Greetings Sheepdogs,
This newsletter is continuing education for students of defensive pistolcraft.
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
-- Benjamin Franklin
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Prevention ***** ***** *****
All the things you can do to avoid the lethal force incident.
*************************************************************************
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
“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.)
"Take Responsibility" by Joy Allen
https://www.e3personaldefense.com/post/2017/06/30/take-responsibility
Excerpt:
Unfortunately, it's typically only after a tragedy occurs that we truly consider
protecting ourselves, despite these assumptions. It's important, BEFORE something
happens, to have a plan. Never assume that "it won't happen to you."
---
Tim Larkin says, 70% of his students are in his class because they survived an incident.
Just about 100% of my female students are sent to me by fathers, husbands, boyfriends,
etc. because she has had a close call, or he wants to prevent the incident in the first place.
As Michael Mann says, prevention, not reaction.
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
"Tactical Training Scenario- Playground Stabbing" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/tactical-training-scenario-playground-stabbing
You need to answer the questions that Greg poses in the article. Because this will
happen again. And you may be there.
Cited article,
"France stabbing: Children attacked in Annecy park in stable condition"
by Hugh Schofield & George Wright
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65841666
---
"France Enjoying It's Diversity" by Docent
https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/2023/06/france-enjoying-its-diversity.html
As Docent says, "Of course, if he'd never been let into France in the first place,
this would never have happened."
Cited article,
"Syrian refugee screaming 'in the name of Jesus Christ' stabs a child
in their pram in front of mother as four kids aged 22 months to three
- including British girl - are knifed while holidaying at French resort
before cops shoot and arrest him"
by Matthew Lodge and Rachael Bunyan and Peter Allen
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12173067/Eight-children-stabbed-knifeman-French-playground-attacker-subdued.html
"We don’t decide what is necessary to survive a lethal force encounter initiated
by someone else. That person decides what’s necessary for us to survive."
– William Aprill
"Violence is Golden" by Jack Donovan
https://www.jack-donovan.com/sowilo/2010/09/11/violence-is-golden/
Including translations in:
Portuguese by Daniel Sender, "A Violência é Dourada"
Spanish by Leo Molina López, "La Violencia es Dorada"
French by Simon Danjou, "La Violence est D’Or"
Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
"Think: The 5th Fundamental" by Tiger McKee
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/think-the-5th-fundamental/
So nice to see that he had writings in the pipeline before his death.
This newsletter is continuing education for students of defensive pistolcraft.
“They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
-- Benjamin Franklin
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Prevention ***** ***** *****
All the things you can do to avoid the lethal force incident.
*************************************************************************
----- Mindset (figuring out the correct way to think) -----
“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.)
"Take Responsibility" by Joy Allen
https://www.e3personaldefense.com/post/2017/06/30/take-responsibility
Excerpt:
Unfortunately, it's typically only after a tragedy occurs that we truly consider
protecting ourselves, despite these assumptions. It's important, BEFORE something
happens, to have a plan. Never assume that "it won't happen to you."
---
Tim Larkin says, 70% of his students are in his class because they survived an incident.
Just about 100% of my female students are sent to me by fathers, husbands, boyfriends,
etc. because she has had a close call, or he wants to prevent the incident in the first place.
As Michael Mann says, prevention, not reaction.
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
"Tactical Training Scenario- Playground Stabbing" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/tactical-training-scenario-playground-stabbing
You need to answer the questions that Greg poses in the article. Because this will
happen again. And you may be there.
Cited article,
"France stabbing: Children attacked in Annecy park in stable condition"
by Hugh Schofield & George Wright
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65841666
---
"France Enjoying It's Diversity" by Docent
https://practicaleschatology.blogspot.com/2023/06/france-enjoying-its-diversity.html
As Docent says, "Of course, if he'd never been let into France in the first place,
this would never have happened."
Cited article,
"Syrian refugee screaming 'in the name of Jesus Christ' stabs a child
in their pram in front of mother as four kids aged 22 months to three
- including British girl - are knifed while holidaying at French resort
before cops shoot and arrest him"
by Matthew Lodge and Rachael Bunyan and Peter Allen
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12173067/Eight-children-stabbed-knifeman-French-playground-attacker-subdued.html
"We don’t decide what is necessary to survive a lethal force encounter initiated
by someone else. That person decides what’s necessary for us to survive."
– William Aprill
"Violence is Golden" by Jack Donovan
https://www.jack-donovan.com/sowilo/2010/09/11/violence-is-golden/
Including translations in:
Portuguese by Daniel Sender, "A Violência é Dourada"
Spanish by Leo Molina López, "La Violencia es Dorada"
French by Simon Danjou, "La Violence est D’Or"
Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, USN
"Think: The 5th Fundamental" by Tiger McKee
https://americanhandgunner.com/discover/think-the-5th-fundamental/
So nice to see that he had writings in the pipeline before his death.
Excerpts:
"There are five fundamentals to the threat response. The first four are
Move, Communicate, Use Cover and Shoot — if necessary.
The fifth and most important fundamental is “Think.” "
"The speed of your action is what makes the difference.
Not the speed of your performance,
but again, making decisions and acting in a timely fashion.
[Your sub-second presentation from concealment, your performance,
does not make the difference. Quickly coming to the decision to present,
makes the difference.
-- Jon Low]
"Does action beat reaction? Most people will answer, “Yes.” This is true,
but only on a very simplistic level. Fighting is more like a game of chess.
White always moves first, but this doesn’t guarantee victory. With the proper
training, practice and development of your decision-making process, your
“reaction” can beat the threat’s “action.” "
[There are papers in the math literature purporting to prove that in a game of
chess, white can always force a win. That is to say White's being up a tempo
is sufficient to force a win. I have never found such "proofs" to be convincing.
