Hi Sheepdogs,
"A parent's job is to teach their children not to need them anymore.
The hardest part of that is accepting success."
-- Beth Robertson
I would suggest that a self-defense / firearms instructor's job is to teach their students
not to need them anymore.
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Software ***** ***** *****
*************************************************************************
----- Safety ----- (How to prevent the bad thing from happening in the first place.
How to avoid shooting yourself, friendlies, and innocent bystanders.)
Jeff Cooper's Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
"Vermont hunter shoots man he mistook for bear, faces felony charges"
https://www.foxnews.com/us/vt-hunter-shoots-man-he-mistook-bear-faces-felony-charges
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger, http://spw-duf.info
Hunters shoot hunters all the time. Yes, it is incompetence. Yes, the shooter is at fault
for violating RULE IV. But the victim could have prevented the incident by wearing an
orange vest.
This has happened many times in self-defense shootings. You can prevent it by wearing
a bright reflective sash.
https://dsmsafety.com/
I met the owner of DSM SAFETY PRODUCTS this past weekend at the Guardian Conference.
$30 to prevent a friendly from shooting you. I bought a couple. I recommended them to the
leader of my church volunteer security team. They make sashes that say "Guardian" as well
"A parent's job is to teach their children not to need them anymore.
The hardest part of that is accepting success."
-- Beth Robertson
I would suggest that a self-defense / firearms instructor's job is to teach their students
not to need them anymore.
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Software ***** ***** *****
*************************************************************************
----- Safety ----- (How to prevent the bad thing from happening in the first place.
How to avoid shooting yourself, friendlies, and innocent bystanders.)
Jeff Cooper's Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
"Vermont hunter shoots man he mistook for bear, faces felony charges"
https://www.foxnews.com/us/vt-hunter-shoots-man-he-mistook-bear-faces-felony-charges
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger, http://spw-duf.info
Hunters shoot hunters all the time. Yes, it is incompetence. Yes, the shooter is at fault
for violating RULE IV. But the victim could have prevented the incident by wearing an
orange vest.
This has happened many times in self-defense shootings. You can prevent it by wearing
a bright reflective sash.
https://dsmsafety.com/
I met the owner of DSM SAFETY PRODUCTS this past weekend at the Guardian Conference.
$30 to prevent a friendly from shooting you. I bought a couple. I recommended them to the
leader of my church volunteer security team. They make sashes that say "Guardian" as well
as "Security", "Police", etc.
Yes, I imagine the bad guy could buy and wear such a sash. That's why this company
vets their customers. No such thing as perfect.
"If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it.
The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury. Therefore
what he must fear is his victim."
-- Col. Jeff Cooper
"Better to stay out of trouble than get out of trouble."
-- Tactical Professor (Claude Werner)
"RUNNER SAFETY | Advice for women, after the murder of ANOTHER female jogger"
by Stav
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CH5q5i8YYA
Excerpt: (paraphrased)
Break your routine. Different route. Different time of day. Etc.
Be aware. Don't wear ear buds. Stay off your phone. Always be scanning.
Listen to your intuition.
Ask for help.
Don't be afraid to offend people.
Carry tools. [If you think Ju Jitsu, Krav Maga, etc. training will allow you to defeat
multiple attacker who are stronger, faster, and bigger than you, then you're a damn fool.
Stav recommends carrying pepper spray. That's fine. But, be aware that pepper spray
does not work on 10% of the population (that's a statistic from a class that I took), and
does not work on 50% of young healthy dedicated males (which means they can fight
through it) (that's a statistic from my experience in Marine Corps military police training).
Pepper spray ain't the same as CS gas.
Stav is correct when saying that people who teach against soft holsters because you
can't reholster with one hand are out of context. In a combat situation (self-defense is
combat) all that matters is that you can get the pistol out of the holster. It doesn't matter
that it takes two hands to get the pistol into the holster. It doesn't matter that getting the
pistol into the holster is slow and awkward.
-- Jon Low]
Women experience the world differently than men. They have a different perspective.
Let's arm ourselves with tools, training, capability, and confidence.
"The number one way to avoid a home invasion is to not be a drug dealer."
– Chuck Haggard
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.
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Personal Security, Medical, Survival, etc. ***** ***** *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Dr. Sherman House
"Friends Don’t Let Friends Open Carry" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/friends-dont-let-friends-open-carry
---
This is one of the scores of articles cited by Greg.
"Man Shot Vegas Officer with Another Officer's Holstered Pistol" by POL Staff
https://www.policemag.com/612958/man-shot-vegas-officer-with-another-officers-holstered-pistol
The suspect is handcuffed with his hands behind his back. The suspect is being held by
3 officers and surrounded by other officers. The suspect gets a hold of an officer's pistol
in the officer's holster, and fires it. The bullet strikes another officer in the leg.
What's wrong with this whole incident? Check out the video and close up photographs.
The point is, these "professionals" with weapons retention training have a hard time
preventing a nut case from accessing their weapons. That's why you should NEVER open
carry.
In the aftermath, the executives are blaming the equipment (the holster). Because inanimate
objects don't push back. But, it's the lack of training and practice that's the cause of the
problem. The departments won't allocate the funds and the time. The officers won't get the
training on their own dime on their own time. See the results?
"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
*************************************************************************
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
If you look at someone bigger, faster, and stronger and immediately think,
'I'm at a disadvantage,'
I have news for you: you are.
But that's only because you just put yourself there for no reason.
The truth is that anyone can do debilitating violence to anyone else.
Your size, your speed, your strength, your gender --
all the factors that untrained people think make the difference when it comes to violence --
all matter far less than your mindset and your intent.
-- Tim Larkin
"Stopping the Attack" by Jim WIlson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/stopping-the-attack/
Excerpt:
It is important to understand that killing the bad guy is not, nor should be, our goal.
We are acting because we want to stop the attacker right now, before any further
damage is done.
[The bad guy may die. But that was his decision, not yours. -- Jon Low]
"You need to have the capacity for danger. You need to be ‘dangerous.’ Yet, you need to
learn how to not use it except when necessary. And, that is not the same thing as being
harmless. Harmlessness is no virtue. It's like a rabbit. There's nothing virtuous about
harmlessness. It just means you’re ineffectual and useless."
-- Jordan Peterson
"Seven Habits Of Highly Dangerous People" by Jeremy Stafford
https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/seven-habits-of-highly-dangerous-people/248041
Excerpt:
“Thomas Jefferson said it best in a letter to James Madison on January 30th, 1787,
"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." Well, he actually wrote,
"Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem," which could also be translated as,
"I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude," but you get the point.”
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."
-- Tom Givens
*************************************************************************
----- Training (figuring out the correct tasks to learn) -----
"Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
Law of Self Defense Live Online Course, $149
by Andrew Branca
Saturday, October 1, 2022, 9AM-4PM Mountain time
(Can't attend the live class due to a schedule conflict?
No worries! Every registrant will have access to a recording
of the live class for a full two weeks!)
LawOfSelfDefense.com/advanced
which resolves to
https://lawofselfdefense.com/live-online-class-221001/
Yes, I imagine the bad guy could buy and wear such a sash. That's why this company
vets their customers. No such thing as perfect.
"If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it.
The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury. Therefore
what he must fear is his victim."
-- Col. Jeff Cooper
"Better to stay out of trouble than get out of trouble."
-- Tactical Professor (Claude Werner)
"RUNNER SAFETY | Advice for women, after the murder of ANOTHER female jogger"
by Stav
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CH5q5i8YYA
Excerpt: (paraphrased)
Break your routine. Different route. Different time of day. Etc.
Be aware. Don't wear ear buds. Stay off your phone. Always be scanning.
Listen to your intuition.
Ask for help.
Don't be afraid to offend people.
Carry tools. [If you think Ju Jitsu, Krav Maga, etc. training will allow you to defeat
multiple attacker who are stronger, faster, and bigger than you, then you're a damn fool.
Stav recommends carrying pepper spray. That's fine. But, be aware that pepper spray
does not work on 10% of the population (that's a statistic from a class that I took), and
does not work on 50% of young healthy dedicated males (which means they can fight
through it) (that's a statistic from my experience in Marine Corps military police training).
Pepper spray ain't the same as CS gas.
Stav is correct when saying that people who teach against soft holsters because you
can't reholster with one hand are out of context. In a combat situation (self-defense is
combat) all that matters is that you can get the pistol out of the holster. It doesn't matter
that it takes two hands to get the pistol into the holster. It doesn't matter that getting the
pistol into the holster is slow and awkward.
-- Jon Low]
Women experience the world differently than men. They have a different perspective.
Let's arm ourselves with tools, training, capability, and confidence.
"The number one way to avoid a home invasion is to not be a drug dealer."
– Chuck Haggard
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.
