galco KingTuk. It's relatively inexpensive and it works.
"CCW Breakaways: A Potent Pair of Pants" by Tom McHale
(I know Tom from when I lived in South Carolina. So, I trust his opinion.)
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/ccw-breakaways-a-potent-pair-of-pants/
The company's video at
https://ccwbreakaways.com/
indicates that the system works from a seated position. Which is essential
for those in wheel chairs.
"Complete Gun Safe Buying Guide" by Elwood Shelton
https://gundigest.com/gear-ammo/accessories/complete-gun-safe-buying-guide
"Exercising With Firearms" by Brad Fitzpatrick
https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2021/6/24/exercising-with-firearms
RECALL NOTICE
WINCHESTER® 9mm Luger 115 grain
https://winchester.com/Support/Customers/Winchester-9mm-Luger-115-gr-Recall
RECALL NOTICE
BROWNING® 9mm Luger 115 grain FMJ
https://browningammo.com/browning-9mm-luger-115-gr-recall.html
“Your car is not a holster.”
– Pat Rogers
----- Technical / Maintenance -----
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"Meet Staccato's [formerly STI] first entry into the law enforcement duty gun market"
by Andrew L. Butts
https://www.police1.com/police-products/firearms/articles/meet-staccatos-first-entry-into-the-law-enforcement-duty-gun-market-TV7jGicCEEmjtTkS/
The Staccato P is a 1911 type pistol in 9mm.
Excerpt:
Q. The Staccato P doesn't have any sort of active firing pin block or safety.
Are you using a lightweight titanium firing pin to help ensure the pistol
won't fire if dropped?
A. It is not necessary, as the P has passed every drop test at all the major
departments that have tested and approved our guns. The use of firing pin
blocks like the Colt Series 80, Kimber style, etc., cause more problems and
malfunctions.
[Oh, really? -- Jon Low]
One of my dress shirts had a brown stain around the collar. So, I got
some Ajax and a scrub brush and went to work on it. The shirt disintegrated.
That's what comes of not having a wife.
Oh, I don't mean that a wife would have been able to get the stain out.
I mean a wife would have ensured that I scrubbed my neck when I took a shower
everyday. One should always strive to solve the root cause, not the symptom.
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
***** ***** ***** Instruction ***** ***** *****
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God's gift to our students.
Our students are God's gift to us."
----- Instructors -----
Remember, the students who require the extra effort are the ones who need us the most!
-- John Farnam
"Firearms Training or Trends?" by Dave Spaulding
https://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/firearms-training-or-trends/137773
"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives."
-- Robert John Meehan
"It’s Okay to Cry" by Beth Alcazar
https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/okay-cry/
Be prepared for students' reactions to stress while teaching.
Sometimes the acceptable course of action is to acknowledge her stress
reaction (crying) and to carry on. She probably does not want to be
the cause of holding up the class. As was the case with a little
girl on my junior air rifle team.
Be careful what you teach.
Because your students will do in combat
whatever you have trained them to do,
no matter how ridiculous.
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
----- Andragogy -----
‘Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear
to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise
than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.’
-- The Duchess, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll
"Becoming a Firearms Instructor" by Tom Givens
https://secureservercdn.net/45.40.151.233/d74.722.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-07_RFTS-Newsletter.pdf
Excerpts:
". . . learn to comfortably deliver a speech on some topic in front of
an audience."
". . . I still make a point of attending at least one course taught by
someone else every year so I can steal, err . . . research their methods."
"I assure you, you will learn more behind the line as an Assistant
Instructor than you will as a student in class."
"For years, the Latin motto of the American Society of Law Enforcement
Trainers was “Qui docet, discet”. In English, “Who teaches, learns.”
The very best way to master a subject is to learn to teach it. Become a
trainer and you will become a better shooter, all the while performing a
vital public service."
An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented.
-- "Building Shooters" by Dustin Solomon
***** ***** ***** Legal, Political, and Philosophical ***** ***** *****
"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
"Government Threatens Retired Engineer With a Crime for Doing Math"
by Institute for Justice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nwP826RY50
The significance of this is that the anti-gun lobby groups are drawing up
plans for government regulation of firearms instructors; on the argument that
this is a life and death matter, so society cannot tolerate incompetent
instructors. Right now we are not regulated. Think about being forced to pay
money and take tests (which you would have to pass by giving the "politically
correct" answers) in order to get a license to teach anything concerning
firearms?
In some states, you can't practice the science of engineering without a
Professional Engineering license. Similarly for doctors, lawyers, barbers,
school teachers, and such. It won't be like the simplistic NRA tests.
It will be like the grueling New York bar exam. Note that where legal (Nevada),
prostitutes are regulated, but not tested for competence (only for venereal
disease). Think about regulated, but not tested firearms instructors. Who
is going to get a license to teach? May issue? Shall issue?
Wake up! It's coming down the pike. We're going to have to fight it.
I have donated to John Lott's Crime Prevention Research Center.
https://crimeresearch.org/
I ask you to do likewise,
https://crimepreventionresearchcenter.nationbuilder.com/donate
Dear Jonathan:
. . .
We have completed new research on concealed handguns being allowed on
university property. You won’t be particularly surprised, but states
allowing people to carry guns on campuses saw few accidental discharges
over the decades. None were life-threatening. None have used their gun
to commit crime or suicide.
"What is the danger to allowing Concealed handguns on University property?:
Shootings by permit holders from 2012 to May 2021" by John R. Lott
https://crimeresearch.org/2021/06/what-is-the-danger-to-allowing-concealed-handguns-on-university-property-shootings-by-permit-holders-from-2012-to-now/
. . .
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
-- Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution
"Entire Portland riot squad [50 officers] resigns after officer's indictment"
by Fox News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6hWHNRUycM
"Governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just power from the consent of the governed."
-- Thomas Jefferson
From a fellow Marine --
Spaceman,
One of my favorite movies / scenes =
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPqqXXIbi8U
"For it is the doom of men that they forget . . . "
It's been 76 years since WW2. It's been 46 years since the end of Vietnam.
There are few alive today that remember what war is.
Yes, we’ve been at war in one way or another, but as the saying goes,
“The Marine Corps went to war. America went to the shopping mall.”
Except for the few that served, the vast majority of American (and Australians)
have no real understanding of conflict.
. . .
Take a look at CMC’s (Commandant of the Marine Corps) 12 page testimony
to Congress. The first 9 pages are about diversity and inclusion and
eliminating white supremacy from our ranks.
. . .
My concern comes from the only 3 pages dedicated to defeating the CCP
(Chinese Communist Party) . . .
. . .
I recognize the CMC needs to be a politician and so in order to get budget,
he has to say things that will make Congress happy.
But this is a dangerous trend as we change focus from war fighting
to inclusion as a priority.
Semper Fidelis
. . .
[I served in the Marine Corps for 4 years active duty and 30 years reserve.
I never noticed any white supremacy. Quite the contrary. I never
looked for it. If you look for a thing, you will find it everywhere. That
is human psychology.
I remember walking with a sergeant (who was white, as far as I could
tell). Two black Marines were walking past us going in the opposite direction.
One of the Marines spat. I thought nothing of it, as many Marines chew and
spit. The sergeant with me commented that, "They don't like whites." It's
human nature to see what you expect. -- Jon Low]
"To live is the rarest thing in the world.
Most people exit, that is all."
-- Oscar Wilde from "The Soul of Man Under Socialism"
“Is there no virtue among us?
If there is not, we are without hope!
No form of government, existing nor theoretical, will keep us from harm.
To think that any government, in any form,
will insure liberty and happiness for an dishonorable population
represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words.
If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who
must use the words."
-- Philip K. Dick
You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.
To which Nietzsche would reply,
"There are no facts, only interpretations."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
The scientist interprets the data. Nietzsche is saying the empirical
data is only an interpretation of something else. Do you see how dangerous
such ideas are? Everything is up for interpretation. There is no foundational
truth. All of our laws are based on our morality. If there is no truth
on which to base our morality, all laws are up for revision. Murdering
babies may be made legal. Perverted sex crimes may be made legal, even
codified in state sanctioned marriage. There is no end. There is no boundary.