-- Jon Low]
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."
-- Tom Givens
"Knowledge vs. Wisdom: The Best of Both Worlds" by Steve Tarani
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/knowledge-versus-wisdom-the-best-of-both-worlds/
Excerpt:
"For example, someone who has trained in a martial art for a few months might
feel confident in their abilities, but should they find themselves facing
penitentiary-hardened street thugs, they may quickly realize that their knowledge
is insufficient. In this situation, wisdom requires recognizing the limitations of
their training or experience and taking appropriate action, such as fleeing or
calling for help."
"To succeed in today’s rapidly changing world, it is essential to be a lifelong
learner and to continuously seek out new knowledge and experiences."
---
One way to "Reflect on your experiences" would be to write them down. As long as
you are just thinking the idea, it is vague and innocuous. Once you write it down, it
becomes concrete (as long as you grammar, syntax, spelling, and such are correct,
so it makes sense). Write for someone else to read. Let others read your writing.
Only then will you know that it makes sense (or is nonsense).
“Willingness” is a state of mind. Readiness is a statement of fact!”
-- David M Shoup, USMC Commandant, 1960-1963
"You need to have the capacity for danger. You need to be ‘dangerous’.
Yet, you need to learn how to not use it except when necessary.
And, that is not the same thing as being harmless. . . .
There's nothing virtuous about harmlessness.
Harmless just means you’re ineffectual and useless."
-- Jordan Peterson
*************************************************************************
----- Safety ----- (How to prevent the bad thing from happening in the first place.
How to avoid shooting yourself, friendlies, and innocent bystanders.)
Jeff Cooper's Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER
ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER
UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
From an email from Tim Larkin --
Have you ever wondered why we all have car insurance? It's not because we plan to
have a car accident. We hope we never need to use it. But we get it because life can
be unpredictable. Having insurance means we're prepared if the unexpected happens.
Now let's think about something else we hope never to face . . . Danger. Violence.
Threats. We don't want these things to touch our lives. But what if we could have a
kind of 'insurance' against them? . . . Just like car insurance . . . it's not about expecting
the worst. It's about being ready just in case . . . You don't need to be a martial arts
expert for this. You just need to know what to do if danger comes your way.
This knowledge is a form of 'life insurance'.
Stay Safe,
Tim Larkin
"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
"More than half of U.S. churches rely on armed members as part of security plan: Survey"
by Mark A. Kellner
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jun/7/more-half-us-churches-rely-armed-members-part-secu/
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
As Ed Monk teaches, if your plan is to call 911, you can expect
the bad guy to shoot a victim every 10 seconds until done.
2 to 4 victims in the first minute.
1 to 4 minutes from first shot to 911 call. 16 victims.
3 minutes to cops receiving call. 21 victims.
911 call to arrival of cops, 6 minutes. 34 victims.
So the only way to get a low victim count is to immediately stop the bad guy,
which means immediately shooting him, which means the good guys present
at the scene must be carrying a loaded pistol, be competent in its use, and be
willing to shoot the bad guy. Are you?
"Infant in stable condition after being shot by 6-year-old sibling in Detroit"
by Peter Maxwell
https://www.wxyz.com/news/infant-in-stable-condition-after-being-shot-by-6-year-old-sibling-in-detroit
Excerpt:
"Get a lock, a safe deposit box. Lock it up in a closet so they can't reach it.
We need to really stop this. We're adults, they're children. They're innocent,"
Wilson said.
---
If memory serves, most kids are already able to use chairs and other furniture to
reach high shelves by the age of four. Again, if a gun is need in a state of readiness,
it should be holstered on the person during waking hours.
-- Stephen P. Wenger
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:
Don’t go to stupid places.
Don’t associate with stupid people.
Don’t do stupid things.
Be in bed by 10:00pm (your own bed!).
Don’t look like a freak.
Don’t fail the attitude test.
*************************************************************************
----- Training (figuring out the correct tasks to practice) -----
You need training because:
You don't know what you don't know.
Much of what you know is false.
It's good to the have the answers before the criminal tests you.
-- Claude Werner (paraphrased)
“The ordinary citizen cannot be made into a trained soldier
by the simple expedient of placing a weapon in his hands.”
-- McBride
"Training!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/training-2/
“A much-maligned Aaron Burr said of his fatal duel with Alexander Hamilton
(11 July 1804 in Weehawken, NJ): 'Hamilton’s hand shook. Mine didn’t!' ”
-- Wiggington
Tom Givens' advice on how to prepare for a class.
https://www.facebook.com/tom.givens.37/posts/pfbid037HvXPpEtpDdwbZ7jP3GCSNMFTaZeBgpFah9zyoAJYDctYaX9LchfoSn5rpKTuYbKl
The two most important: Make sure your pistol is zeroed and functions (to prevent
malfunctions). Make sure you bring reliable (quality) ammunition (to prevent malfunctions).
One of the commenters, Andy Montoya, adds: Bring many magazines and a dump pouch.
--- Classes ---
"Training Efficiency: Choose the Right Classes and Instructors
How to find a class that's right for you."
by Chris Cypert
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/training-efficiency-choose-the-right-classes-and-instructors/
Never be afraid to ask for the instructor's resume or training record. Never be afraid
to ask the instructor whom you may contact to verify anything on the instructor's resume
or training record.
The DD-214 doesn't really convey much information concerning training experience
or operational experience (though it will tell you whether or not he was honorably
discharged, anything less is not good). You only get a DD-214 when leaving active duty.
You could go decades in the reserve and never get one.
I would ask for a RESERVE QUALIFICATION SUMMARY (RQS) and note the
date of the RQS. If you don't understand the acronyms, ask.
If the operation was classified, he won't cite it or bring it up in the first place.