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Personal Security, Medical, Survival, etc. ***** ***** *****
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Dr. Sherman House
"Friends Don’t Let Friends Open Carry" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/friends-dont-let-friends-open-carry
---
This is one of the scores of articles cited by Greg.
"Man Shot Vegas Officer with Another Officer's Holstered Pistol" by POL Staff
https://www.policemag.com/612958/man-shot-vegas-officer-with-another-officers-holstered-pistol
The suspect is handcuffed with his hands behind his back. The suspect is being held by
3 officers and surrounded by other officers. The suspect gets a hold of an officer's pistol
in the officer's holster, and fires it. The bullet strikes another officer in the leg.
What's wrong with this whole incident? Check out the video and close up photographs.
The point is, these "professionals" with weapons retention training have a hard time
preventing a nut case from accessing their weapons. That's why you should NEVER open
carry.
In the aftermath, the executives are blaming the equipment (the holster). Because inanimate
objects don't push back. But, it's the lack of training and practice that's the cause of the
problem. The departments won't allocate the funds and the time. The officers won't get the
training on their own dime on their own time. See the results?
"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
*************************************************************************
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
If you look at someone bigger, faster, and stronger and immediately think,
'I'm at a disadvantage,'
I have news for you: you are.
But that's only because you just put yourself there for no reason.
The truth is that anyone can do debilitating violence to anyone else.
Your size, your speed, your strength, your gender --
all the factors that untrained people think make the difference when it comes to violence --
all matter far less than your mindset and your intent.
-- Tim Larkin
"Stopping the Attack" by Jim WIlson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/stopping-the-attack/
Excerpt:
It is important to understand that killing the bad guy is not, nor should be, our goal.
We are acting because we want to stop the attacker right now, before any further
damage is done.
[The bad guy may die. But that was his decision, not yours. -- Jon Low]
"You need to have the capacity for danger. You need to be ‘dangerous.’ Yet, you need to
learn how to not use it except when necessary. And, that is not the same thing as being
harmless. Harmlessness is no virtue. It's like a rabbit. There's nothing virtuous about
harmlessness. It just means you’re ineffectual and useless."
-- Jordan Peterson
"Seven Habits Of Highly Dangerous People" by Jeremy Stafford
https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/seven-habits-of-highly-dangerous-people/248041
Excerpt:
“Thomas Jefferson said it best in a letter to James Madison on January 30th, 1787,
"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." Well, he actually wrote,
"Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem," which could also be translated as,
"I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude," but you get the point.”
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."
-- Tom Givens
*************************************************************************
----- Training (figuring out the correct tasks to learn) -----
"Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
Law of Self Defense Live Online Course, $149
by Andrew Branca
Saturday, October 1, 2022, 9AM-4PM Mountain time
(Can't attend the live class due to a schedule conflict?
No worries! Every registrant will have access to a recording
of the live class for a full two weeks!)
LawOfSelfDefense.com/advanced
which resolves to
https://lawofselfdefense.com/live-online-class-221001/
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)
"Skill Set: The Cost of Training" by Tiger McKee
https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/76be7497-baa2-4ff0-b2bc-8cd902d60570
$2000 tuition, 1000 rounds of ammo, round trip air fare, hotel for 5 days, rental car,
gas for car, food, lost wages due to taking time off from work. Who can afford such training?
Don't the vast majority of civilian defensive gun uses involved untrained civilians?
Two million times a year if you believe John Lott. Why spend all that money on training,
when the untrained do just fine?
Pay close attention to the first paragraph of Mr. McKee's article. Why would Joe Average
Citizen have such an attitude?
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)
"Skill Set: The Cost of Training" by Tiger McKee
https://www.thetacticalwire.com/features/76be7497-baa2-4ff0-b2bc-8cd902d60570
$2000 tuition, 1000 rounds of ammo, round trip air fare, hotel for 5 days, rental car,
gas for car, food, lost wages due to taking time off from work. Who can afford such training?
Don't the vast majority of civilian defensive gun uses involved untrained civilians?
Two million times a year if you believe John Lott. Why spend all that money on training,
when the untrained do just fine?
Pay close attention to the first paragraph of Mr. McKee's article. Why would Joe Average
Citizen have such an attitude?
These are not rhetorical questions. You should be able to answer them.
"Take training from different instructors.
We are all wrong about something."
-- John Farnam
“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
My review of the classes that I attended at last weekend's Guardian Conference --
(I know some of this review will not make sense because it is abbreviated and out of context.)
Guardian Conference
September 16th to 18th, 2022
OKC Gun Club
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
---
"Pistol Intelligence" by Riley Bowman
Concerning grip - The tang is the fulcrum and maximum leverage is delivered by the little
finger, because the little finger is farthest from the fulcrum. So, the little finger must be on
the grip and gripping tightly. (If the grip is so short that you can't get your little finger on the
grip, the grip is too small to control the pistol. Don't use it.) The entire surface of the grip
must be aggressively textured. Any smooth surface on the grip is wrong. Your hands should
be in contact with the entire surface of the grip.
Muscle tension is the enemy of performance. Get rid of emotional tension.
It is up to you to discover your best techniques. (There is no reason to believe that they
are what work for someone else.)
Measure accuracy and time. Use a shot timer. (Without measurement there is no science.)
Red dot sights are simpler. Only one distance at which to focus.
"Recognize your errors and apply emotionless corrections." -- Steve Anderson
Present tense shooting. Only be concerned with what is going on right now. Forget past
shots. Don't worry about future events.
Watch the sights to know what the gun is doing.
Keep your thumb in contact with your body when holstering. Otherwise, you will be
pointing your gun at yourself. (Especially important for those carrying inside the waist
band appendix.)
The Weaver (arm position) allows more push pull pressure. [Though Riley strongly
advocated the Isosceles arm position with the elbows bent to act as shock absorbers.]
Continuously aim.
Observe objects in your peripheral vision while aiming. Practice this. It will pay big
dividends. It will help you to break tunnel vision. It will help you notice things that you
would not have noticed without such practice.
---
"Vehicle Defense for Armed Guardians" by Todd Fossey
The order in which you will retain things is:
Concepts (you will retain this the longest)
Gross motor skills
Fine motor skills
Sensory motor skills
The order in which you will lose things with lack of practice is:
Sensory motor skills (you will lose these the soonest)
Fine motor skills
Gross motor skills
Concepts
Practice 12 minutes per day for 12 weeks to get competent.
Practice once every 4 weeks to stay competent.
"Repetition without repetition", you practice a skill, but the execution of the skill should
not be exactly the same every time.
How to win the fight:
Distance (paying attention to distances and knowing your ability at that distance)
Transitions [between spaces (grocery store to car, etc.) and between positions (standing to
kneeling, pistol in right hand to pistol in left hand, etc.) and such (fast pace if target is close,
slow pace is target is far or small)]
Timing (feigning compliance, looking for opportunities, the window of which may be very
short, so you must be prepared for it)
Dominant angles (when using cover and corners, getting behind your opponent, bladed stance
to keep your pistol away from the enemy, etc.)
Pillars in cars are cover.
Your training should have skill development and application simultaneously.
How to take off your seatbelt. There is a correct way, so you never get caught or tangled
in it. It's a topology exercise. Reach under the belt, so the belt ends up outboard of your
arms.
Push the passengers in your car to get them out of the way of your shot. Don't assume
they will stay in place for you. If you are pushing them, you know where they are.
Use the temple index in your car.
"The few solutions to many problems."
---
"Detect | Deter | Defend - The 5 Stages of Violent Crime" by Todd Fossey
1. Intent
2. Interview
3. Positioning
4. Attack
5. Aftermath
Several minutes were spent explaining the psychology of types of dangerous persons and
how to recognize them. [I never knew how many indicators I had for being a psychopath.
I have had several girlfriends tell me that I had a flat affect, didn't show much emotion.]
You will attract criminal predators if you:
1. slouch, have bad posture, have an awkward gait
2. lack situational awareness
3. are disabled
If you project the victim role, you will attract predators.
To be deselected by the criminal predator:
1. Let him know you see him.
2. Your demeanor should be neutral and crisp.
3. You should be moving with purpose.
4. If approached, say "Sorry, I can't help you."
5. Hands up in front of you.
6. 93% of communication is non-verbal. Your communication should be neutral and crisp.
If the bad guy has his hands in his pockets or behind him, tell him to keep them there.
Commanding him to show his hands allows him to move. You will not be able to react in
time. If you tell him not to move, you can shoot him on any movement and justify it by
articulating a furtive movement.
If approached, check your six for the real attacker.
Challenging or insulting the bad guy will result in his attempting to kill you.
The flashlight is the best "less than lethal" tool. (Better than pepper spray.)