“Ne cede malis” (Yield not to misfortune)
-- Virgil
"Yesterday’s Speech" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/yesterdays-speech/
Constitutional Carry & Your Rights | Will This Change How You Carry?
https://www.uslawshield.com/constitutional-carry-2021/
Targeting Ghost Guns: DOJ Proposes Amendment for 80 Percent Lowers
https://www.uslawshield.com/targeting-ghost-guns/
". . . the recently released CDC Foundation / Institute of Medicine report
'Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence'
contained almost no mention of legal Defensive Gun Uses. Out of a 124 page
report, it contained two paragraphs acknowledging that Defensive Gun Uses
occur. Those two paragraphs were then followed by one paragraph implying that
DGUs are unimportant in the overall picture of firearms usage in America.
The report clearly tries to put DGUs in the context of 'lipstick on a pig.'
That is not surprising considering that the stated Research Priorities of the
report focused entirely on negative outcomes of firearms usage and no positive
outcomes. The lack of inclusion of positive outcomes as a Research Priority
demonstrates the political intent of the report to discredit legal gun ownership."
-- Claude Werner from "Thinking Clearly About Self Defense And Personal Protection"
"Federal court reconsiders California's ban on high-capacity magazines"
by Paul Best
Fox News, (The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/federal-court-reconsiders-california-apos-015756452.html
Check out the link in the article to the video of the verbal arguments
in the 9th Circuit Court,
https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/media/view_video.php?pk_vid=0000019528
Excerpts:
California has prohibited the buying and selling of large-capacity magazines
since 2000, but allowed people who already had them to keep them. In 2016,
voters in the state took things a step further and passed a bill that banned them
altogether.
San Diego-based U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez then ruled that the ban was
unconstitutional in 2019, and a 3-judge panel on the 9th Circuit upheld that ruling
last August [2020 A.D.].
It is unclear how the 11-judge [en banc] panel that convened Tuesday will
rule on the matter, but the California Rifle & Pistol Association noted that
7 of the 11 judges were appointed by Democratic presidents.
In a separate case earlier this month, Judge Benitez overturned California's
32-year ban on assault weapons, arguing that an AR-15 is like a Swiss Army knife
in that it is "a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense
equipment."
On Monday, the 9th Circuit temporarily blocked Judge Benitez's ruling on the
assault weapon ban until the high capacity magazine case is settled.
"Bump Stocks are NOT Machine Guns – 6th Circuit Vacates GOA v. Garland" by Luke C.
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2021/06/26/6th-circuit-vacates-goa-v-garland/
"Safety?" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/safety-3/
“ ‘Safety’ is a fence, and fences are for sheep. ”
-- Karen Marie Moning
***** ***** ***** Survival, Medical, Security, and such ***** ***** *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Dr. Sherman House
How to insert a Nasal Pharyngeal Airway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_kUeNjRw28
Notice that the rescuer inserted the NPA into the victim's right nostril.
The right nostril is larger than the left nostril on humans, all humans.
I carry several sizes in my kit, because they do have to fit the victim.
Yes, pre-lubricated is a good idea.
"Eye Trauma Off The Grid" by Joseph Alton MD
https://www.doomandbloom.net/eye-trauma-off-the-grid/
"Dental Trauma" by Joseph Alton MD
https://www.doomandbloom.net/dental-trauma-2/
"Surveillance Detection" by tacticalprofessor (Claude Werner)
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/2021/06/25/surveillance-detection/
The "Winner, winner" referred to at the end of the article is me!
Excerpt:
"If you are being followed, don’t go home. Go to a safe place.
POlice stations are overrated as safe refuges because they are often
unmanned after shift change."
"6 Survival Items You Should Carry Every Day (Only 1 is a Gun)" by Shane Jahn
https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2021/6/17/6-survival-items-you-should-carry-every-day-only-1-is-a-gun
(The picture at the beginning of the article has no relation to the text of
the article.)
Gun, knife, flashlight, cell phone, cash, multi-tool.
"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
***** ***** ***** Miscellany / History / War Stories ***** ***** *****
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
All kinds of neat stuff at:
Practical Eschatology by Docent
https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/
The Tactical Professor by Claude Werner
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/
Active Response Training by Gregg Ellifritz
http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/
Quips by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/quips/
Rangemaster newsletter by Tom Givens
https://rangemaster.com/publications/rangemaster-newsletter/
CIVILIAN DEFENDER by Sherman House
https://civiliandefender.com/
Handgun Combatives by Dave Spaulding
https://www.youtube.com/c/handguncombatives/videos
Marcus Wynne
https://marcuswynne.com/blog/
Jeff Gonzales
https://www.tridentconcepts.com/evolved-training/blog/
Michael Bane
https://www.michaelbane.tv/category/blog/
I was going to send the links to
"Through the Looking-Glass, And What Alice Found There"
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12/12-h/12-h.htm
and
"Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland"
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11/11-h/11-h.htm
by Charles Dodgson, AKA Lewis Carroll
to my kids so that they could read the books to their children
or future children, because my mother had read them to me. But,
when I tried to read them, just now, I realized that they are
extremely difficult to read. Of course, I am reading a logic
treatise as an adult, not a children's book as a parent.
[Be careful how you read things, because you bring all of your
baggage with you.]
I met a gentleman during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was
more of a spook than I was. Years later, he approached me,
and wishing to ingratiate himself with the U.S. government,
offered to kill or help us extract a U.S. traitor who had asylum
in Moscow, Russia. I took his offer up my chain of command
(such as it was, I had been out for several years).
A commanding officer told me to take it to the FBI.
Not being on friendly terms with any FBI agents, I took it to
a former FBI agent who had previously been a Marine flying F-4
Phantoms at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station. The Marine
aviator's response was, "Don't give it to the FBI. They are
corrupt, head to toe." I try to keep up with current events
and national news. So, I knew of the corruption at the top.
But, at the bottom? Then a colleague gave me a DVD of a
Hollywood movie to watch, "Richard Jewell" directed by Clint
Eastwood. Eastwood is very conservative, very pro-law-enforcement.
Eastwood didn't need the money. He didn't need to make the film.
But, the actions of the FBI agents in the Atlanta office were so
egregious that he did. And he says so in the Special Feature at
the end of the DVD. And then I remembered the FBI agent who
dropped is pistol while break dancing and shot the innocent
bystander when attempting to pick up his pistol in the disco,
and the FBI agent who shot the aggressive beggar in the subway
rather than letting the beggar walk away, recently; and the not
so recent Branch Dividians in Waco, TX, and the late Vicki Weaver
(Randy's wife). The NRA publicly took sides against the FBI,
calling them jackbooted thugs. Open source only gives you the
tips of the icebergs. You have to research to understand the
rest of the story. Sometimes you have to stop and think.
You start seeing trends. All those years as an intelligence
analyst, and I could not see. So, I can't blame you for missing it.
Karen, by cooperating with them, you think you are doing good,
being patriotic. No, you are being deceived.
“In the long-run, there is no such thing as ‘luck’.
However, the short-run is longer than many individual lifetimes!”
-- Anon
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
----- Aftermath -----
(You have to be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.)
Please check out the web page "Self Defense Insurance" by clicking on the
link in the column to the right.
Can you list the physical and psychological symptoms you will suffer
after a high stress event such as a lethal force encounter? If not, you
better take a class that teaches you. Otherwise, you will be taken by
surprise. And it will be a nasty devastating surprise that will cause you
to think all kinds of false self-destructive thoughts, and may even drive
you into fear and panic. In fear and panic, you will do and say all kinds
of stupid things that will ensure your conviction.
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
"CCX2 S02E06: John Murphy w/ FPF Training"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cRpMTzhUPg
"Where choice is set between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence."
-- Nelson Mandela (citing Gandhi) [Oh, you thought Gandhi was a man of
peace. No, that's not true. The Indians drove the British out by killing
the British. Didn't learn that in your history classes? Such is the
state of education in the U.S.]
My paternal grandmother felt that there was often nothing one could do
about one's circumstances. I had just finished a driver's education class
in high school and mentioned to her that I would be able to avoid auto
collisions by driving defensively; correctly adjusting and glancing in my
rear view mirrors; looking far in front of me, not just at the car in front
of me; and such. Her response was, "What if you are stopped at an intersection
and someone hits you from behind? There is nothing you can do about that."