Because it never happened. And if it did happen because you saw it in a news report,
he wasn't there and he doesn't know anything about it.
If the operation was classified, the orders were classified. So the Special Security
Officer has the orders locked up in the SSO vault. So there's no way to prove anything.
But there shouldn't be anything to prove in the first place. Right?
"Self-Defense: What Happens Next?"
https://texaslawshield.secure.force.com/pmtx/evt__QuickEvent?id=a2z6e00000bJXCE
Thursday, 07/13/2023
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Royal Range USA
7741 US 70 South, Nashville, TN 37221
This seminar, taught by experienced self-defense attorneys and
law enforcement officers, covers:
Interacting with law enforcement
Your right to remain silent
Stand Your Ground vs. Duty to Retreat
Criminal court procedure
Civil litigation procedure
Talking to authorities in the aftermath of a self-defense incident
"AAR | Rangemaster Firearms Instructor Development Course" by Joy Allen
https://www.e3personaldefense.com/post/aar-rangemaster-firearms-instructor-development-course
I highly recommend you take this course.
“Get professional firearms training” by Dave "Boon" Benton
https://www.shootingclasses.com/idpa/?CID=mvbrief_idpa
Three levels of training:
Marksmanship validation / weapons manipulation
Dynamic situations, applying tactics
Force on force, going against opponents
ShootingClasses.com is one way to avoid EventBrite.com (which is definitely
anti-gun). John Murphy uses ShootingClasses.com, so it can't be that bad.
--- End of Classes ---
"Take training from different instructors.
We are all wrong about something."
-- John Farnam
Well that is true. May I invite your attention to
"Things Flight Instructors Taught Me Which Were Wrong!" by Scott Manley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmavUlb8eAQ
The point is that it's not just aviation that has all kinds of myths and errors. The firearms
training industry also has all kinds of superstitions / myths / errors. But you won't notice it
unless you take a lot of training from a lot of different persons who have learned from
different schools. Most firearms instructors are not physicists, so they don't understand
optics, internal ballistics, external ballistics, terminal ballistics, etc. Most firearms
instructors are not psychologists, so they don't understand how the eyes and brain work.
(Psychiatrists are not psychologists. Psychiatrists are witch doctors. They are also flaming
liberals.) You have to actively and intentionally seek out firearms instructors who have
formal training or on the job training or are self taught in pertinent specialties.
Everyone makes mistakes. But not everyone admits to making mistakes. When you
find an error in someone's teaching, politely write to them explaining their error. And
note their reaction.
Do they ignore you? (No examples given because my aunt Lois told me, if you don't
have anything nice to say, don't say anything.)
Do they explain why they are correct, and you are wrong, or why you misunderstand?
Do they admit their error and thank you for the correction? (Chris Sajnog)
How does anyone learn? By making mistakes. Accepting the correction or criticism
of others. And correcting their mistakes.
"HOW DO YOU STACK UP?
How do you measure your ability to actually use your firearm?"
by Louie Tirona
https://tacticalperformancecenter.com/2021/05/25/how-do-you-stack-up/
Hat tip to Randy Harris.
Excerpt:
"It may be surprising to learn, but there is no nationally recognized standard for
law enforcement-related firearms training and/or methods for demonstrating
proficiency."
[In the context of police officers shooting poorly.]
"Again, for most of you familiar with competitive shooting sports, these results
are not very surprising. For the officers though, the results were quite eye-opening.
They were faced with the realization that they were not as good as they thought,
especially compared to “hobby/enthusiast” shooters."
"Not meant to be an excuse, but shooting comprises a very small (but extraordinarily
important) facet of the training an officer must complete regularly. Training such as
emergency vehicle operation, defensive tactics, trauma care, investigative skills,
interview and interrogation training, crisis intervention training and a myriad of other
training needs make huge demands on an officer’s time and a department’s resources."
---
From email from Randy Harris --
An interesting but not at all surprising article [see above] passed on to me by my
good friend Michael V. Swisher. If you carry a gun, especially in your job duties,
you probably want to be as proficient with it as you reasonably can be. It is one piece of equipment
that if not used with the appropriate level of skill can result in a very negative outcome . . .
and possibly a life ending outcome for the user.
This is why we at Harris Combative Strategies offer in the TN/GA/AL Training Group
our "How Qualified Are You" days where the participants get the opportunity to shoot
various courses of fire to determine how their skills stack up against known standards
and what they need to work on to get to where they want to be.
The next one is coming up this Saturday, June 10th of 2023 at
Windrock Shooting Range & Training Center, $80, 150 rounds,
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tngaal-training-group-oliver-springs-tn-tickets-500097032687
Excerpt:
We will be shooting some challenging warm up drills and then the
Bakersfield PD Qual, Federal Air Marshal pistol qualification,
FBI pistol qualification courses, and a few others. I will also keep records of these
(if you are happy with your scores) for future reference and use. This will serve to
get your shooting prowess on record by a third party in case it is ever needed in the
future in some legal matter. This is also something your church might like to have
for their records if you are a member of a church security team.
As far as the courts are concerned if it isn’t documented it didn’t happen
so this is an opportunity to get some official scores on paper in case you ever need them.
Randy Harris
Harris Combative Strategies
Harriscombative.com
https://harriscombative.com/
[This training event is a 2.5 hour drive for me and in a different time zone.
East-north-east of Knoxville, TN. -- Jon Low]
“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
"Those motivated by a desire to improve their gunfighting skills as opposed
to a quest for trophies, must be willing to bleed ego on the match results to avoid
shedding real blood in combat." -- Andy Stanford
From an email from Tim Larkin.
The other day I was talking to my son. He said something that made me think.
He told me he learned more from his job than at school. That's strange, right?
He was a great student in college. But here's the thing . . . we all think we need
school to be successful. But we don't always need it . . . Sure a doctor or a lawyer
needs a degree. But what about everyone else?