---
"Fight IQ" by Todd Fossey
"Slip and Capture error" is when you think you're doing one things when you're actually
doing something else.
Real problems are unrepeatable and unpredictable. Is your training appropriate for such?
Figure skating is to gun competitions as Hockey skating is to fighting with a gun.
The skating is different. The skates are different. The attitude is different. The mindset is
different. To conflate is WRONG! (Gun competitions are leaving you with all kinds of
training scars. We went over a long list of them. This is very serious.)
The fighter who knows WHY will beat the fighter who knows HOW.
---
"Weapons-Based Clinch Fighting" by Todd Fossey
Even a synopsis would not do this physical class justice, so I'm going to skip the review.
[There was a technique for weapon retention that I had not seen before that Todd called
the "wedge", where you place your forearm/elbow on top of the enemy's hand that is grabbing
your pistol in your holster and bend your torso to crush his hand or strip his hand off
your pistol. It was very effective, kept the arm in close to your body, and generated a lot of
force. (Of course, you have to be wearing your pistol high up on your waist at 3 o'clock as
we dextral do. Or 9 o'clock as you sinistral people do.) -- Jon Low]
---
"The Next Step Beyond Shooting; Decision Making" by Melody Lauer
I highly recommend this class. It was a role playing scenario class. Melody described it
as between controlled range training where you are told exactly what to do and when to do
it, and force-on-force scenarios in which you are generally given no instruction. The students
were able to call time out whenever they needed to to discuss what to do. The scenario was
discussed at the end.
Melody's lecture brought me to tears 3 times. She is speaking deep truths that will rip your
gut.
---
"Low-Light Pistol" by Matt Little
As Matt said, you have to square away your kit. At least 2 weapon mounted lights fell off
of the pistols that they were attached to. All kinds of malfunctions occurred, some equipment
failures, some shooter induced. Shooting in the dark is disturbing to the psyche, and so must
be practiced. The shooters unfamiliarity with the dark caused all kinds of problems.
Having a hand held light is essential. If you're going to mount a light on your pistol, that's
fine, but you also have to have a hand held light.
Matt gave us a set of safety rules specifically for this class. I'm not going to state them
here, because they require explanation.
Train for the fight, not as you fight. (This is deep. Some say, "Train as you fight because
you will fight as you have trained." Which is not always true. But if you think about it, Matt's
statement is always true and applicable. I of course cannot do it justice in this short after
action report.)
Push on, release off. Anything more complicated is WRONG! You don't need a strobe.
You can simulate a strobe with your flashlight. You can make the enemy think there are
50 of you by correct application of flashlight techniques. You don't need to shine your light
at the target to see the target.
Ambient light, back wash, back lighting, hiding places, dark areas (darker than surrounding
which will appear black to the enemy), light on walls, etc.
White light negligent discharge. (enough to get your unit killed)
Don't navigate, don't search with your WML (weapon mounted light).
Tactics is triage.
"Broken rhythm" -- Bruce Lee
You must be unpredictable.
White light will wash out night vision goggles.
If your technique has your flashlight behind your pistol (not Harries technique) and you
are using a red dot sight, you may get glare from your flashlight on your window. In which
case you won't be able to see your dot. (This is a real problem.)
There was a long discussion of the details of various red dot sights. As in Leupold infuses
chemicals into their glass as opposed to coating the glass, and what effect that has in the
context of low light shooting. Way too much detail to go into here.
"Strategies of Low Light Engagements" by Ken J. Good. Buy it. Read it.
Simunitions will not sell to civilians.
Shoot low light matches.
Don't use tracers. They will set houses on fire. (Actually, they are incendiary rounds.
Whether you think so or not.)
---
"Essential Skills and Drills" by Wayne Dobbs
Reading through my notes, I realize that I can't do this class justice in a review.
If you get a chance to take a class from Wayne, do it.
---
"Mastery of Shooting On The Move" by Mickey Schuch
By the end of the class, we were weaving through barrels while hitting steel targets at 10
yards. But, many vision drills, movement drills, and such were required to get us to that point.
The class content was good.
The behavior of the instructor was . . .
Well, my aunt Lois told me, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything".
---
After having taken many classes and attended many training conferences, I have found
that there are two schools of thought with respect to how to unload the semi-auto pistol.
The classic school says, remove the magazine, rack the slide to eject the chambered round,
and lock the slide to the rear. I learned this in the Marine Corps in 1981.
The modern school says, lock the slide to the rear to eject the chambered round and remove
the magazine. I first read of this in a blog post by the Tactical Professor, Claude Werner.
You can find it on his web site. This technique gets the round out of the chamber sooner
(in the first operation) and has 2 operations, instead of 3.
A lot of people have never heard of the modern technique for unloading, are aghast when
shown the technique, and refuse to consider it. Such is the human condition. Institutional
inertia is a thing.
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
"1% Better" by Samuel Middlebrook
https://www.redhawkfirearmtraining.com/confidence-blog/2022/9/14/1-better
Why practice?
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and
offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique
to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if
that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that
which could have been their finest hour."
-- Winston Churchill
"Be careful what you practice.
Because you will do in combat whatever you have practiced,
no matter how ridiculous."
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
*************************************************************************
----- Strategy (deciding on the end state and how to achieve it, which tactics to use) -----
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, and Escape
You win gunfights by not getting shot.
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Tactics (tasks that you should strive to be able to do in support of your strategy) -----
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"Ready Positions" by Ralph Mroz
https://americancop.com/ready-positions/
Yes, it is essential that you see the enemy's hands and waist line. Your pistol and hands
will block your view if you are aimed in.
If you have not decided to shoot the bad guy, you cannot legally or morally point your
pistol at him (at any part of him). Los Angeles Police Department uses a low ready with
the pistol pointed off to the side of the suspect (some call it "urban ready").
I love Ralph's writings. He did a series of DVDs several years ago under auspices of the
Police Officers Safety Association. You should check them out, if they are still in print.
---
If you do the low ready from the Weaver position with the support side elbow pulled down
and in, not sticking out to the side, the support side upper arm will rest against your rib cage.
So the position is supported by bone structure, not muscle tension. So you can hold the
position forever without getting tired.
The low ready from the Isosceles position requires muscle tension.
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Techniques (ways to execute a given task in support of your tactics) -----
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
"Pistol Malfunctions and Stoppages – Part 1" by Erick Gelhaus
https://americancop.com/pistol-malfunctions-and-stoppages-part-1/
"Failure to extract – when tap, roll, rack does not work" by Erick Gelhaus
https://americancop.com/failure-to-extract-when-tap-roll-rack-does-not-work/
"Shooting From Retention" by Richard Nance
https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/shooting-from-retention/464553
Excerpt:
With an aggressive and determined opponent within 10 feet, extending your gun fully
to get behind the sights may be ill-advised.
"HOW TO SHOOT A PISTOL RIGHT HANDED -
IF YOU ARE LEFT-EYE DOMINANT
(OR LEFT HAND/RIGHT-EYE DOMINANT)" by Chris Sajnog
https://www.chrissajnog.com/shoot-right-handed-left-eye-dominant
How do you lock your wrist? Squeeze the grip as tight as you can.
How do you maximize your grip strength? Keep your wrists straight. (Don't torque your
wrist by turning your hand to point your thumb at the target. That just weakens your grip.)
Do you need to "lock your writs"? Yes, in the sense that you need a tight grip . Probably
tighter than you are presently gripping. You're probably not strong enough to grip properly.
Better start on those hand strength exercises. An easy one is to spread a sheet of newspaper
on a table and crumple it into a tight ball with one hand. (Do you know what a newspaper is?)
I used to be a newspaper boy. I would crumple the Honolulu Advertiser with my right hand
and the Honolulu Star Bulletin with my left hand, one sheet at a time. Great fun.
Better would be to push with your firing side hand and pull with your support side hand,
while gripping the pistol tight with both hands. (The amount of grip pressure you are exerting
is probably less than optimal. Optimal is a lot more than a hand shake. Remember, you are
controlling / driving a recoiling firearm.) If you do this, your arm position will evolve into
the Chapman version of the Weaver position. Firing side arm locked out straight as the stock
of a long gun (and pushing) and support side arm elbow bent and down as if holding the
stock of a long gun (and pulling).
"Take training from different instructors.
We are all wrong about something."
-- John Farnam
“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
My review of the classes that I attended at last weekend's Guardian Conference --
(I know some of this review will not make sense because it is abbreviated and out of context.)
Guardian Conference
September 16th to 18th, 2022
OKC Gun Club
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
---
"Pistol Intelligence" by Riley Bowman
Concerning grip - The tang is the fulcrum and maximum leverage is delivered by the little
finger, because the little finger is farthest from the fulcrum. So, the little finger must be on
the grip and gripping tightly. (If the grip is so short that you can't get your little finger on the
grip, the grip is too small to control the pistol. Don't use it.) The entire surface of the grip
must be aggressively textured. Any smooth surface on the grip is wrong. Your hands should
be in contact with the entire surface of the grip.