For several years, I thought she was correct. But, then Brad Ackman gave
us a lecture at Front Sight, where he told the story of his mother who was
stopped at a red light at an intersection. Because she was constantly
looking in her mirrors, she saw a car barrelling down behind her. So, she
pulled out of her lane and onto the sidewalk. The speeding car smashed into
the car that was in front of her and pushed it into the intersection,
causing a major pile up.
Mrs. Ackman was able to avoid the collision because she left sufficient
space between her car and the car in front of her, she regularly glanced in
her rear view mirrors, she knew what to do, and she actually did what needed
to be done (as opposed to freezing in panic).
THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY TO AVOID THE NEGATIVE OUTCOME,
if you know what to do (which takes training), and do the correct action
(which takes practice and decisiveness).
"Be who you are and say what you feel,
because those who mind don't matter,
and those who matter don't mind."
-- Bernard M. Baruch
Hat tip to Ella Dawson
"Chaos!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/chaos-3/
"VBC" stands for "Victim, by Choice"
"Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman:
Never Trust Your Gut Unless You Can Say Yes to These 3 Questions"
by Jessica Stillman
https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/never-trust-your-gut-unless-you-can-say-yes-to-these-3-questions.html
Excerpt:
"So next time your gut is screaming at you to do or not do something,
take a moment to check in with science. Is this an area where patterns
actually exist? Do you have long experience of the subject? Have you
tested your understanding of it against reality previously? If you can't
answer yes to all three of these questions, take a step back and think
through the problem more rationally."
"Thinking Clearly about Self-Defense and Personal Protection"
by Claude Werner
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/2021/06/23/thinking-clearly-about-self-defense-and-personal-protection/
Lots of good stuff in this book. I highly recommend it. The flashlight
shooting exercise makes this book well worth getting. The analysis is deep.
Excerpts:
". . . our priorities should always be:
• Avoid,
• Escape,
• Confront,
• Resist"
"Males of the household will often confront an intruder unarmed.
It’s not uncommon for another family member to have to access the
firearm and bring it to the fight. A handoff to the Male periodically
occurs at that point."
[Claude has an article on how to pass a pistol to another person,
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/2015/12/01/passing-a-gun-to-someone-else/
-- Jon Low]
". . . your Number One Option for Personal Security is:
a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation."
-- Andy Stanford
"There is little common sense in the law; in fact, much of it is the
opposite of common sense. And common sense, in general, is a conscious
process. Unfortunately, gunhandling and shooting, like driving a motor
vehicle, are largely unconscious processes. We learn unconscious processes
during the mechanical repetition of training and practice, not by reading
and thinking."
"The notions that ‘the light draws fire’ or that criminals will wait
in ambush for you if they hear you coming are nonsensical."
[As the Tactical Professor says, you don't need training to use your pistol to
defend yourself from bad guys. Hundreds of thousands of people with no training
do it every year in our country. You need training to avoid shooting people that
you don't want to shoot (including yourself) and avoiding other persons using your
pistol to shoot other persons that you don't want shot (like some two year old
shooting someone with your pistol). -- Jon Low]
---
"It is a detailed explanation of the process that Travis McMichael
and his father Gregory McMichael will be going through for the next
several years regarding the February killing of Ahmaud Arbery last
February here in Georgia. Note that they have been denied bond and
will be in the custody of the State, which is probably not the most
pleasant experience."
[The, perhaps unintended, consequence of this is that all the other
good people looking at this are thinking, "Well, if that's what I'm
going to suffer for doing the right thing, I might as well walk away
and not report the incident to the police." Hey, that's what we did
in the Marine Corps. We never had any problem. If you just walk
away, don't scatter your business cards all over the place, don't post
photos or videos on social media (I remember telling my son to take
pictures off his Facebook page when he was in the Marine Corps. I
reminded him that his grandmother would be viewing the page.), and keep
your mouth shut, you've got even odds of never being arrested.
"Out of 54,868 homicides in 55 cities over the past decade,
50 percent did not result in an arrest." -- Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/investigations/unsolved-homicide-database/
(That was in 2018. Now days, the probability of getting arrested is
much lower.)
Of those arrested, some get competent attorneys who get the charges
dismissed; some plea bargain to meaningless misdemeanors; only the poor,
stupid (did not keep their mouth shut), or those with long criminal
records actually get convicted of significant crimes. Sorry, that's
just reality. As Andrew Branca says, in America, you get as much
justice as you can afford. That's why you MUST have self defense insurance.
The legal beagles and most instructors will say that
you should never flee the scene of the incident (unless it is unsafe
to loiter), because that demonstrates consciousness of guilt. Which
is true. On the other hand, if you have done nothing wrong, why
should you subject yourself to hell? (Remember, a lot of nice people
like you get gang raped on a daily basis, beaten, mutilated, and
murdered in prison. Are you willing to take that chance? Have you
got what it takes to survive in prison?)
"I would be a nervous wreck, fearing being arrested.
My conscience would bother me."
If you have done nothing wrong, why would your conscience bother
you? (Murder is wrong. Homicide has no moral value. There are lots
of moral and legal justifications for committing homicide.)
Lots of people in the U.S. get arrested. It's not that big a deal.
And if you don't get convicted, you can get your arrest record expunged,
it cost me about $800 in New Jersey. (My sister never got her arrest
record expunged, because she is very proud of it. She is presently
a prosecutor in Texas.) If you are proud and happy about your kills,
you don't get PTSD. When I was in the Marine Corps, we were always
very proud and happy about our kills.
Some instructors will say things like,
"No sane person takes pleasure in killing a human."
But, that's not true.
As Mad Dog (General James Mattis, USMC) says,
"It's fun to kill bad guys."
The truth is that there are lots of evil people in this world that need
to be killed, and killing them makes the world a better place for all.
(Why do you think we have not had another 9/11 type attack since 9/11?
The Global War On Terrorism, killing bad guys without arrest, without
trial.)
As Marcus Wynne says, (in the context of defending yourself and
your loved ones from the wolves),
"Sometimes it's easier to kill the wolf."
He also said,
"One of the best indicators/predictors of successful professional violence
is the satisfaction, enjoyment, even glee, one takes in righteous violence
executed in an appropriate context."
https://marcuswynne.com/dan-gable-street-fights-and-mental-toughness/
As Jeff Cooper said,
"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 be taught to fear is his victim."
-- Principles of Personal Defense, page 37.
"Staff, you're conflating international terrorism with local criminals."
Yes, because both will kill you just as dead.
If you murdered someone, then by all means, you should turn yourself
in and confess. But, who is going to take care of your children?
-- Jon Low]
---
When you buy the book "Thinking Clearly about Self-Defense and Personal Protection"
for $8.00, you also get the book "Serious Mistakes Gunowners Make".
Excerpts:
"Our Mindset leads to our Decisions. Our Decisions lead to our Actions.
Our Actions lead to our Outcomes. This sequence controls our destiny in
everything we do, including using a firearm for Personal Protection."
"Guns are limited purpose tools for use in a very limited context. In that
context, defending against the threat of serious bodily injury or death, they are
indispensable. In any other context, they are useless."
"Keep in mind that almost everything you read on Internet gun forums and
hear in gunshops is wrong. . . . POlice officers are, unfortunately, often
a terrible source of information."
"At home, have a flashlight next to your gun. Pick up the flashlight first
and the pistol second. Use the flashlight to identify the suspect before making
a SHOOT decision."
". . . you must have the ability to shoot one handed."
"Unless the long gun is equipped with a weapon mounted light, there is no
way of visually identifying a suspect in darkness while holding a long gun.
If the long gun is equipped with a weapon mounted light, then the gun itself
has to be pointed at the suspect to identify them. While law enforcement is
okay with this concept, it is not a good practice for those who do not regularly
practice working the light and the trigger independently."
[This is why you should use a pistol without a weapon mounted light, and a
hand held flashlight for home defense, not a long gun. There is no reasonable
way to manipulate a long gun with a flashlight in your support side hand.