Now think about how to protect yourself. Do you have to be a world champion
fighter or a karate master? No, you don’t . . . What's important is knowing how to
stop the predator who wants to hurt you. . . .
Stay Safe,
Tim Larkin
"Pepper Spray-This is Important Episode #104" by CarryTrainer (Mickey Schuch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emGBzscQE0k
I took a class on moving while shooting from Mickey at last years Guardian Conference.
Interesting guy.
"Knowledge bombs from
“Training At The Speed Of Life”
Instructor Training With Ken Murray"
by Mike Ox
https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/knowledge-bombs-from-training-at-the-speed-of-life-instructor-training-with-ken-murray/
Excerpts:
One of the biggest problems with modern training is that people add speed to a
technique before they have the skill necessary to perform the technique at speed.
It’s important, especially early in the learning cycle, to go however slowly you need
to go to have early success and continual success. This is important for both instructors
and mostly self-taught shooters. >SLOW DOWN<
A LOT of force-on-force training creates episodic, emotional memories instead
of skill . . . and they create a sort of PRE-traumatic stress disorder where the simulated
event makes people anxious (instead of confident) when they face something similar
in the future.
Think about
1. Cover,
2. Condition (your condition, gun’s condition, threat’s condition, etc.)
3. Communication
4. Combat breathing. [Long 4 count inhale, 4 count hold, slow 4 count exhale, 4 count
respirator pause, repeat. -- Jon Low]
[These are things] that MUST be practiced . . . and practiced with specificity.
I have failed at this and I’ve seen numerous students fail at this.
Knowing how to do something and being able to talk about it doesn’t mean you can
do it under a little stress. There’s a video I’m going to be sharing with you that
demonstrates dozens of people trying to ride a special bike. They know what they’re
supposed to do, but as soon as a tiny bit of stress is added, they can’t ride the bike.
In fact, in the last decade, NOBODY who has tried to ride this bike has been able
to . . . despite knowing how. Head knowledge does not equal skill. And a tiny bit
of stress causes our brain to [execute] skills we have performed rather than ones
we only have head knowledge about.
[He's talking about a bicycle that turns the front wheel left when you turn the handle
bars right and vice versa. This psychological effect works both ways. When I
explain the way a bicycle works to my students in my physics classes, they refuse
to believe and insist that they are torquing the handle bars clockwise as viewed from
above when they execute a right turn. (Which is completely false.) Convinced of
this false "fact" we have seen many students crash their motorcycles in the university
parking lot when they attempted to executed a turn. (I teach a physics lab in
Mechanics. So we actually do experiments. I don't have a video for you.
But I can give you an example of students refusing to believe what I teach in text
as follows --
I explained that the √4, the square root of 4, is ±2, positive or negative 2.
By showing that -2 X -2 = 4, and that 2 X 2 = 4. In spite of this explanation,
I had several students tell me that the √4 = 2 only, and not -2. I asked why they
thought that. Their answer was that another professor had told them that in the
lecture portion of our course. And he was a real tenured professor, I was just
an adjunct. So they were going to believe the real professor.)
People often do things (skills) in an entirely different way from the way they
think they are doing it. This is actually deep psychology beyond the scope of this
newsletter. I have seen some Abnormal Psychology classes touch on it, but I'm
not sure how to find it in the literature.
-- Jon Low]
Students MUST be ready to learn.
“Before I heal you, are you willing to give up the things that are making you sick?”
-Hippocrates.
A student who thinks they know everything is incredibly unlikely to learn or make
the changes necessary to make those lessons stick.
[That's why organ transplant committees won't give a lung transplant to a smoker.
Unless the family pays a huge bribe, like donating a new wing to the hospital.
-- Jon Low]
In “Reality Based Training” not all scenarios should require shooting or drawing.
It’s not just a matter of conceptually knowing what cover is, but identifying it,
moving to it, and actually shooting over/around it during training.
. . . how long it takes to overwrite old skills and make a new one the default.
. . . the path from beginner to expert is NOT a straight line for most students . . .
it’s a curve where progress is slower initially as vocabulary and concepts are
internalized, but the rate of progress/performance/learning accelerates over time.
There are tie-ins here for why priming before training increases the amount of skills
learned during training AND why people who recycle and go through elite training
programs a 2nd or 3rd time tend to succeed at a very high rate and perform at a
higher level long term.
[I went through the Front Sight 4-day handgun class four times before earning the
Graduate Certificate. I know guys who had to take the
Rangemaster Instructor Development course more than once to graduate. One should
never feel bad about repeating a class. As Herr Doktor Professor Albert Einstein
said, the semester is an arbitrary unit of time, more than enough for some students,
less than enough for other students.
-- Jon Low]
Flip Side of “Dunning Kreuger”. The Dunning Kreuger effect is what happens
when people who have a taste of experience and minimal skill grossly overestimate
their skill level. The flip side is that exceptional performers oftentimes aren’t aware
of how good they are and they teach above the level of their students . . . thinking
that if something is easy for them, it must be easy for everyone.
The story of Deputy Jennifer Fulford. Responding to a call, she encountered
2 suspects. She was shot 10 times and had 7 rounds hit flesh. [The other 3 hit her
body armor, I assume. -- Jon Low] Shooting hand got taken out. Fought with her
other strong hand, including a reload, and decisively won the fight. Bullets are
not magical and don’t necessarily stop bad guys or good guys as quickly as portrayed.
It’s important to NOT train to stop fighting after being hit once . . . it’s important to
train to make sure that, if we have to shoot, that we stop the threat before thinking
the fight is over.