Muscle tension is the enemy of performance. Get rid of emotional tension.
It is up to you to discover your best techniques. (There is no reason to believe that they
are what work for someone else.)
Measure accuracy and time. Use a shot timer. (Without measurement there is no science.)
Red dot sights are simpler. Only one distance at which to focus.
"Recognize your errors and apply emotionless corrections." -- Steve Anderson
Present tense shooting. Only be concerned with what is going on right now. Forget past
shots. Don't worry about future events.
Watch the sights to know what the gun is doing.
Keep your thumb in contact with your body when holstering. Otherwise, you will be
pointing your gun at yourself. (Especially important for those carrying inside the waist
band appendix.)
The Weaver (arm position) allows more push pull pressure. [Though Riley strongly
advocated the Isosceles arm position with the elbows bent to act as shock absorbers.]
Continuously aim.
Observe objects in your peripheral vision while aiming. Practice this. It will pay big
dividends. It will help you to break tunnel vision. It will help you notice things that you
would not have noticed without such practice.
---
"Vehicle Defense for Armed Guardians" by Todd Fossey
The order in which you will retain things is:
Concepts (you will retain this the longest)
Gross motor skills
Fine motor skills
Sensory motor skills
The order in which you will lose things with lack of practice is:
Sensory motor skills (you will lose these the soonest)
Fine motor skills
Gross motor skills
Concepts
Practice 12 minutes per day for 12 weeks to get competent.
Practice once every 4 weeks to stay competent.
"Repetition without repetition", you practice a skill, but the execution of the skill should
not be exactly the same every time.
How to win the fight:
Distance (paying attention to distances and knowing your ability at that distance)
Transitions [between spaces (grocery store to car, etc.) and between positions (standing to
kneeling, pistol in right hand to pistol in left hand, etc.) and such (fast pace if target is close,
slow pace is target is far or small)]
Timing (feigning compliance, looking for opportunities, the window of which may be very
short, so you must be prepared for it)
Dominant angles (when using cover and corners, getting behind your opponent, bladed stance
to keep your pistol away from the enemy, etc.)
Pillars in cars are cover.
Your training should have skill development and application simultaneously.
How to take off your seatbelt. There is a correct way, so you never get caught or tangled
in it. It's a topology exercise. Reach under the belt, so the belt ends up outboard of your
arms.
Push the passengers in your car to get them out of the way of your shot. Don't assume
they will stay in place for you. If you are pushing them, you know where they are.
Use the temple index in your car.
"The few solutions to many problems."
---
"Detect | Deter | Defend - The 5 Stages of Violent Crime" by Todd Fossey
1. Intent
2. Interview
3. Positioning
4. Attack
5. Aftermath
Several minutes were spent explaining the psychology of types of dangerous persons and
how to recognize them. [I never knew how many indicators I had for being a psychopath.
I have had several girlfriends tell me that I had a flat affect, didn't show much emotion.]
You will attract criminal predators if you:
1. slouch, have bad posture, have an awkward gait
2. lack situational awareness
3. are disabled
If you project the victim role, you will attract predators.
To be deselected by the criminal predator:
1. Let him know you see him.
2. Your demeanor should be neutral and crisp.
3. You should be moving with purpose.
4. If approached, say "Sorry, I can't help you."
5. Hands up in front of you.
6. 93% of communication is non-verbal. Your communication should be neutral and crisp.
If the bad guy has his hands in his pockets or behind him, tell him to keep them there.
Commanding him to show his hands allows him to move. You will not be able to react in
time. If you tell him not to move, you can shoot him on any movement and justify it by
articulating a furtive movement.
If approached, check your six for the real attacker.
Challenging or insulting the bad guy will result in his attempting to kill you.
The flashlight is the best "less than lethal" tool. (Better than pepper spray.)
---
"Fight IQ" by Todd Fossey
"Slip and Capture error" is when you think you're doing one things when you're actually
doing something else.
Real problems are unrepeatable and unpredictable. Is your training appropriate for such?
Figure skating is to gun competitions as Hockey skating is to fighting with a gun.
The skating is different. The skates are different. The attitude is different. The mindset is
different. To conflate is WRONG! (Gun competitions are leaving you with all kinds of
training scars. We went over a long list of them. This is very serious.)
The fighter who knows WHY will beat the fighter who knows HOW.
---
"Weapons-Based Clinch Fighting" by Todd Fossey
Even a synopsis would not do this physical class justice, so I'm going to skip the review.
[There was a technique for weapon retention that I had not seen before that Todd called
the "wedge", where you place your forearm/elbow on top of the enemy's hand that is grabbing
your pistol in your holster and bend your torso to crush his hand or strip his hand off
your pistol. It was very effective, kept the arm in close to your body, and generated a lot of
force. (Of course, you have to be wearing your pistol high up on your waist at 3 o'clock as
we dextral do. Or 9 o'clock as you sinistral people do.) -- Jon Low]
---
"The Next Step Beyond Shooting; Decision Making" by Melody Lauer
I highly recommend this class. It was a role playing scenario class. Melody described it
as between controlled range training where you are told exactly what to do and when to do
it, and force-on-force scenarios in which you are generally given no instruction. The students
were able to call time out whenever they needed to to discuss what to do. The scenario was
discussed at the end.
Melody's lecture brought me to tears 3 times. She is speaking deep truths that will rip your
gut.
---
"Low-Light Pistol" by Matt Little
As Matt said, you have to square away your kit. At least 2 weapon mounted lights fell off
of the pistols that they were attached to. All kinds of malfunctions occurred, some equipment
failures, some shooter induced. Shooting in the dark is disturbing to the psyche, and so must
be practiced. The shooters unfamiliarity with the dark caused all kinds of problems.
Having a hand held light is essential. If you're going to mount a light on your pistol, that's
fine, but you also have to have a hand held light.
Matt gave us a set of safety rules specifically for this class. I'm not going to state them
here, because they require explanation.
Train for the fight, not as you fight. (This is deep. Some say, "Train as you fight because
you will fight as you have trained." Which is not always true. But if you think about it, Matt's
statement is always true and applicable. I of course cannot do it justice in this short after
action report.)
Push on, release off. Anything more complicated is WRONG! You don't need a strobe.
You can simulate a strobe with your flashlight. You can make the enemy think there are
50 of you by correct application of flashlight techniques. You don't need to shine your light
at the target to see the target.
Ambient light, back wash, back lighting, hiding places, dark areas (darker than surrounding
which will appear black to the enemy), light on walls, etc.
White light negligent discharge. (enough to get your unit killed)
Don't navigate, don't search with your WML (weapon mounted light).
Tactics is triage.
"Broken rhythm" -- Bruce Lee
You must be unpredictable.
White light will wash out night vision goggles.
If your technique has your flashlight behind your pistol (not Harries technique) and you
are using a red dot sight, you may get glare from your flashlight on your window. In which
case you won't be able to see your dot. (This is a real problem.)
There was a long discussion of the details of various red dot sights. As in Leupold infuses
chemicals into their glass as opposed to coating the glass, and what effect that has in the
context of low light shooting. Way too much detail to go into here.
"Strategies of Low Light Engagements" by Ken J. Good. Buy it. Read it.
Simunitions will not sell to civilians.
Shoot low light matches.
Don't use tracers. They will set houses on fire. (Actually, they are incendiary rounds.
Whether you think so or not.)
---
"Essential Skills and Drills" by Wayne Dobbs
Reading through my notes, I realize that I can't do this class justice in a review.
If you get a chance to take a class from Wayne, do it.
---
"Mastery of Shooting On The Move" by Mickey Schuch
By the end of the class, we were weaving through barrels while hitting steel targets at 10
yards. But, many vision drills, movement drills, and such were required to get us to that point.
The class content was good.
The behavior of the instructor was . . .
Well, my aunt Lois told me, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything".
---
After having taken many classes and attended many training conferences, I have found
that there are two schools of thought with respect to how to unload the semi-auto pistol.
The classic school says, remove the magazine, rack the slide to eject the chambered round,
and lock the slide to the rear. I learned this in the Marine Corps in 1981.
The modern school says, lock the slide to the rear to eject the chambered round and remove
the magazine. I first read of this in a blog post by the Tactical Professor, Claude Werner.
You can find it on his web site. This technique gets the round out of the chamber sooner
(in the first operation) and has 2 operations, instead of 3.
A lot of people have never heard of the modern technique for unloading, are aghast when
shown the technique, and refuse to consider it. Such is the human condition. Institutional
inertia is a thing.