-- Jon Low]
". . . shooting without reference to sights or some other visual index
of the weapon is unconscionable and unacceptable."
"Speed Close"by Rich Grassi
https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/6e5f65f1-f5c7-4c90-8b25-04c4b80716c9
----- Safety -----
Jeff Cooper's Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
Rule 5: Always store weapons where they are not accessible to unauthorized persons.
"I didn't know they were bringing their rug rats into my house.
It's their fault that they didn't keep control of their kids."
No, it's your fault. Adults take responsibility for their actions,
such as leaving a loaded pistol unsecured. Leaders take responsibility
for the actions of their subordinates, such as your children letting your
grandchildren run around your house. Take responsibility!
Well, I got another Defensive Driving Certificate, because I took
another driver education class, because I got another speeding ticket.
I fear I have a mental disorder. I tried to explain to the police officer
that it was the tachypsychia effect. But, he just gave me the ticket and
walked away. Though he was kind enough to escort me to his jurisdictional line.
Tom Givens says shame on me for not seeing the cop before he saw me.
This driver's ed course was all about attitude.
Driving is the most dangerous thing we do everyday.
No accidents! Crashes have a cause and are preventable.
[Just like negligent discharges.]
Not all safety features enhance safety. Especially for elderly persons.
[That's why we don't have manual thumb safeties on our pistols. It takes
a huge amount of training and practice to defeat the thumb safety under
stress. It's easy to find after action reports from survivors saying they
could not get their pistol to fire. It can also be assumed in the case
of those who don't survive.]
Keep it simple.
Back into parking spaces.
Walk completely around your car before getting in.
Wear your seat-belts. Make sure it is flat against your body. Make sure
it crosses your collar bone. Make sure the lap portion touches your hip
bones. If you are not buckled in, during a collision, your body will fly
around the passenger compartment and injure the other occupants.
"I don't want to get trapped in the car." This is a nonsense excuse.
The seat-belt will prevent you from becoming unconscious, which will allow
you to escape. A vehicle catching on fire or sinking in water is extremely
rare, 0.05%. But, if it does happen, you have to be conscious to escape or
to help others escape.
"It's better to be thrown free." Ejected persons are 4 times more
likely to be killed than those who remain in the vehicle.
Everyone must be buckled up. If one person is not, in a collision,
that person will be thrown around the passenger compartment banging into
the other passengers. They showed us a video in class were the unbuckled
person effectively killed 2 other persons in the vehicle as well as himself
and caused permanent brain damage to a 4th person when his head hit her head.
Air bags work in conjunction with your seat-belts. Some air bags
won't deploy if the seat-belt is not buckled.
Hold hands on steering wheel at 9 and 3, otherwise the air bag will
drive your arms into your face. If you are holding anything in your hand,
it will be implanted in your face.
You must have at least 11 inches between your torso and the steering
wheel.
Put small persons or elderly person in the backseat.
Airbag recalls are because the airbags are dangerous. Take care of it!
Let an expert check the installation of your car-seat. 90% have them
installed incorrectly. Yes, it does matter!
If you put small children in their booster seats with their backpacks
on, there will be space between their heads and the head rest of the booster
seat. In a rear end collision, the whiplash will kill the child. [Well
documented. Happens all the time.]
Removing head rests is an act of criminal stupidity.
Do not flash your headlights at assholes who have their bright lights on.
As this may trigger a road rage incident. (Of course, they said it much more
politely in the class.)
Wear amber glasses to cut glare during the night.
Dash-cams pointed at the drivers indicate that the primary reason
the driver crashed is that they never used their rear view mirrors. They were
just constantly looking straight ahead. [No, not texting on cell phones.
Lack of situational awareness. That's why we teach the Color Code of
Mental Awareness, situational awareness, or whatever you want to call it.]
Check mirrors ever 3 to 5 seconds.
Set mirrors correctly. [Not the way you're doing it, CORRECTLY!]
If you can see your car or the car directly behind you in your side view
mirrors, you are WRONG!
Preventative maintenance prevents crashes. Tires have to have tread,
have to be inflated, have to be balanced. Change windshield wipers every
3 to 6 months. Check oil and all other fluids. Check your brakes.
This will save your life.
How do you avoid collisions? Scan ahead, slow down (press your brakes),
steer right (never left, because that will cause a head on collision).
Practice until you do this automatically.
Check the intersection before entering. (Situational awareness!)
Wear polarized sun glasses to cut glare during the day.
Turn on your headlights, so other drivers will see you (during the day).
Always leave yourself an out. Leave space between you and the car
in front of you. To avoid a carjacking.
If the car in front of you hits you in a roll back, it's your fault.
You didn't leave enough space in front of you.
Use your turn signals! [Do you know your arm signals for turning?
I do. I don't think they teach it anymore.]
The left lane is for passing, by law. [Road rage coming!] Let the
other car pass. They may have a medical emergency and need to get to the
hospital emergency room.
"When one lane of traffic is shut down due to construction, you should
merge early even if it means joining a long line in the open lane."
False! You should fill both lanes of the road up until the merge point,
then use the zipper merge which allows more traffic to get through the
construction zone.
Hitting the squirrel is better than swerving to avoid the squirrel.
Don't hit the deer. You may damage your car and end up dead.
Retired CSX engineer said that in his career, he had killed 23 persons
attempting to cross the railroad tracks against the lights and gates. Only
2 of those were known suicides. The other 21 were people trying to beat
the train across the crossing. The train may take a mile to stop.
Cell phones don't cause crashes. Distracted drivers cause crashes.
In 1983, zero crashes involving cell phones. Today, 1.6 million per year.
[Just like guns don't cause murders. Criminals cause murders. So, don't
blame cell phones. Blame the incompetent driver. Blaming inanimate objects
is always an act of stupidity.]
"A Fraction Of A Second" By Tiger McKee
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/a-fraction-of-a-second/
Excerpt:
"When anyone else is handling a firearm, I operate under the assumption
nobody knows what they’re doing until proven otherwise. You’d be surprised
how many gun owners don’t even know the four basic safety rules. Verify,
then trust."
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:
Don't go to stupid places.
Don't do stupid things.
Don't hang out with stupid people.
Be in bed by 10 PM. Your own bed.
Don't look like a freak.
Don't fail the attitude test.
----- Training (figuring out the correct tasks to learn) -----
You need training because:
You don't know what you don't know.
Much of what you know is false.
It's good to the have the answers before the criminal tests you.
-- Claude Werner (paraphrased)
The 2022 Tactical Conference, scheduled for March of 2022,
sold out in early June of 2021. If you want to go in 2023, you better
get your ticket as soon as they become available in March of 2022.
https://taccon.info/
The Active Self Protection National Conference 2021
https://activeselfprotection.com/asp-national-conference-bullets-and-bibles-2021/
Sept. 24-26, 2021 A.D., outside of Manhattan, KS is not sold out yet.
Tom Givens writes, "For those of you who have graduated from our
Three-Day Firearms Instructor Development Courses, we have an
Advanced Firearms Instructor Development Course coming up on
July 23-24, 2021, just outside Pittsburgh, PA."
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advanced-firearms-instructor-development-course-pa-tickets-101908125948
There is also an Advanced Firearms Instructor Development Course
Sat, Aug 14, 2021, 9:00 AM – Sun, Aug 15, 2021, 6:00 PM CDT
Nashville, TN 37221
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/advanced-firearms-instructor-development-course-tn-tickets-101235558280?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
(I'm planning to attend this one.)
For those who have graduated from the Advanced Firearms Instructor Development Course
there will be a Master Firearms Instructor Development Course by Tom Givens
Fri, Jan 14, 2022, 9:00 AM – Sun, Jan 16, 2022, 6:00 PM CST
Nashville, TN 37221
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/master-firearms-instructor-development-course-tn-tickets-101240194146?aff=ebdssbdestsearch
(I'm hoping to attend this one.)
"The real value of training and practice isn't gaining technical competence,
it's achieving confidence in your abilities."
-- Claude Werner
When reading news reports of crimes, I'm sure you ask yourself, "Why
didn't she just shoot the bad guy?" The answer is that she didn't have any
training, because she didn't know that she needed training, because no one
told her to get training (much less paid for her training and sent her to
the training). You always hear liberals screaming at the politicians,
"Do something!", which is stupid because the demand is not specific.