People can not consolidate new memories other than emotional, episodic
memories when the brain is experiencing anxiety. This leads into the importance
of creating scenarios, drills, AND DIY at-home practice sessions that are a little
bit of a stretch, but within your ability and not so far beyond your ability that they
create anxiety.
Cost of shots fired by officers. $10k for each shot fired in public.
$25k for each shot that hits something. $50k for each shot that hits someone.
Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice".
-- Claude Werner
*************************************************************************
----- Practice (how to get competent at that task) -----
"Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
"Gauging Your Progress
Becoming a better shot means tracking your results."
by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/gauging-your-progress/
Excerpts:
Practice sessions can be far more productive when we determine what
our goals are going to be for a particular session.
. . . the best practice session is when we practice the basics and
we only use the drill to gauge our progress. It is not even necessary,
or a good idea, to shoot a drill during every practice session. Once every
fourth or fifth session is plenty.
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
"One gun, one holster, all the time."
-- John Bianchi
He is not saying to only own one gun or one holster. He is saying choose one gun, one
holster, and where it in the same position all the time. Train with that system. Practice
with that system. Wear that system all the time.
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
"These Guys Believe They're The Future of Humanity" by Sabine Hossenfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm8hLZ_-8Gs
Excerpt:
"To get conscious control of unconscious processes."
---
Intentional Incompetent - won't get training for fear of exposing his incompetence to others.
Unconscious Incompetence - doesn't know that he is incompetent, no training or poor training.
Conscious Incompetence - knows that he is incompetent and so (hopefully) seeks training.
Conscious Competence - Competent, but must think about what he is doing.
Unconscious Competence - Thinks about threat assessment, strategy, and such. Because all
technique and tactics are automatic, not requiring any thought.
---
Before, (what nerds in the firearms training industry refer to as) "unconscious
competence", there is the stage of "conscious competence" where the shooter/athlete
attempts to bring everything under conscious control. That is to say, he is aware
of everything that he is doing, everything that his body is doing, everything that
his mind is doing; also referred to as kinesthetic awareness in the places of high
level training, such as the Olympic Training Centers in the U.S. [The OTCs have
open enrollment classes, that include food at the cafeteria (excellent and healthy)
and lodging in the athlete dormitories. If you are not taking advantage of this,
you are doing yourself a grave disservice. No, the private gun schools are not the
end all, be all. No, the college training programs are not either. No, the military
is not the "best", though the U.S. Army Marksmanship Training Unit is probably
the best within their niche. If you're thinking, "My instructor was a tier one
operator. I don't need anything else.", I suggest to you that there is another world
out there that you really ought to expose yourself to.]
If you are not aware of what you are doing, you are doing it differently every
time. That is why your shots are not grouping. You don't think you are making
any error, because you are not aware of any error. Practice increases your kinesthetic
awareness, so you become aware of your errors and correct them automatically.
Before you achieve a level of kinesthetic awareness where you notice that you are
doing anything wrong, you won't believe you are doing anything wrong. That is the
problem with beginners and those who refuse to practice.
Those who practice, generally speaking, enjoy practicing because they get satisfaction
and a feeling of accomplishment from practice, because they are in fact making progress.
Those who don't practice, refuse to practice, hate practicing, find practice boring, etc. are
not getting anything out of their practice sessions. (I hated practicing piano.
I understood the theory, because that was well defined math [whole step, whole step,
half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step in an octave; chords were
well defined patterns; I didn't need to hear any of it to understand it]. But the
music / emotion / feeling of the composition was meaningless to me. So, I didn't
practice. There was no point. I wasn't learning anything.)
So we have to search for motivation for practice. We have to learn to get something
from the practice session. If you can't, ASK for HELP! That's what coaches are for.
"Grip Technique For Action Pistol" by Corey Howard
https://www.ssusa.org/content/grip-technique-for-action-pistol/
"Be careful what you practice.
Because you will do in combat whatever you have practiced,
no matter how ridiculous."
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Intervention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to deal with the incident that you failed to avoid.
*************************************************************************
----- Strategy (deciding on the end state and how to achieve it,
which tactics to use, which includes walking away) -----
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
"You win gunfights by not getting shot."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Tactics (maneuver and fire in support of your strategy) -----
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"The Need to SEE" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/the-need-to-see
Excerpt:
Just remember this dictum: “Better position, NOT better view.”
“Fortuitous outcomes reinforce poor tactics.”
-- Chuck Haggard
"Charlotte Bus Shootout" by the Tactical Professor
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2023/06/01/charlotte-bus-shootout/
Analysis of "an altercation [that] occurred between a bus driver and a young criminal
riding the bus in Charlotte NC." "On May 18, 2023, . . . "
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, and Escape
"Your Tactical Training Scenario- Shaking Hands" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/your-tactical-training-scenario-shaking-hands
I wouldn't hug or kiss anyone that I didn't know, why would I shake their hand?
Shaking hands is a primary vector for the transmission of viruses.
Open carry is stupid. Don't do it. Don't let your friends do it. Lots of uniformed cops
and private security officers get their pistols grabbed every year. Lots of those get shot
with their own pistols. Some die.
If the person shaking your hand brings their other hand up to shake your hand with
both of his hands, it's time to pull your hand in close to your chest or to step in to get
your hand close to your navel. If he starts to duck under your armpit, you need to
incapacitate him immediately. Ya, those of you who have studied Aikido know what
I'm talking about. No punching, kicking, or grappling in Aikido, but it's still lethal
force. Don't kid yourself.
Andrew Branca reviewed the case of David Ware who was recently sentenced to death
in Tulsa, OK for the murder of a police sergeant. (Ware also shot the other officer on the
scene multiple times.) It was a traffic stop in which Ware was initially passively
non-compliant, refusing to get out of his car. The cops tased him, no effect. The cops
pepper sprayed him, no effect. So they pull him out of the car. He produces a pistol
and shoots both of the cops multiple times in 4 seconds. Four seconds, think about that.