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
"1% Better" by Samuel Middlebrook
https://www.redhawkfirearmtraining.com/confidence-blog/2022/9/14/1-better
Why practice?
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment
when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and
offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique
to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if
that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that
which could have been their finest hour."
-- Winston Churchill
"Be careful what you practice.
Because you will do in combat whatever you have practiced,
no matter how ridiculous."
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
*************************************************************************
----- Strategy (deciding on the end state and how to achieve it, which tactics to use) -----
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, and Escape
You win gunfights by not getting shot.
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Tactics (tasks that you should strive to be able to do in support of your strategy) -----
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"Ready Positions" by Ralph Mroz
https://americancop.com/ready-positions/
Yes, it is essential that you see the enemy's hands and waist line. Your pistol and hands
will block your view if you are aimed in.
If you have not decided to shoot the bad guy, you cannot legally or morally point your
pistol at him (at any part of him). Los Angeles Police Department uses a low ready with
the pistol pointed off to the side of the suspect (some call it "urban ready").
I love Ralph's writings. He did a series of DVDs several years ago under auspices of the
Police Officers Safety Association. You should check them out, if they are still in print.
---
If you do the low ready from the Weaver position with the support side elbow pulled down
and in, not sticking out to the side, the support side upper arm will rest against your rib cage.
So the position is supported by bone structure, not muscle tension. So you can hold the
position forever without getting tired.
The low ready from the Isosceles position requires muscle tension.
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Techniques (ways to execute a given task in support of your tactics) -----
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
"Pistol Malfunctions and Stoppages – Part 1" by Erick Gelhaus
https://americancop.com/pistol-malfunctions-and-stoppages-part-1/
"Failure to extract – when tap, roll, rack does not work" by Erick Gelhaus
https://americancop.com/failure-to-extract-when-tap-roll-rack-does-not-work/
"Shooting From Retention" by Richard Nance
https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/shooting-from-retention/464553
Excerpt:
With an aggressive and determined opponent within 10 feet, extending your gun fully
to get behind the sights may be ill-advised.
"HOW TO SHOOT A PISTOL RIGHT HANDED -
IF YOU ARE LEFT-EYE DOMINANT
(OR LEFT HAND/RIGHT-EYE DOMINANT)" by Chris Sajnog
https://www.chrissajnog.com/shoot-right-handed-left-eye-dominant
How do you lock your wrist? Squeeze the grip as tight as you can.
How do you maximize your grip strength? Keep your wrists straight. (Don't torque your
wrist by turning your hand to point your thumb at the target. That just weakens your grip.)
Do you need to "lock your writs"? Yes, in the sense that you need a tight grip . Probably
tighter than you are presently gripping. You're probably not strong enough to grip properly.
Better start on those hand strength exercises. An easy one is to spread a sheet of newspaper
on a table and crumple it into a tight ball with one hand. (Do you know what a newspaper is?)
I used to be a newspaper boy. I would crumple the Honolulu Advertiser with my right hand
and the Honolulu Star Bulletin with my left hand, one sheet at a time. Great fun.
Better would be to push with your firing side hand and pull with your support side hand,
while gripping the pistol tight with both hands. (The amount of grip pressure you are exerting
is probably less than optimal. Optimal is a lot more than a hand shake. Remember, you are
controlling / driving a recoiling firearm.) If you do this, your arm position will evolve into
the Chapman version of the Weaver position. Firing side arm locked out straight as the stock
of a long gun (and pushing) and support side arm elbow bent and down as if holding the
stock of a long gun (and pulling).
You must get the light around or in front of the barrier. Otherwise, the light will reflect on you.
Killing your night vision. Giving away your position. And other bad stuff.
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** 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
"A parent's job is to teach their children not to need them anymore.
The hardest part of that is accepting success."
-- Beth Robertson
I would suggest that a self-defense / firearms instructor's job is to teach their students
not to need them anymore. As an instructor, it is real easy to get a cult following. You
should tell your students to take classes from other instructors.
"Take training from different instructors.
We are all wrong about something."
-- John Farnam
If you have students who only train with you, they will never find out all the things you
do wrong, or sub-optimally. Which may be good for your ego. But it's bad for your student's
survival.
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
The instructors should pass out notes or outlines or at least a list of important
points at the beginning of their classes. All I have are my hand written notes, which
are obviously very different from every other student's hand written notes.
This lack of consistency will encourage misunderstanding. The lack of official
neatly printed handouts encourages misunderstanding. In later days, weeks, or
months instructors will read ARR (After Action Reports) of their classes on
blog postings and think, "I never said that.", "I never taught that." But, by then
it's too late.
I posted a quote by Tom Givens on my DefensivePistolcraft.com blog.
Then I got an email from Tom saying that that was not his quote and asking me
where I got it from. I of course removed the attribution to him on my blog and
told him that I got it from my notes from his Instructor Development class. It
was something I had heard him say in class, not something that he had written.
I may have been mistaken. He may have been mistaken. Such is the nature of
communication.
---
Instructors must repeat the student's question to the class before answering
the question. Speaking in complete sentences or even complete paragraphs is
not sufficient. The students have to know what the question was, otherwise they
will never figure out what the answer means.
---
Please issue name tags on a lanyard or on a clip to attach to one's shirt to every
student and instructor. Melody was able to remember our names in her class
because there were only 5 students. But, in the larger classes it's impossible.
Addressing the students by name makes a world of difference.
Be careful what you teach.
Because your students will do in combat
whatever you have trained them to do,
no matter how ridiculous.
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
----- Andragogy -----
An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented.
-- "Building Shooters" by Dustin Solomon
"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives."
-- Robert John Meehan
*************************************************************************
----- Aftermath ----- (You have to be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.)
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him,
but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton
As Andrew Branca says, after 20 years in prison, you have to be able to say to yourself,
"Knowing what the outcome would be, I would do it again. I did the right thing."
In the right hand column of this web page, click on "Never Talk To The Police"
or use the direct address
https://defensivepistolcraft.blogspot.com/p/never-talk-to-police.html
In the right hand column, click on the link labeled "Self Defense Insurance".
Or, the direct link is,
http://defensivepistolcraft.blogspot.com/p/self-defense-insurance.html
“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
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Legal ***** ***** *****
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate for the governance of any other.
-- John Adams, October 11, 1798
“Illinois Becomes The First State To Pass "The Purge" Law” by R. Peña
https://www.yahoo.com/news/illinois-becomes-first-state-pass-121500362.html
Excerpt:
On January 1st of 2023 the ‘SAFE-T’ Act will commence in the state of Illinois.
This act will get rid of the cash bail system in its entirety.
There are 12 non-detainable offenses where the new law would end cash bail.
The law includes second-degree murder, arson, drug-induced homicide, robbery,
kidnapping, aggravated battery, burglary, intimidation, aggravated driving under
the influence, fleeing and eluding, drug offenses, and threatening a public official.
The Safe-T Act would allow criminals a pre-trial release for the crimes listed above,
if prosecutors fail to show “clear and convincing evidence” that the alleged could
be a threat to a specific individual.
. . . prosecutors would only have 48 hours [to present this “clear and convincing
evidence” that the alleged could be a threat to a specific individual].
[Statistically speaking, almost all violent criminals (described as such because they
have a violent criminal record) are out on bail, parole, or early release when arrested.
Case in point is the recent Eliza Fletcher murder in Memphis, TN. The suspect was
released 4 years early (from a 24 year sentence). The Tennessee parole board claims
they did not release him.
-- Jon Low]
Last night (9/21/2022) at the Tennessee Firearms Association meeting,
the BATFE (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives)
Special Agent In Charge of the Tennesse and Alabama district,
SAIC, Mr. French, spoke to us. He told us that --
Just about all gun related crime is gang on gang shootings.
1% of the population causes 50% of the crime.
A first time criminal shooter will criminally shoot again in 45 days. A second time
shooter will shoot again in 30 days. A third time shooter will shoot again in 3 days.
[In case you don't understand, this means that after arrest for a given criminal shooting
the suspect is out on the streets immediately or within these time periods in order to
do the next shooting. In America, we have repeat offenders. In many countries in the
world there is no such thing as a repeat offender. Do you understand why? -- Jon Low]
Concerning gun trafficking --
In the states bordering Mexico, guns go south and drugs go north.
In other states, guns go to big cities where gun control laws make it difficult to get guns.
And money or drugs flow out of the cities to pay for the guns.
A $500 Glock in the U.S. can be sold in Sydney, Australia for $5000. Hence the profit
margin for gun trafficking.
The ATF (short for BATFE) has a Citizen's Academy that runs for 8 weeks, if you're
interested in learning what the ATF does. The class size is 24 persons. Sign up for the
next class. There are no long waiting lists.