Since, we are conservatives, I will tell you specifically,
"Send your women folk to expert training, and pay for it."
When I say, "pay for it", I mean round trip air fare, hotel, rental car,
tuition, and money to buy food. And if you're really dedicated,
go with her to hold her hand through the process. Telling a girl that
you love her is so much hot air.
"Love is action. Love is the things we do."
-- Pastor of Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church (Sunnyvale, California, USA)
So, if you love her, demonstrate it by sending or taking her to
all-expense-paid training.
Never attempt to teach, train, or coach someone that you are
emotionally involved with, including: girlfriends, wives, daughters, etc.
("wives" is plural because my Saudi readers all have 4 wives.)
[I have never noticed that emotionally involved females teaching males
causes the kind of social problems that the other way around seems to
consistently cause. But, that's just my limited experience.]
(In Islamic cultures, it is inappropriate for women to teach men.)
If she doesn't want you around when she is learning (which is
common) or doesn't want other men around (which is not unusual), send
her to an ladies' class. Such as
https://defense-training.com/store/?model_number=59493970&option=16-17%20Oct%202021%20-%20Nashville,%20TN
During Desert Storm (or one of those operations) there was this
female Warrant Officer, Leslie Binns, who was driving a Humvee. These SANG
(Saudi Army National Guard, regular army, not like our national guard)
(foreign allied troops at the time) told her to stop and get out of the
vehicle because it was illegal for women to drive. She refused.
So, they pointed their rifles a her. So, we pointed our rifles at them.
(It was obvious to us by the way they handled their rifles that they did not
have much training in close quarter combat with rifles. It was obvious to
them by the way we handled our rifles that we would immediately kill all of
them.) They lowered their weapons and we drove through. A little awareness
and humility would have avoided what could have turned into a tragic
diplomatic incident.
“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
"The Goal" by Brian Enos
https://brianenos.com/the-goal/
"Training the trigger finger" by Claude Werner
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/2021/06/18/training-the-trigger-finger/
"Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice".
-- Claude Werner
----- Practice (how to get good at that task) -----
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
"I keep on making what I can't do yet in order to learn to be able to do it."
-- Vincent van Gogh
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
Patrick Kilchermann writes --
In nearly ALL instances of armed-defense that we have surveyed,
the good guy (or gal) FIRES THEIR HANDGUN ONE-HANDED.
And in more than half of them, that good guy NEVER manages to get a full,
two-handed grip on his/her handgun.
Often they never even try - and 100% of their shots are fired one-handed.
Fascinating. Counter-Intuitive. That's a fact that most people are not
aware of. But the reason is simple:
When you see a gun pointed at you in anger and when it goes from
'confrontation' to 'fight' . . . you definitely aren't even thinking
of getting a 2-handed grip.
In fact, doing so would severely limit your mobility and throw off your balance.
Not to mention, there's a very good chance you'll need your off-hand to
try to bat away your attacker's weapon or to keep his hands away from yours.
The average gunfight lasts around 3 seconds.
The 'bad guy' ambushes the armed victim in 76% of situations.
Understanding these two facts alone helps you to see why MOST armed-defense
gunfights result in the good guys shooting 1-handed 100% of the time.
But here's the thing . . .
One-handed shooting is its own skill that we've got to practice.
Shooting 2-handed doesn't make us any better at one-handed shooting.
And most critically:
IF ALL WE DO is practice 2-handed shooting with our pistols,
we're setting ourselves up for failing miserably in the event
of a self-defense armed-encounter.
But why do so many 'good guys' experience weapon-related malfunctions
in their moments of truth? Well, it's all directly related to this
business of 'unpracticed 1-handed shooting.' You see, even the best
quality semi-automatic pistols require a fairly tight grip on them in
order to cycle (function) properly. That's because if you don't grip
them tightly enough, the energy of the pistol's recoil (needed to
allow the slide cycle and eject and load a new cartridge) is absorbed
in your WRIST instead of in that slide spring.
THE DREADED LIMP-WRIST MALFUNCTION:
I really hate that term, "limp wrist malfunction."
Sadly, that's exactly what it is.
You see, every pistol has a critical number - an amount of recoil
that has to be RETAINED inside its mechanisms in order to function properly.
Some are extremely forgiving because they have lightweight slides and
loose springs: the CZ75D for examples needs to retain only about a third
of its recoil energy in order to actually function reliably.
Others are a lot less forgiving: the Kriss Sphynx SDP competition pistol,
with its heavy-weight slide for example, requires over 80% of its energy
to be retained.
(Gun makers and shooters prefer these top-heavy guns because they're more
comfortable to shoot. Very few of them realize what they're giving up.)
-- Patrick Kilchermann
[This is why gunsmiths cut material out of slides to lighten them,
and install weaker recoil springs. The primary attribute of a combat
weapon is reliability. So, we do whatever is necessary to make the
weapon reliable in adverse conditions. It doesn't matter that the
pistol functions flawlessly under pristine range conditions. All that
matters is how the pistol functions in adverse field conditions.
-- Jon Low]
I dry practice in my living room, so that when I'm exhausted I can
recline in my La-Z-Boy (that my neighbor gave me) and rest. I find dry
practice mentally exhausting. I think that if you are doing a good job
of visualizing, you will too.
"The Bill Drill" by Brian Enos
https://brianenos.com/the-bill-drill/
Excerpts:
"From that I learned:
there is no relationship between being knee-deep
in brass and shooting a “record run” in practice,
and shooting a stage in a match."
"It was the fastest Bill Drill either of us had ever shot — and with all A hits!
The time was 1.48 seconds, which I didn’t think was possible. We looked back and
forth at each other, wearing huge grins.
And they were not just “lucky A’s.” I saw the front sight lift and return
each time in super slow motion. I can still remember it."
"The best things happen when you truly don’t care about the result."
[See quote by Lofty Wiseman above in the Training section.]
"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
----- Tactics (tasks that you should strive to be able to do) -----
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
"A nifty script." by godsbastard
https://godsbastard.wordpress.com/2016/06/03/a-nifty-script/
You win gunfights by not getting shot.
-- John Holschen
----- Techniques (ways to do that task) -----
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
Docent at Practical Eschatology,
https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/
cited a video on strikes to the side of the neck,
"Best Knock Out Nobody Knows About" by Tim Larkin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYUJkLHIzr4
Practice this, but don't horse around with this. Because it's real.
I was once in a barber shop, where my friend from church was giving me a
haircut. The people in the shop were discussing MMA fighting and the rear
naked choke in particular. This is a blood choke that clamps the carotid
arteries, as opposed to an air choke that clamps the windpipe. One of
the customers, Ed, who I suspect was a derelict drug addict, asked this
8 or 9 year old male child to do the choke hold on Ed. I should have
said something, but neglected to. Ed didn't know how to tap out or maybe
he didn't know that he was supposed to tap out. So, the little boy
choked Ed out correctly in less than 3 seconds. Ed fell to the floor.
I started moving toward Ed to administer artificial respiration, but
fortunately Ed started moving. It could very easily have turned out
quite badly.
" “Upgraded” box/combat/square breathing " by Mike Ox
https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/upgraded-box-combat-square-breathing/
"Seven Tips for Fixing a Flinch When Shooting" by Ben Findley
https://www.usacarry.com/seven-tips-fixing-flinch-shooting/
No, flinch is not a “post-ignition push” nor is it a “concurrent-ignition push”.
The time from sear release to bullet exiting the muzzle is on the order of two
milliseconds. So, the push in anticipation of the recoil that is scattering shots
low left for right-handed shooters and low right for left-handed shooters is
pre-ignition.
Flinch, push, freeze, jerk, closing the eyes, etc. are autonomic nervous
system responses to the anticipation of report and recoil. The correct solution
is the surprise trigger break. Because by denying the brain the information as
to exactly when the gun will fire causes the autonomic nervous system response to
occur after the bullet has left the muzzle. So, the autonomic nervous system
response cannot affect the bullet's initial velocity. Velocity is the vector
describing the bullet's direction and speed.