No matter what the trainers tell you, don't expect a taser to have any effect,
don't expect pepper spray to have any effect. That's reality. My real world experience
is that they don't work.
"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
"Handgun Action Shooting Technique - Shooting on the Move" by Dryfire Systems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZbpUatLlrE
Wow, I've never seen anyone teach crossing your feet while moving sideways.
I've always thought it was unstable. But to each his own.
"Handgun Self-Defense: Move to Stay Alive"
by W.H. "Chip" Gross
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/handgun-self-defense-move-to-stay-alive/
Excerpts:
“As human beings, we are hardwired to look each other in the eye,” Sly said.
“But during a gunfight that’s counterproductive because your shots will likely
go where you are looking . . . the head is a much smaller target than the torso,
so look and aim there.”
“You should be drawing your sidearm as you begin moving,” Sly often repeated.
“Don’t move and then draw, that’s too late. And if for some reason you can’t get
your gun out of the holster, which sometimes happens during high-stress situations,
especially if you are wearing a cover garment, don’t stop to do so, keep moving.
The same for reloading, if your gun runs dry, reload on the move, don’t stop.
Stopping gets you killed.”
“Continue practicing what you learned by incorporating movement into your
handgun training. Learn to quickly assess a potentially dangerous situation, and
then if it does hit the fan, move and shoot your way out of it.”
[Right-handers should move right so as to be able to shoot at the enemy to
their left with a Weaver upper body platform. Left-handers should move left
for the same reason.
-- Jon Low]
"Basics of Shooting: Breath Control
Keeping your shots steady can be as natural as breathing . . . or not."
by Larry Quandahl
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/basics-of-shooting-breath-control/
If you decide not to breathe during the shot process, never hold your breath for more
than 7 seconds (which is an eternity). The partial pressure of oxygen in your blood stream
will decrease causing a loss of fine visual acuity. You would never notice this without
setting up an experiment, but it's true and of concern to target shooters.
I never taught breath control to the athletes that I coached because in 1975 a team from
the U.S. Army Marksmanship Training Unit came to my high school, Punahou, and told
us that without instruction, just practice, the shooter will automatically release the shot
between breaths, during the respiratory pause. And with further dedicated deliberate
practice (again without specific instructions to do so), the shooter will automatically
release the shot between heartbeats. So teaching breath control is just another distraction,
because practice will take care of the perceived problem automatically.
I have seen confirmation of this truth more recently at the Olympic Training Center
in Colorado Springs, CO when I attend coaching classes. This natural automatic technique
occurs in both riflery and archery (at the high levels).
"RG101: The Left-Handed Revolver Reload" by Greyson
https://revolverguy.com/left-handed-universal-revolver-reload/
If you're an instructor, you need to know this well enough to teach it.
Telling students that revolvers are not allowed in your classes is unacceptable.
(You think I'm joking? NRA Carry Guard did just that. That's one of the many
reasons it doesn't exist anymore.)
Telling the students to reload using the right-handed technique is unacceptable.
Teach your left-handed students as left-handed persons. Being left-handed is not
a disability that can be "fixed" by doing it right-handed. Left-handed persons are
different from right-handed persons. And so must be treated as left-handed persons.
The comments to the article are worth reading.
"Understanding Point Shooting
Point shooting is useless . . . until it isn't."
by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/understanding-point-shooting/
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Postvention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to treat your wounds, avoid prosecution, conviction, and prison time.
*************************************************************************
----- Aftermath (You must be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.) -----
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
The high stress of a lethal force confrontation induces constipation of the brain and
diarrhea of the mouth. Anything you say will be used against you, to facilitate your
arrest and conviction. No, the police are not your friends in this situation. Police
raises and promotions are based on arrests and convictions. Exonerations don't count.
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him,
but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton
In America, you get as much justice as you can afford. You must have a
powerful politically connected attorney from an established firm with deep
connections in the legal community. You want all charges dismissed. You
don't want a trial. Do you have the ability to generate the hundreds of thousands
of dollars for legal fees when the need arises? If not, you must have an insurance
policy.
In the right hand column, click on the link labeled "Self Defense Insurance".
Or, the direct link is,
http://defensivepistolcraft.blogspot.com/p/self-defense-insurance.html
Read this before you buy insurance. You need to make an informed decision.
The various policies are drastically different.
"You need to read the fine print." -- Massad Ayoob
“Your understanding and consent are not required
for someone to take your life, kill your loved ones,
and destroy all you hold dear.”
-- William Aprill
----- Survival, Medical, etc. -----
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
"This Magic Drug Might Be Free" by Brian McLaughlin
https://www.mountainmanmedical.com/this-magic-drug-is-saving-lives-and-might-be-free/
Noloxone, or as its better know by its brand name, Narcan.
"The Wind River Trauma and First-Aid Kit"
https://www.mountainmanmedical.com/product/the-wind-river-trauma-and-first-aid-kit/
The description will give you an idea of what you ought to have in your
trauma kit. Of course, it's all useless unless you have the training to use the
equipment.
If you have the training, you can make do with stuff you find at hand.
The stuff in the trauma kit, just makes it easier and less likely to cause
infection. For example, if you don't have water to wash the wound, piss
on it. Urine is sterile. (At least that's what the Corpsman told us when
I was in the Corps.)
Today, I took the AVERT "Active Shooter" class given by Edward Gaddis for
Allied Universal Security. Some of the things I learned:
When applying direct pressure to stop the bleeding, use two fingers, not your whole hand.
Smaller area (two fingers) with a given force (your arm and upper body pushing) will
create more pressure than a larger area (your whole hand).