"Alec Baldwin on Short List for Prosecution in Shooting" by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWoKQu5SZys
"If you carry a gun, so you're hard to kill, know the law, so you're hard to convict."
Free infographic on the 5 elements of self-defense.
https://LawOfSefDefense.com/elements/
"Law of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca
https://lawofselfdefense.com/freebook/
The book is free of charge. Just pay shipping, so you don't have to drive to Colorado
to pick it up.
Law of Self Defense YouTube.com channel
https://www.youtube.com/c/Lawofselfdefense/videos
Law of Self Defense Rumble.com channel
https://www.Rumble.com/lawofselfdefense/
"Educate yourself. So, you don't spend the rest of your life in a cage."
"The Truth About The USCCA Self-Defense Liability Policy - Attorney Marc J. Victor"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbEbOJMdK30
Mr. Victor is reading directly out of the USCCA documents.
Remember Kayla Giles. USCCA decided that she was guilty before she was convicted
and so refused to pay her legal fees. Without big money up front, you're not going to get a
very good defense at trial. Which will result in your conviction. That's just reality.
“Is there no virtue among us?
If there is not, we are without hope!
No form of government, existing nor theoretical, will keep us from harm.
To think that any government, in any form,
will insure liberty and happiness for a dishonorable population
represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Education ***** ***** *****
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
"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
I have worked as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in the Tennessee Family
Court system. I know from first hand experience that some women do not naturally know
how to handle babies. And some women should be sterilized to prevent them from bearing
anymore drug addicted babies, to prevent them from beating their babies to death, to prevent
them from starving their babies to death, to prevent them from selling their children as sex
slaves. I could go on, but you get the idea.
----- Gear -----
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
"dB Foam: Make Your Pistol Suppressors Hollywood Quiet" by Tom Mchale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OfK1naS250
There seems to be a real problem with the Sig P320 as the following are other examples of
many such law suits.
---
"Milwaukee Police Association Sues City Over Safety Concerns with Sig P320"
https://www.policemag.com/645746/milwaukee-police-association-sues-city-over-safety-concerns-with-sig-p320
---
"Judge sides with SIG Sauer in accidental shooting lawsuit" by Michael Lee
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/judge-sides-sig-sauer-accidental-shooting-lawsuit
Excerpt:
As evidence, Guy introduced bodycam video of an alleged misfire of a P320 pistol by
Roscommon, Michigan Sheriff’s Department Officer Michael Richardson in February 2016.
The video shows Richardson sitting in his cruiser on a highway before attempting to help
a stranded motorist, with the officer having his holstered P320 pistol suddenly fire as he
attempts to exit his vehicle.
"The Springfield XD- A Polemic" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/the-springfield-xd-a-polemic
That bit about the grip not being shaped correctly for a human hand is real. I have had to
modify all of the XDs that my students have used to prevent irritation of the sesamoid bones,
where the thumb connects to the palm. I've had to do the Dremel job on the larger Glock 21
grips too.
---
"It’s Not A Glock! But Does it Suck?" by Lars Smith
https://gatdaily.com/its-not-a-glock-but-does-it-suck/
---
Now this is some hard XD bashing. Let me respond.
The fact that you can't push the sights with a sight pusher means that nothing can knock
your sights out of zero. Which is a good thing.
The grip safety is just like a 1911 grip safety. It functions as designed. If your hand is too
weak or too small, you need to get a different pistol. It's not a design flaw.
Brownells and others sell replacement magazine springs. If your magazine springs are
weak, change them. Parts wear out. Such is reality. It's not a design flaw.
If the lips of the magazine get bent, bend them back. If they crack, replace the magazine.
Parts wear out. It's not a design flaw.
Rust is neglect. Clean the pistol.
". . . the [recoil] spring has little resistance at lock-up." Replace the spring. Brownells,
Wolf, and others sell replacement springs of whatever weight you like. (I have never found
this to be the case with the XDs that I have encountered.)
"The loaded chamber indicator can accumulate crud to give a false indication." Don't use
it. Do a visual or tactile chamber check as taught in all the gun schools. Or clean the pistol.
"The extractor was a spring, just like a 1911. If you had to snap it over a stuck cartridge
you could damage the hook." Not in my experience. I've never seen or heard of an extractor
claw getting damaged by releasing the slide on a chambered cartridge.
"The grip safety locks the slide and trigger." Ya, it's designed that way. It's a feature, not
a flaw.
"The trigger had no distinctive reset." All of the XDs that I have encountered have had a
distinct tactile and audible reset.
The U.S. law enforcement departments and military units do not using the XD is because
it is not "Made in USA". It is made in Croatia.
[I'm not an XD fan boy. I just know there are at least two sides to every story, and I think
you should hear another side.]
---
I met a gentleman at a conference who told me that he carries a Glock 21 in 45ACP
because his hero, Raylan Givens carries one.
[TV show "Justified", season 1, episode 10 Hammer, 09:59 of 41:00]
I pointed out that Raylan Givens is a fictional character in a novel "Fire in the Hole" by
Elmore Leonard and a TV show called "Justified".
I told the gentleman that Louis Awerbuck recommended the XD Tactical in 45 ACP.
To which the gentleman responded, "Who is Louis Awerbuck?"
I explained that Louis Awerbuck was a person who knew what he was talking about.
"TSA finds seven guns within five days at Sky Harbor Airport" by Tianna Morimoto
https://www.azfamily.com/2022/09/23/tsa-finds-seven-guns-within-five-days-sky-harbor-airport/
Excerpt:
No guns in carry-ons. Firearms must be properly packed in checked baggage and declared
to the airline at check-in.
Pack smart; start with empty bags. Airline passengers who pack for travel with empty bags
are less likely to bring prohibited items through a TSA checkpoint.
Know before you go. Plan to arrive at the airport with plenty of time to check in, check
bags, and complete security screening in time to avoid stressful sprints to the departure gate.
---
"People stopped with guns in carry-on luggage typically aver that they'd forgotten that
the gun had been stored there. If you don't know where your gun is, it's not really under
your control." -- Stephen P. Wenger, http://spw-duf.info
Uzima Romanian M193 5.56x45 NATO 55gr FMJ 800-Round Spam Can
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/uzima-romanian-m193-5-56x45-nato-ammo-55gr-fmj-800-round-spam-can.html
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
----- Technical / Maintenance -----
"Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
"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
(capitalization as in the original document, militia refers to YOU)
*************************************************************************
***** ***** Religion, Politics, History, and War Stories ***** ***** *****
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
Rest In Peace Ed Head
"Longtime Gunsite Academy Instructor Ed Head Passes" by Tactical Life
https://www.tactical-life.com/lifestyle/culture/gunsite-academy-ed-head/
"Hypocrisy!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/hypocrisy-4/
"At about this time in 1862, Abraham Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
You’ve heard of the official Emancipation Proclamation, of course, but this was an earlier
version of it. Did you know that Lincoln gave southern states an opportunity to return to the
Union — and to keep their slaves?" -- Tara Ross
https://www.facebook.com/johniharris/posts/pfbid02yyiYLHBKpbvxapKSJBLELmM8stB3qRgGGgmXe41LU2KBbBs7GSn77eJNUbvj3NaLl
Some companies, such as Wendy's restaurants, use FortiGuard on their customer WiFi
connections. FortiGuard considers any web site that "gun related" to be bad and blocks it
for its customers.
“Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age.
It does so, because honor is, finally, about defending those
noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even when
it comes at high cost.
In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn,
hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself.
The question remains:
What is worth defending?
What is worth dying for?
What is worth living for?”
-- William J. Bennett
"Trends" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/trends-4/
"FBI whistleblower:
Counterterrorism cases against alleged right-wing extremists mostly ‘entrapment’ "
by Kerry Picket
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/sep/22/fbi-whistleblower-counterterrorism-cases-against-a/
Remember Richard Jewel.
I reprint this here because Stephen sent this to me in an email, not a web site that I could
link to.
---
Just for Giggles: During a speech to a teachers’ union Friday, President Joe Biden admitted
that AR-15s, AK-47s, and other guns Democrats call “assault weapons” are designed
“to defend people.” The Post Millennial published video showing Biden launch into the topic
by asking, “What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for?” He then continued,
“It’s an assault weapon designed to kill people, to defend America, to defend people.”
Yes, Biden admitted “assault weapons” are “designed…to defend people.”
The Center for Security Policy’s Kyle Shideler reacted to Biden’s admission by tweeting,
“Biden accidentally stumbles into the meaning of the 2nd amendment.” Biden’s observations
on the firearms which Democrats refer to as “assault weapons” comes just days after he told
CBS News’ 60 Minutes that he will continue to push for a ban on such firearms . . .
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/09/23/oops-joe-biden-admits-assault-weapons-are-designed-defend-people/
---
For decades before his dementia was apparent, this clown [Joe Biden] was infamous for
his gaffes.