The surprise trigger break is achieved by not intentionally firing the shot.
Any intentional firing will trigger the autonomic nervous system responses.
One of many techniques for achieving a surprise trigger break is as follows:
After aligning the sights and target,
Take the slack out of the trigger (If your trigger does not have slack, it is
inappropriate for combat. Self defense is combat.),
[Firing the pistol requires a given force on the trigger. You know that force
because you have fired the pistol many times before.]
Apply 1/8th of that force, smoothly increase to 2/8ths force, gently increase
to 3/8ths force, slowly increase to 4/8ths force, and so on.
I guarantee the pistol will fire before you reach 8/8ths. And because you were
not expecting it to fire before 8/8ths force, you will get a surprise trigger
break. And like magic, your bullets will hit where you were aiming (even if
you hold was not steady, even if you saw your sights wobbling around).
Yes, it is magic. Any sufficiently advanced technology will appear to be
magic to the ignorant. The human is God's masterpiece of creation. Technology
far ahead of anything we understand.
This may seem like a long and complex process, but with dedicated practice,
the procedure will compress in time and become very fast.
"Ball and Dummy Drill or Blind Loading of the Gun" may demonstrate to the
student that he is flinching, but it does nothing to fix the problem.
"Forget Your Flinch" by Germaine Bello Adams and Mel Dixon
https://www.americas1stfreedom.org/articles/2021/6/17/forget-your-flinch
Excerpt:
"Luckily, a flinch is fairly easy to train out of your system, . . ."
This statement is completely false and demonstrates a lack of understanding.
A flinch is an autonomic nervous system response to the recoil (push) and
report (loud noise) of the firearm. It is a low level instinctual response
to stimulus. So, you can't really train it out of your nervous system (brain,
spine, muscles, organs, etc.) and attempting to do so is bat shit stupid.
Would you attempt to train yourself not to blink when something approaches
your eyes?
The solution to the flinch is the surprise break. It's been taught
in archery since ancient times. It's been taught in riflery since at least
the American Colonial times. It's been taught in pistolcraft since at least
Col. Cooper's system of pistolcraft.
Some instructors, like Tim Herron, don't teach the surprise break
because they don't flinch, so they don't see the need to teach a technique
that is not useful to themselves. It's just like some people never get
motion sickness, so they don't practice the techniques to defeat motion
sickness. What for? The problem is that for those that do flinch (because
their nervous system is actually hooked up correctly as God intended)
the surprise break technique is required to defeat one's autonomic nervous
system to get hits on demand every time. [Tom Givens doesn't teach the
surprise break either and has never given me a satisfactory explanation
as to why. Which was a little irritating since I asked him during a
class in which I was a paying student.]
"Moats’ Notes: Reloading Practice a Waste of Range Time?" by Greg Moats
https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/eef81480-0619-42a4-8299-9b067dfbddb8
Excerpts:
"First, the need to reload quickly almost never determines the outcome
of an armed encounter in the ‘nonsworn’ world."
"The second reason is that during a training class, participants will
need to reload their firearms anyway as they discharge ammunition during
or between shooting sequences and are therefore getting practice reloading
without devoting valuable range-time to reloading-specific training drills."
Deep dive into Jeff Cooper’s “Combat Triad.”
"Rogers Range Tennessee" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/rogers-range-tennessee
Excerpt:
"One can’t pass the class using traditional shooting methods of perfect
sight alignment and a surprise trigger break. When targets appear for only
1/2 second, the shooter is forced to drive the gun to the target, obtain an
acceptable sight picture, and press the trigger quickly before it disappears."
[I disagree. A surprise trigger break can be executed instantly.
The techniques for learning to achieve a surprise break are long and
complicated, but once learned (once one achieves the epiphany), the surprise
break can be executed instantly.
Jeff Cooper taught "flash sight picture", not "perfect sight alignment".
Big difference. I like to think that Cooper's "Modern Technique" is today's
traditional method. -- Jon Low]
"How useful are sights on a pistol?" by the Tactical Professor
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/2021/06/27/how-useful-are-sights-on-a-pistol/
Excerpt:
"Using the sights (i.e., getting the pistol into the eye-target line)
is how we learn to kinesthetically index the handgun."
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
----- Education -----
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
"Best Self Defense Info You've Never Heard Pt 1" by Tim Larkin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1ve9DDneL8
"Best Self Defense Info You've Never Heard Pt 2" by Tim Larkin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxk3SmMn_yw
Interview with Michael Thompson.
Excerpt:
"Reality is often disappointing and inconvenient."
"Racism interferes with profits and so was not tolerated."
"Encrypted CB radios in each unit of the prison. Smuggled in and controlled
by the prison gang, Brand [a branch of the Aryan Brotherhood]."
"Gray's Anatomy. To be able to kill efficiently. Because you only have
seconds." [This is real self-defense / combat.]
"Police intelligence was crippled by ego."
"Law enforcement did not share intelligence. They hoarded it." [And they
still do. -- Jon Low]
"Lots of criminal activity within law enforcement. Green Wall, a gang
made up of prison guards."
"Highly intelligent criminals creating complex successful businesses.
Hyper-rational society [referring to the criminal world]."
"Posturing is the worst thing you can possibly do." Posturing = bluffing.
In the context of killing people immediately, as opposed to fighting or
controlling a person - the smaller person has the advantage over the bigger
person. [This is true. Counter-intuitive for the untrained, but true.]
In the context of multiple assailants - identify the serious one. You can
use their energy against them. You have to learn to dance, to pivot. So, you
can win a fight against multiple assailants. You have to understand grappling.
Not being shocked by being grabbed. Rhythm is more important than coordination.
You have to step in. Stepping away is wrong. (In the context of an
assailant with a knife.) You can disarm the assailant. [When Mr. Thompson
talks about "do whatever is necessary" he is referring to gouging the eyes.]
The brain does not control the body. The body controls the brain. [Note
that Mr. Thompson has a Ph.D. in biology.]
[Notice that Mr. Thompson looks white, but was recruited by the Black Panthers
in prison. Notice that the Brand (a branch of the Aryan Brotherhood) had Native
American members. Racism was not tolerated because it interfered with profits.
Mr. Thompson is correct in that I have met many executives (officers) that
were not alpha males. Very sad. Indicative of a very bad system of promotion.]
Teach positive.
Live Learn & Prosper
https://livelearnandprosper.org/
"Early to bed and early to rise: Does it matter?" by Kenneth J. Mukamal,
Gregory A. Wellenius, and Murray A. Mittleman
-- Canadian Medical Association Journal 175, issue 12 [December 5, 2006],
pp 1560-1562.
Excerpt:
". . . [the study] found no evidence to support the Franklin or Thurber
hypotheses that sleep habits dictate health, wealth or wisdom, either for
the good or the bad."
The [Benjamin] Franklin hypothesis is "Early to bed, early to rise,
makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." Though it probably first appeared
in written form in the book "The Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle"
published in 1496, as
"As the Old English proverb says:
'Whoever will rise early shall be holy, healthy, and happy.' "
The [James] Thurber hypothesis is that early rising and early sleep
makes us "healthy, wealthy, and dead."
"An olde prouerbe hath longe agone be sayde That oft the sone in maners
lyke wyll be Vnto the Father." [Like father, like son.]
-- Alexander Barclay from "Ship of Fools" published in 1509
(which is partially a translation of a German poem by Sebastian Brant)
Please note that "oft" is derived from the Middle English "oft",
which is derived from the Old English "oft". The "t" is pronounced.
"Often" is derived from the Middle English "oftin" or "often",
which is derived from the Old English from the West Germanic from the
Germanic "offen". So, the "t" is not pronounced. Look up the word
"often" in any scholarly dictionary and you will see the "t" is not
pronounced.
Even if you didn't know this, you wouldn't pronounce the "t" in
"often" because it is not euphonic. As any native speaker of English
can tell.
Separating the sheep from the goats.
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
***** ***** ***** Hardware (which includes you) ***** ***** *****
"I would like to see every
woman know how to handle
guns as naturally as they
know how to handle babies."