At random times during the class the audio system gave us the sound of gun shots
(in different environments, so they all sounded different). At the sound of gun shots,
we had 25 seconds to apply a tourniquet to stop the bleeding at the designated wound
location given on the screen (about 10% of the persons applied the tourniquet in the
wrong location, stress induced confusion), while a timer counted down. At zero, we
were told to stop. If you had the tourniquet correctly placed, Great! If not, you have
passed out from loss of blood, so you bleed to death in 3 minutes (unless some one
else finishes putting the tourniquet on you).
All commercially available tourniquets have a place for you to write the time and
date that the tourniquet was applied. If you don't have a pen, use blood to write a T
on the victim's forehead to let medical personnel know that a tourniquet has been
applied. No, as a matter of fact it is not obvious and may not be visible.
Training will allow you to overcome the unconscious response of freezing. No,
freezing is not something that a person does consciously. Rather it is an unconscious
response because they don't know what to do. Training gives them a thing to do.
Which they will do. So training defeats freezing.
A large portion of the class was dedicated to hands on tactical drills to disarm the
bad guy. Yes, you can! Especially if there are more than one of you. Set up your
ambush. Stage at the sides of the doorway. Grab the barrel. Turn and twist your body,
keeping the muzzle away from you. Drive the bad guy to the ground. The others
should be jumping on the bad guy. If they see that you have control of the gun,
they will help. Use your fingers to gouge the eyes. Use your palm to smash the nose.
Once you have disarmed the bad guy, try to roll him onto his stomach, hold him down.
DO NOT pick up the gun! Because the responding officers might shoot you.
"If you stay fit, you do not have to get fit.
If you stay trained, you do not have to get trained.
If you stay prepared, you do not have to get prepared."
-- Robert Margulies
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Education ***** ***** *****
*************************************************************************
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
"Weekend Knowledge Dump- June 9, 2023" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/weekend-knowledge-dump-june-9-2023
"3 Welcome Surprises of Concealed Carry
What the author thought were invisible hurdles to CCW
turned out to be welcome surprises . . . you may find the same!"
by Frank Melloni
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/3-welcome-surprises-of-concealed-carry/
"2021 National Firearm Survey: What Do Americans Own, And Why?"
by Daniel Y
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2023/06/08/2021-national-firearm-survey-what-do-americans-own-and-why/
Excerpts:
• 31.1% of gun owners, or approximately 25.3 million adult Americans,
have used a gun in self-defense.
[The U.S. population is 333,287,557 according to the U.S. Census Bureau,
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/POP010220
So, 25,300,000 ÷ 333,287,557 = 7.59% of Americans have used a gun in self-defense.
"There are five fundamentals to the threat response. The first four are
Move, Communicate, Use Cover and Shoot — if necessary.
The fifth and most important fundamental is “Think.” "
"The speed of your action is what makes the difference.
Not the speed of your performance,
but again, making decisions and acting in a timely fashion.
[Your sub-second presentation from concealment, your performance,
does not make the difference. Quickly coming to the decision to present,
makes the difference.
-- Jon Low]
"Does action beat reaction? Most people will answer, “Yes.” This is true,
but only on a very simplistic level. Fighting is more like a game of chess.
White always moves first, but this doesn’t guarantee victory. With the proper
training, practice and development of your decision-making process, your
“reaction” can beat the threat’s “action.” "
[There are papers in the math literature purporting to prove that in a game of
chess, white can always force a win. That is to say White's being up a tempo
is sufficient to force a win. I have never found such "proofs" to be convincing.
-- Jon Low]
"Panic is simply the lack of preprogrammed responses."
-- Tom Givens
"Knowledge vs. Wisdom: The Best of Both Worlds" by Steve Tarani
https://gunmagwarehouse.com/blog/knowledge-versus-wisdom-the-best-of-both-worlds/
Excerpt:
"For example, someone who has trained in a martial art for a few months might
feel confident in their abilities, but should they find themselves facing
penitentiary-hardened street thugs, they may quickly realize that their knowledge
is insufficient. In this situation, wisdom requires recognizing the limitations of
their training or experience and taking appropriate action, such as fleeing or
calling for help."
"To succeed in today’s rapidly changing world, it is essential to be a lifelong
learner and to continuously seek out new knowledge and experiences."
---
One way to "Reflect on your experiences" would be to write them down. As long as
you are just thinking the idea, it is vague and innocuous. Once you write it down, it
becomes concrete (as long as you grammar, syntax, spelling, and such are correct,
so it makes sense). Write for someone else to read. Let others read your writing.
Only then will you know that it makes sense (or is nonsense).
“Willingness” is a state of mind. Readiness is a statement of fact!”
-- David M Shoup, USMC Commandant, 1960-1963
"You need to have the capacity for danger. You need to be ‘dangerous’.
Yet, you need to learn how to not use it except when necessary.
And, that is not the same thing as being harmless. . . .
There's nothing virtuous about harmlessness.
Harmless just means you’re ineffectual and useless."
-- Jordan Peterson
*************************************************************************
----- Safety ----- (How to prevent the bad thing from happening in the first place.
How to avoid shooting yourself, friendlies, and innocent bystanders.)
Jeff Cooper's Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER
ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER
UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
From an email from Tim Larkin --
Have you ever wondered why we all have car insurance? It's not because we plan to
have a car accident. We hope we never need to use it. But we get it because life can
be unpredictable. Having insurance means we're prepared if the unexpected happens.
Now let's think about something else we hope never to face . . . Danger. Violence.
Threats. We don't want these things to touch our lives. But what if we could have a
kind of 'insurance' against them? . . . Just like car insurance . . . it's not about expecting
the worst. It's about being ready just in case . . . You don't need to be a martial arts
expert for this. You just need to know what to do if danger comes your way.
This knowledge is a form of 'life insurance'.