-- Stephen P. Wenger
http://spw-duf.info
"Bass Reeves: Deputy U.S. Marshal You Should Know" by Kat Ainsworth
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/bass-reeves-deputy-u-s-marshal-you-should-know/
If you have a good attitude, life will take you to all kinds of interesting places.
Killing your night vision. Giving away your position. And other bad stuff.
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** 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
"A parent's job is to teach their children not to need them anymore.
The hardest part of that is accepting success."
-- Beth Robertson
I would suggest that a self-defense / firearms instructor's job is to teach their students
not to need them anymore. As an instructor, it is real easy to get a cult following. You
should tell your students to take classes from other instructors.
"Take training from different instructors.
We are all wrong about something."
-- John Farnam
If you have students who only train with you, they will never find out all the things you
do wrong, or sub-optimally. Which may be good for your ego. But it's bad for your student's
survival.
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
The instructors should pass out notes or outlines or at least a list of important
points at the beginning of their classes. All I have are my hand written notes, which
are obviously very different from every other student's hand written notes.
This lack of consistency will encourage misunderstanding. The lack of official
neatly printed handouts encourages misunderstanding. In later days, weeks, or
months instructors will read ARR (After Action Reports) of their classes on
blog postings and think, "I never said that.", "I never taught that." But, by then
it's too late.
I posted a quote by Tom Givens on my DefensivePistolcraft.com blog.
Then I got an email from Tom saying that that was not his quote and asking me
where I got it from. I of course removed the attribution to him on my blog and
told him that I got it from my notes from his Instructor Development class. It
was something I had heard him say in class, not something that he had written.
I may have been mistaken. He may have been mistaken. Such is the nature of
communication.
---
Instructors must repeat the student's question to the class before answering
the question. Speaking in complete sentences or even complete paragraphs is
not sufficient. The students have to know what the question was, otherwise they
will never figure out what the answer means.
---
Please issue name tags on a lanyard or on a clip to attach to one's shirt to every
student and instructor. Melody was able to remember our names in her class
because there were only 5 students. But, in the larger classes it's impossible.
Addressing the students by name makes a world of difference.
Be careful what you teach.
Because your students will do in combat
whatever you have trained them to do,
no matter how ridiculous.
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
----- Andragogy -----
An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented.
-- "Building Shooters" by Dustin Solomon
"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives."
-- Robert John Meehan
*************************************************************************
----- Aftermath ----- (You have to be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.)
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him,
but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton
As Andrew Branca says, after 20 years in prison, you have to be able to say to yourself,
"Knowing what the outcome would be, I would do it again. I did the right thing."
In the right hand column of this web page, click on "Never Talk To The Police"
or use the direct address
https://defensivepistolcraft.blogspot.com/p/never-talk-to-police.html
In the right hand column, click on the link labeled "Self Defense Insurance".
Or, the direct link is,
http://defensivepistolcraft.blogspot.com/p/self-defense-insurance.html
“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
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Legal ***** ***** *****
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate for the governance of any other.
-- John Adams, October 11, 1798
“Illinois Becomes The First State To Pass "The Purge" Law” by R. Peña
https://www.yahoo.com/news/illinois-becomes-first-state-pass-121500362.html
Excerpt:
On January 1st of 2023 the ‘SAFE-T’ Act will commence in the state of Illinois.
This act will get rid of the cash bail system in its entirety.
There are 12 non-detainable offenses where the new law would end cash bail.
The law includes second-degree murder, arson, drug-induced homicide, robbery,
kidnapping, aggravated battery, burglary, intimidation, aggravated driving under
the influence, fleeing and eluding, drug offenses, and threatening a public official.
The Safe-T Act would allow criminals a pre-trial release for the crimes listed above,
if prosecutors fail to show “clear and convincing evidence” that the alleged could
be a threat to a specific individual.
. . . prosecutors would only have 48 hours [to present this “clear and convincing
evidence” that the alleged could be a threat to a specific individual].
[Statistically speaking, almost all violent criminals (described as such because they
have a violent criminal record) are out on bail, parole, or early release when arrested.
Case in point is the recent Eliza Fletcher murder in Memphis, TN. The suspect was
released 4 years early (from a 24 year sentence). The Tennessee parole board claims
they did not release him.
-- Jon Low]
Last night (9/21/2022) at the Tennessee Firearms Association meeting,
the BATFE (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives)
Special Agent In Charge of the Tennesse and Alabama district,
SAIC, Mr. French, spoke to us. He told us that --
Just about all gun related crime is gang on gang shootings.
1% of the population causes 50% of the crime.
A first time criminal shooter will criminally shoot again in 45 days. A second time
shooter will shoot again in 30 days. A third time shooter will shoot again in 3 days.
[In case you don't understand, this means that after arrest for a given criminal shooting
the suspect is out on the streets immediately or within these time periods in order to
do the next shooting. In America, we have repeat offenders. In many countries in the
world there is no such thing as a repeat offender. Do you understand why? -- Jon Low]
Concerning gun trafficking --
In the states bordering Mexico, guns go south and drugs go north.
In other states, guns go to big cities where gun control laws make it difficult to get guns.
And money or drugs flow out of the cities to pay for the guns.
A $500 Glock in the U.S. can be sold in Sydney, Australia for $5000. Hence the profit
margin for gun trafficking.
The ATF (short for BATFE) has a Citizen's Academy that runs for 8 weeks, if you're
interested in learning what the ATF does. The class size is 24 persons. Sign up for the
next class. There are no long waiting lists.
"Alec Baldwin on Short List for Prosecution in Shooting" by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWoKQu5SZys
"If you carry a gun, so you're hard to kill, know the law, so you're hard to convict."
Free infographic on the 5 elements of self-defense.
https://LawOfSefDefense.com/elements/
"Law of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca
https://lawofselfdefense.com/freebook/
The book is free of charge. Just pay shipping, so you don't have to drive to Colorado
to pick it up.
Law of Self Defense YouTube.com channel
https://www.youtube.com/c/Lawofselfdefense/videos
Law of Self Defense Rumble.com channel
https://www.Rumble.com/lawofselfdefense/
"Educate yourself. So, you don't spend the rest of your life in a cage."
"The Truth About The USCCA Self-Defense Liability Policy - Attorney Marc J. Victor"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbEbOJMdK30
Mr. Victor is reading directly out of the USCCA documents.
Remember Kayla Giles. USCCA decided that she was guilty before she was convicted
and so refused to pay her legal fees. Without big money up front, you're not going to get a
very good defense at trial. Which will result in your conviction. That's just reality.
“Is there no virtue among us?
If there is not, we are without hope!
No form of government, existing nor theoretical, will keep us from harm.
To think that any government, in any form,
will insure liberty and happiness for a dishonorable population
represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Education ***** ***** *****
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
"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
I have worked as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in the Tennessee Family
Court system. I know from first hand experience that some women do not naturally know
how to handle babies. And some women should be sterilized to prevent them from bearing
anymore drug addicted babies, to prevent them from beating their babies to death, to prevent
them from starving their babies to death, to prevent them from selling their children as sex
slaves. I could go on, but you get the idea.
----- Gear -----
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
"dB Foam: Make Your Pistol Suppressors Hollywood Quiet" by Tom Mchale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OfK1naS250
There seems to be a real problem with the Sig P320 as the following are other examples of
many such law suits.
---
"Milwaukee Police Association Sues City Over Safety Concerns with Sig P320"
https://www.policemag.com/645746/milwaukee-police-association-sues-city-over-safety-concerns-with-sig-p320
---
"Judge sides with SIG Sauer in accidental shooting lawsuit" by Michael Lee
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/judge-sides-sig-sauer-accidental-shooting-lawsuit
Excerpt:
As evidence, Guy introduced bodycam video of an alleged misfire of a P320 pistol by
Roscommon, Michigan Sheriff’s Department Officer Michael Richardson in February 2016.
The video shows Richardson sitting in his cruiser on a highway before attempting to help
a stranded motorist, with the officer having his holstered P320 pistol suddenly fire as he
attempts to exit his vehicle.
"The Springfield XD- A Polemic" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/the-springfield-xd-a-polemic
That bit about the grip not being shaped correctly for a human hand is real. I have had to
modify all of the XDs that my students have used to prevent irritation of the sesamoid bones,
where the thumb connects to the palm. I've had to do the Dremel job on the larger Glock 21
grips too.
---
"It’s Not A Glock! But Does it Suck?" by Lars Smith
https://gatdaily.com/its-not-a-glock-but-does-it-suck/
---
Now this is some hard XD bashing. Let me respond.
The fact that you can't push the sights with a sight pusher means that nothing can knock
your sights out of zero. Which is a good thing.