-- Annie Oakley
----- Gear -----
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
"INSPECTION OF CARRY AMMUNITION" and
"Birdshot vs Bad Guys - Bad Idea!"
by Tom Givens
https://secureservercdn.net/45.40.151.233/d74.722.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-07_RFTS-Newsletter.pdf
"Modern Holsters: Carrying into the Future" by Tamara Keel
https://www.recoilweb.com/modern-holsters-carrying-into-the-future-168196.html
Aqil Qadir writes, "I make my own pillows, but for those not so handy
with a sewing machine . . ."
https://www.facebook.com/groups/CitizensSafety/permalink/996790677724862/
with a link to
https://www.mastermindtactics.com/shop/acp-w
Custom made holsters by Craft Holsters
https://www.craftholsters.com/custom-shop
Starting at $299
contact at craftsman@craftholsters.com
"What are the Best IWB Holsters? 5 Great Options" by Annette Doerr
https://www.guns.com/news/reviews/best-iwb-holsters
When setting up systems for my students, I will often (pronounced with a
silent "t") use the Galco KingTuk. It's relatively inexpensive and it works.
"CCW Breakaways: A Potent Pair of Pants" by Tom McHale
(I know Tom from when I lived in South Carolina. So, I trust his opinion.)
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/ccw-breakaways-a-potent-pair-of-pants/
The company's video at
https://ccwbreakaways.com/
indicates that the system works from a seated position. Which is essential
for those in wheel chairs.
"Complete Gun Safe Buying Guide" by Elwood Shelton
https://gundigest.com/gear-ammo/accessories/complete-gun-safe-buying-guide
"Exercising With Firearms" by Brad Fitzpatrick
https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2021/6/24/exercising-with-firearms
RECALL NOTICE
WINCHESTER® 9mm Luger 115 grain
https://winchester.com/Support/Customers/Winchester-9mm-Luger-115-gr-Recall
RECALL NOTICE
BROWNING® 9mm Luger 115 grain FMJ
https://browningammo.com/browning-9mm-luger-115-gr-recall.html
“Your car is not a holster.”
– Pat Rogers
----- Technical / Maintenance -----
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"Meet Staccato's [formerly STI] first entry into the law enforcement duty gun market"
by Andrew L. Butts
https://www.police1.com/police-products/firearms/articles/meet-staccatos-first-entry-into-the-law-enforcement-duty-gun-market-TV7jGicCEEmjtTkS/
The Staccato P is a 1911 type pistol in 9mm.
Excerpt:
Q. The Staccato P doesn't have any sort of active firing pin block or safety.
Are you using a lightweight titanium firing pin to help ensure the pistol
won't fire if dropped?
A. It is not necessary, as the P has passed every drop test at all the major
departments that have tested and approved our guns. The use of firing pin
blocks like the Colt Series 80, Kimber style, etc., cause more problems and
malfunctions.
[Oh, really? -- Jon Low]
One of my dress shirts had a brown stain around the collar. So, I got
some Ajax and a scrub brush and went to work on it. The shirt disintegrated.
That's what comes of not having a wife.
Oh, I don't mean that a wife would have been able to get the stain out.
I mean a wife would have ensured that I scrubbed my neck when I took a shower
everyday. One should always strive to solve the root cause, not the symptom.
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
***** ***** ***** Instruction ***** ***** *****
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God's gift to our students.
Our students are God's gift to us."
----- Instructors -----
Remember, the students who require the extra effort are the ones who need us the most!
-- John Farnam
"Firearms Training or Trends?" by Dave Spaulding
https://www.handgunsmag.com/editorial/firearms-training-or-trends/137773
"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives."
-- Robert John Meehan
"It’s Okay to Cry" by Beth Alcazar
https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/okay-cry/
Be prepared for students' reactions to stress while teaching.
Sometimes the acceptable course of action is to acknowledge her stress
reaction (crying) and to carry on. She probably does not want to be
the cause of holding up the class. As was the case with a little
girl on my junior air rifle team.
Be careful what you teach.
Because your students will do in combat
whatever you have trained them to do,
no matter how ridiculous.
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
----- Andragogy -----
‘Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear
to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise
than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.’
-- The Duchess, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll
"Becoming a Firearms Instructor" by Tom Givens
https://secureservercdn.net/45.40.151.233/d74.722.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/2021-07_RFTS-Newsletter.pdf
Excerpts:
". . . learn to comfortably deliver a speech on some topic in front of
an audience."
". . . I still make a point of attending at least one course taught by
someone else every year so I can steal, err . . . research their methods."
"I assure you, you will learn more behind the line as an Assistant
Instructor than you will as a student in class."
"For years, the Latin motto of the American Society of Law Enforcement
Trainers was “Qui docet, discet”. In English, “Who teaches, learns.”
The very best way to master a subject is to learn to teach it. Become a
trainer and you will become a better shooter, all the while performing a
vital public service."
An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented.
-- "Building Shooters" by Dustin Solomon
***** ***** ***** Legal, Political, and Philosophical ***** ***** *****
"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
"Government Threatens Retired Engineer With a Crime for Doing Math"
by Institute for Justice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nwP826RY50
The significance of this is that the anti-gun lobby groups are drawing up
plans for government regulation of firearms instructors; on the argument that
this is a life and death matter, so society cannot tolerate incompetent
instructors. Right now we are not regulated. Think about being forced to pay
money and take tests (which you would have to pass by giving the "politically
correct" answers) in order to get a license to teach anything concerning
firearms?
In some states, you can't practice the science of engineering without a
Professional Engineering license. Similarly for doctors, lawyers, barbers,
school teachers, and such. It won't be like the simplistic NRA tests.
It will be like the grueling New York bar exam. Note that where legal (Nevada),
prostitutes are regulated, but not tested for competence (only for venereal
disease). Think about regulated, but not tested firearms instructors. Who
is going to get a license to teach? May issue? Shall issue?
Wake up! It's coming down the pike. We're going to have to fight it.
I have donated to John Lott's Crime Prevention Research Center.
https://crimeresearch.org/
I ask you to do likewise,
https://crimepreventionresearchcenter.nationbuilder.com/donate
Dear Jonathan:
. . .
We have completed new research on concealed handguns being allowed on
university property. You won’t be particularly surprised, but states
allowing people to carry guns on campuses saw few accidental discharges
over the decades. None were life-threatening. None have used their gun
to commit crime or suicide.
"What is the danger to allowing Concealed handguns on University property?:
Shootings by permit holders from 2012 to May 2021" by John R. Lott
https://crimeresearch.org/2021/06/what-is-the-danger-to-allowing-concealed-handguns-on-university-property-shootings-by-permit-holders-from-2012-to-now/
. . .
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
-- Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution
"Entire Portland riot squad [50 officers] resigns after officer's indictment"
by Fox News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6hWHNRUycM
"Governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just power from the consent of the governed."
-- Thomas Jefferson
From a fellow Marine --
Spaceman,
One of my favorite movies / scenes =
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPqqXXIbi8U
"For it is the doom of men that they forget . . . "
It's been 76 years since WW2. It's been 46 years since the end of Vietnam.
There are few alive today that remember what war is.
Yes, we’ve been at war in one way or another, but as the saying goes,
“The Marine Corps went to war. America went to the shopping mall.”
Except for the few that served, the vast majority of American (and Australians)
have no real understanding of conflict.
. . .
Take a look at CMC’s (Commandant of the Marine Corps) 12 page testimony
to Congress. The first 9 pages are about diversity and inclusion and
eliminating white supremacy from our ranks.
. . .
My concern comes from the only 3 pages dedicated to defeating the CCP
(Chinese Communist Party) . . .
. . .
I recognize the CMC needs to be a politician and so in order to get budget,
he has to say things that will make Congress happy.
But this is a dangerous trend as we change focus from war fighting
to inclusion as a priority.
Semper Fidelis
. . .
[I served in the Marine Corps for 4 years active duty and 30 years reserve.
I never noticed any white supremacy. Quite the contrary. I never
looked for it. If you look for a thing, you will find it everywhere. That
is human psychology.
I remember walking with a sergeant (who was white, as far as I could
tell). Two black Marines were walking past us going in the opposite direction.