The grip safety is just like a 1911 grip safety. It functions as designed. If your hand is too
weak or too small, you need to get a different pistol. It's not a design flaw.
Brownells and others sell replacement magazine springs. If your magazine springs are
weak, change them. Parts wear out. Such is reality. It's not a design flaw.
If the lips of the magazine get bent, bend them back. If they crack, replace the magazine.
Parts wear out. It's not a design flaw.
Rust is neglect. Clean the pistol.
". . . the [recoil] spring has little resistance at lock-up." Replace the spring. Brownells,
Wolf, and others sell replacement springs of whatever weight you like. (I have never found
this to be the case with the XDs that I have encountered.)
"The loaded chamber indicator can accumulate crud to give a false indication." Don't use
it. Do a visual or tactile chamber check as taught in all the gun schools. Or clean the pistol.
"The extractor was a spring, just like a 1911. If you had to snap it over a stuck cartridge
you could damage the hook." Not in my experience. I've never seen or heard of an extractor
claw getting damaged by releasing the slide on a chambered cartridge.
"The grip safety locks the slide and trigger." Ya, it's designed that way. It's a feature, not
a flaw.
"The trigger had no distinctive reset." All of the XDs that I have encountered have had a
distinct tactile and audible reset.
The U.S. law enforcement departments and military units do not using the XD is because
it is not "Made in USA". It is made in Croatia.
[I'm not an XD fan boy. I just know there are at least two sides to every story, and I think
you should hear another side.]
---
I met a gentleman at a conference who told me that he carries a Glock 21 in 45ACP
because his hero, Raylan Givens carries one.
[TV show "Justified", season 1, episode 10 Hammer, 09:59 of 41:00]
I pointed out that Raylan Givens is a fictional character in a novel "Fire in the Hole" by
Elmore Leonard and a TV show called "Justified".
I told the gentleman that Louis Awerbuck recommended the XD Tactical in 45 ACP.
To which the gentleman responded, "Who is Louis Awerbuck?"
I explained that Louis Awerbuck was a person who knew what he was talking about.
"TSA finds seven guns within five days at Sky Harbor Airport" by Tianna Morimoto
https://www.azfamily.com/2022/09/23/tsa-finds-seven-guns-within-five-days-sky-harbor-airport/
Excerpt:
No guns in carry-ons. Firearms must be properly packed in checked baggage and declared
to the airline at check-in.
Pack smart; start with empty bags. Airline passengers who pack for travel with empty bags
are less likely to bring prohibited items through a TSA checkpoint.
Know before you go. Plan to arrive at the airport with plenty of time to check in, check
bags, and complete security screening in time to avoid stressful sprints to the departure gate.
---
"People stopped with guns in carry-on luggage typically aver that they'd forgotten that
the gun had been stored there. If you don't know where your gun is, it's not really under
your control." -- Stephen P. Wenger, http://spw-duf.info
Uzima Romanian M193 5.56x45 NATO 55gr FMJ 800-Round Spam Can
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/uzima-romanian-m193-5-56x45-nato-ammo-55gr-fmj-800-round-spam-can.html
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
----- Technical / Maintenance -----
"Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
"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
(capitalization as in the original document, militia refers to YOU)
*************************************************************************
***** ***** Religion, Politics, History, and War Stories ***** ***** *****
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
Rest In Peace Ed Head
"Longtime Gunsite Academy Instructor Ed Head Passes" by Tactical Life
https://www.tactical-life.com/lifestyle/culture/gunsite-academy-ed-head/
"Hypocrisy!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/hypocrisy-4/
"At about this time in 1862, Abraham Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
You’ve heard of the official Emancipation Proclamation, of course, but this was an earlier
version of it. Did you know that Lincoln gave southern states an opportunity to return to the
Union — and to keep their slaves?" -- Tara Ross
https://www.facebook.com/johniharris/posts/pfbid02yyiYLHBKpbvxapKSJBLELmM8stB3qRgGGgmXe41LU2KBbBs7GSn77eJNUbvj3NaLl
Some companies, such as Wendy's restaurants, use FortiGuard on their customer WiFi
connections. FortiGuard considers any web site that "gun related" to be bad and blocks it
for its customers.
“Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age.
It does so, because honor is, finally, about defending those
noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even when
it comes at high cost.
In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn,
hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself.
The question remains:
What is worth defending?
What is worth dying for?
What is worth living for?”
-- William J. Bennett
"Trends" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/trends-4/
"FBI whistleblower:
Counterterrorism cases against alleged right-wing extremists mostly ‘entrapment’ "
by Kerry Picket
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/sep/22/fbi-whistleblower-counterterrorism-cases-against-a/
Remember Richard Jewel.
I reprint this here because Stephen sent this to me in an email, not a web site that I could
link to.
---
Just for Giggles: During a speech to a teachers’ union Friday, President Joe Biden admitted
that AR-15s, AK-47s, and other guns Democrats call “assault weapons” are designed
“to defend people.” The Post Millennial published video showing Biden launch into the topic
by asking, “What in God’s name do you need an assault weapon for?” He then continued,
“It’s an assault weapon designed to kill people, to defend America, to defend people.”
Yes, Biden admitted “assault weapons” are “designed…to defend people.”
The Center for Security Policy’s Kyle Shideler reacted to Biden’s admission by tweeting,
“Biden accidentally stumbles into the meaning of the 2nd amendment.” Biden’s observations
on the firearms which Democrats refer to as “assault weapons” comes just days after he told
CBS News’ 60 Minutes that he will continue to push for a ban on such firearms . . .
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/09/23/oops-joe-biden-admits-assault-weapons-are-designed-defend-people/
---
For decades before his dementia was apparent, this clown [Joe Biden] was infamous for
his gaffes.
-- Stephen P. Wenger
http://spw-duf.info
"Bass Reeves: Deputy U.S. Marshal You Should Know" by Kat Ainsworth
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/bass-reeves-deputy-u-s-marshal-you-should-know/
If you have a good attitude, life will take you to all kinds of interesting places.
"Your character is what you do when no one is looking."
-- Thomas Jefferson
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Cryptology ***** ***** *****
"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe,
and preserve order in the world as well as property.
Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of their use."
-- Thomas Paine
[Cryptosystems are considered "arms" by federal law.
ITAR, International Traffic in Arms Regulations]
"Does nature have a minimal length?" by Sabine Hossenfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyPdIBnWOCM
This seems to imply a limit to our data rates. Do you see how you can use this?
And now for something completely different. [Monty Python's Flying Circus]
"Dea Matrona – Gloria (Van Morrison Cover)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur4iLsXmoeU
"Dea Matrona - BBC Ulster - Just Wanna Rock"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbHTTZOEAgc
"Dea Matrona - The Limelight, Belfast"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGGxSp6EF0c
What's wrong with this picture? [As opposed to, Which one of these doesn't belong?]
"Dea Matrona", meaning “divine mother goddess” in celtic mythology.
I love watching the up and coming musicians in the hotel lobbies in Nashville. Much
cheaper than buying tickets to their performances when they become famous. You should
have seen Dea Matrona when they were busking [to play music or perform entertainment
in a public place (such as on the sidewalk of a busy street), usually while soliciting money].
(Yes, these are the originals.)
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil."
-- Donald Knuth
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Intelligence ***** ***** *****
“You are no more armed because you are wearing a pistol
than you are a musician because you own a guitar.”
from "Principles of Personal Defense" by Col. Jeff Cooper, USMC, (1920 – 2006 A.D.)
Monitor NSC-131. They are active and growing. They are the group that attacked our
Holocaust Memorial at the Gordon Jewish Community Center in Nashville, TN.
Notice that Facebook.com has kicked conservative Christian groups off their platform
because we "hate" and "advocate violence". While NSC-131, Nazis, Aryan Brotherhood,
etc. are still on Facebook.com.
And now for something completely different.
“ What is "Nothing"? ” by Sabine Hossenfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhfqdBk8qxk
Zero point energy is the energy, in empty space far away from any mass, due to quantum
mechanical fluctuations. If you observe a vacuum, you can see electrons appear and disappear.
No, really you can.
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
*************************************************************************
In the 63 years of my life, I have had a wife and two girlfriends (in the intervening years
between my wives) who would lose their keys. I never understood how a person could lose
their keys. I have never lost my keys. I have never accidentally left a gun my in carry on
luggage to be found by TSA. I don't understand people who can do such things.
And then a friend said to me, I have never had such a girlfriend. Why do you choose
such persons to be your girlfriend?
I can only hope his question is not as deep as I fear it is.
"You can’t truly call yourself 'peaceful' unless you are capable of great violence.
If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful, you’re harmless.
Important distinction." -- Stef Starkgaryen
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Email: Jon_Low@yahoo.com
Radio: KI4SDN