One of the Marines spat. I thought nothing of it, as many Marines chew and
spit. The sergeant with me commented that, "They don't like whites." It's
human nature to see what you expect. -- Jon Low]
"To live is the rarest thing in the world.
Most people exit, that is all."
-- Oscar Wilde from "The Soul of Man Under Socialism"
“Is there no virtue among us?
If there is not, we are without hope!
No form of government, existing nor theoretical, will keep us from harm.
To think that any government, in any form,
will insure liberty and happiness for an dishonorable population
represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words.
If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who
must use the words."
-- Philip K. Dick
You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.
To which Nietzsche would reply,
"There are no facts, only interpretations."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
The scientist interprets the data. Nietzsche is saying the empirical
data is only an interpretation of something else. Do you see how dangerous
such ideas are? Everything is up for interpretation. There is no foundational
truth. All of our laws are based on our morality. If there is no truth
on which to base our morality, all laws are up for revision. Murdering
babies may be made legal. Perverted sex crimes may be made legal, even
codified in state sanctioned marriage. There is no end. There is no boundary.
“Ne cede malis” (Yield not to misfortune)
-- Virgil
"Yesterday’s Speech" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/yesterdays-speech/
Constitutional Carry & Your Rights | Will This Change How You Carry?
https://www.uslawshield.com/constitutional-carry-2021/
Targeting Ghost Guns: DOJ Proposes Amendment for 80 Percent Lowers
https://www.uslawshield.com/targeting-ghost-guns/
". . . the recently released CDC Foundation / Institute of Medicine report
'Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence'
contained almost no mention of legal Defensive Gun Uses. Out of a 124 page
report, it contained two paragraphs acknowledging that Defensive Gun Uses
occur. Those two paragraphs were then followed by one paragraph implying that
DGUs are unimportant in the overall picture of firearms usage in America.
The report clearly tries to put DGUs in the context of 'lipstick on a pig.'
That is not surprising considering that the stated Research Priorities of the
report focused entirely on negative outcomes of firearms usage and no positive
outcomes. The lack of inclusion of positive outcomes as a Research Priority
demonstrates the political intent of the report to discredit legal gun ownership."
-- Claude Werner from "Thinking Clearly About Self Defense And Personal Protection"
"Federal court reconsiders California's ban on high-capacity magazines"
by Paul Best
Fox News, (The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/federal-court-reconsiders-california-apos-015756452.html
Check out the link in the article to the video of the verbal arguments
in the 9th Circuit Court,
https://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/media/view_video.php?pk_vid=0000019528
Excerpts:
California has prohibited the buying and selling of large-capacity magazines
since 2000, but allowed people who already had them to keep them. In 2016,
voters in the state took things a step further and passed a bill that banned them
altogether.
San Diego-based U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez then ruled that the ban was
unconstitutional in 2019, and a 3-judge panel on the 9th Circuit upheld that ruling
last August [2020 A.D.].
It is unclear how the 11-judge [en banc] panel that convened Tuesday will
rule on the matter, but the California Rifle & Pistol Association noted that
7 of the 11 judges were appointed by Democratic presidents.
In a separate case earlier this month, Judge Benitez overturned California's
32-year ban on assault weapons, arguing that an AR-15 is like a Swiss Army knife
in that it is "a perfect combination of home defense weapon and homeland defense
equipment."
On Monday, the 9th Circuit temporarily blocked Judge Benitez's ruling on the
assault weapon ban until the high capacity magazine case is settled.
"Bump Stocks are NOT Machine Guns – 6th Circuit Vacates GOA v. Garland" by Luke C.
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2021/06/26/6th-circuit-vacates-goa-v-garland/
"Safety?" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/safety-3/
“ ‘Safety’ is a fence, and fences are for sheep. ”
-- Karen Marie Moning
***** ***** ***** Survival, Medical, Security, and such ***** ***** *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Dr. Sherman House
How to insert a Nasal Pharyngeal Airway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_kUeNjRw28
Notice that the rescuer inserted the NPA into the victim's right nostril.
The right nostril is larger than the left nostril on humans, all humans.
I carry several sizes in my kit, because they do have to fit the victim.
Yes, pre-lubricated is a good idea.
"Eye Trauma Off The Grid" by Joseph Alton MD
https://www.doomandbloom.net/eye-trauma-off-the-grid/
"Dental Trauma" by Joseph Alton MD
https://www.doomandbloom.net/dental-trauma-2/
"Surveillance Detection" by tacticalprofessor (Claude Werner)
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/2021/06/25/surveillance-detection/
The "Winner, winner" referred to at the end of the article is me!
Excerpt:
"If you are being followed, don’t go home. Go to a safe place.
POlice stations are overrated as safe refuges because they are often
unmanned after shift change."
"6 Survival Items You Should Carry Every Day (Only 1 is a Gun)" by Shane Jahn
https://www.nrafamily.org/articles/2021/6/17/6-survival-items-you-should-carry-every-day-only-1-is-a-gun
(The picture at the beginning of the article has no relation to the text of
the article.)
Gun, knife, flashlight, cell phone, cash, multi-tool.
"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
***** ***** ***** Miscellany / History / War Stories ***** ***** *****
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
All kinds of neat stuff at:
Practical Eschatology by Docent
https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/
The Tactical Professor by Claude Werner
https://tacticalprofessor.wordpress.com/
Active Response Training by Gregg Ellifritz
http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/
Quips by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/quips/
Rangemaster newsletter by Tom Givens
https://rangemaster.com/publications/rangemaster-newsletter/
CIVILIAN DEFENDER by Sherman House
https://civiliandefender.com/
Handgun Combatives by Dave Spaulding
https://www.youtube.com/c/handguncombatives/videos
Marcus Wynne
https://marcuswynne.com/blog/
Jeff Gonzales
https://www.tridentconcepts.com/evolved-training/blog/
Michael Bane
https://www.michaelbane.tv/category/blog/
I was going to send the links to
"Through the Looking-Glass, And What Alice Found There"
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/12/12-h/12-h.htm
and
"Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland"
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/11/11-h/11-h.htm
by Charles Dodgson, AKA Lewis Carroll
to my kids so that they could read the books to their children
or future children, because my mother had read them to me. But,
when I tried to read them, just now, I realized that they are
extremely difficult to read. Of course, I am reading a logic
treatise as an adult, not a children's book as a parent.
[Be careful how you read things, because you bring all of your
baggage with you.]
I met a gentleman during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was
more of a spook than I was. Years later, he approached me,
and wishing to ingratiate himself with the U.S. government,
offered to kill or help us extract a U.S. traitor who had asylum
in Moscow, Russia. I took his offer up my chain of command
(such as it was, I had been out for several years).
A commanding officer told me to take it to the FBI.
Not being on friendly terms with any FBI agents, I took it to
a former FBI agent who had previously been a Marine flying F-4
Phantoms at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station. The Marine
aviator's response was, "Don't give it to the FBI. They are
corrupt, head to toe." I try to keep up with current events
and national news. So, I knew of the corruption at the top.
But, at the bottom? Then a colleague gave me a DVD of a
Hollywood movie to watch, "Richard Jewell" directed by Clint
Eastwood. Eastwood is very conservative, very pro-law-enforcement.
Eastwood didn't need the money. He didn't need to make the film.
But, the actions of the FBI agents in the Atlanta office were so
egregious that he did. And he says so in the Special Feature at
the end of the DVD. And then I remembered the FBI agent who
dropped is pistol while break dancing and shot the innocent
bystander when attempting to pick up his pistol in the disco,
and the FBI agent who shot the aggressive beggar in the subway
rather than letting the beggar walk away, recently; and the not
so recent Branch Dividians in Waco, TX, and the late Vicki Weaver
(Randy's wife). The NRA publicly took sides against the FBI,
calling them jackbooted thugs. Open source only gives you the
tips of the icebergs. You have to research to understand the
rest of the story. Sometimes you have to stop and think.
You start seeing trends. All those years as an intelligence
analyst, and I could not see. So, I can't blame you for missing it.
Karen, by cooperating with them, you think you are doing good,
being patriotic. No, you are being deceived.
“In the long-run, there is no such thing as ‘luck’.
However, the short-run is longer than many individual lifetimes!”
-- Anon
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
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