Stay Safe,
Tim Larkin
"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
"More than half of U.S. churches rely on armed members as part of security plan: Survey"
by Mark A. Kellner
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jun/7/more-half-us-churches-rely-armed-members-part-secu/
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
As Ed Monk teaches, if your plan is to call 911, you can expect
the bad guy to shoot a victim every 10 seconds until done.
2 to 4 victims in the first minute.
1 to 4 minutes from first shot to 911 call. 16 victims.
3 minutes to cops receiving call. 21 victims.
911 call to arrival of cops, 6 minutes. 34 victims.
So the only way to get a low victim count is to immediately stop the bad guy,
which means immediately shooting him, which means the good guys present
at the scene must be carrying a loaded pistol, be competent in its use, and be
willing to shoot the bad guy. Are you?
"Infant in stable condition after being shot by 6-year-old sibling in Detroit"
by Peter Maxwell
https://www.wxyz.com/news/infant-in-stable-condition-after-being-shot-by-6-year-old-sibling-in-detroit
Excerpt:
"Get a lock, a safe deposit box. Lock it up in a closet so they can't reach it.
We need to really stop this. We're adults, they're children. They're innocent,"
Wilson said.
---
If memory serves, most kids are already able to use chairs and other furniture to
reach high shelves by the age of four. Again, if a gun is need in a state of readiness,
it should be holstered on the person during waking hours.
-- Stephen P. Wenger
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:
Don’t go to stupid places.
Don’t associate with stupid people.
Don’t do stupid things.
Be in bed by 10:00pm (your own bed!).
Don’t look like a freak.
Don’t fail the attitude test.
*************************************************************************
----- Training (figuring out the correct tasks to practice) -----
You need training because:
You don't know what you don't know.
Much of what you know is false.
It's good to the have the answers before the criminal tests you.
-- Claude Werner (paraphrased)
“The ordinary citizen cannot be made into a trained soldier
by the simple expedient of placing a weapon in his hands.”
-- McBride
"Training!" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/training-2/
“A much-maligned Aaron Burr said of his fatal duel with Alexander Hamilton
(11 July 1804 in Weehawken, NJ): 'Hamilton’s hand shook. Mine didn’t!' ”
-- Wiggington
Tom Givens' advice on how to prepare for a class.
https://www.facebook.com/tom.givens.37/posts/pfbid037HvXPpEtpDdwbZ7jP3GCSNMFTaZeBgpFah9zyoAJYDctYaX9LchfoSn5rpKTuYbKl
The two most important: Make sure your pistol is zeroed and functions (to prevent
malfunctions). Make sure you bring reliable (quality) ammunition (to prevent malfunctions).
One of the commenters, Andy Montoya, adds: Bring many magazines and a dump pouch.
--- Classes ---
"Training Efficiency: Choose the Right Classes and Instructors
How to find a class that's right for you."
by Chris Cypert
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/training-efficiency-choose-the-right-classes-and-instructors/
Never be afraid to ask for the instructor's resume or training record. Never be afraid
to ask the instructor whom you may contact to verify anything on the instructor's resume
or training record.
The DD-214 doesn't really convey much information concerning training experience
or operational experience (though it will tell you whether or not he was honorably
discharged, anything less is not good). You only get a DD-214 when leaving active duty.
You could go decades in the reserve and never get one.
I would ask for a RESERVE QUALIFICATION SUMMARY (RQS) and note the
date of the RQS. If you don't understand the acronyms, ask.
If the operation was classified, he won't cite it or bring it up in the first place.
Because it never happened. And if it did happen because you saw it in a news report,
he wasn't there and he doesn't know anything about it.
If the operation was classified, the orders were classified. So the Special Security
Officer has the orders locked up in the SSO vault. So there's no way to prove anything.
But there shouldn't be anything to prove in the first place. Right?
"Self-Defense: What Happens Next?"
https://texaslawshield.secure.force.com/pmtx/evt__QuickEvent?id=a2z6e00000bJXCE
Thursday, 07/13/2023
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Royal Range USA
7741 US 70 South, Nashville, TN 37221
This seminar, taught by experienced self-defense attorneys and
law enforcement officers, covers:
Interacting with law enforcement
Your right to remain silent
Stand Your Ground vs. Duty to Retreat
Criminal court procedure
Civil litigation procedure
Talking to authorities in the aftermath of a self-defense incident
"AAR | Rangemaster Firearms Instructor Development Course" by Joy Allen
https://www.e3personaldefense.com/post/aar-rangemaster-firearms-instructor-development-course
I highly recommend you take this course.
“Get professional firearms training” by Dave "Boon" Benton
https://www.shootingclasses.com/idpa/?CID=mvbrief_idpa
Three levels of training:
Marksmanship validation / weapons manipulation
Dynamic situations, applying tactics
Force on force, going against opponents
ShootingClasses.com is one way to avoid EventBrite.com (which is definitely
anti-gun). John Murphy uses ShootingClasses.com, so it can't be that bad.
--- End of Classes ---
"Take training from different instructors.
We are all wrong about something."
-- John Farnam
Well that is true. May I invite your attention to
"Things Flight Instructors Taught Me Which Were Wrong!" by Scott Manley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmavUlb8eAQ
The point is that it's not just aviation that has all kinds of myths and errors. The firearms
training industry also has all kinds of superstitions / myths / errors. But you won't notice it
unless you take a lot of training from a lot of different persons who have learned from
different schools. Most firearms instructors are not physicists, so they don't understand
optics, internal ballistics, external ballistics, terminal ballistics, etc. Most firearms
instructors are not psychologists, so they don't understand how the eyes and brain work.
(Psychiatrists are not psychologists. Psychiatrists are witch doctors. They are also flaming
liberals.) You have to actively and intentionally seek out firearms instructors who have
formal training or on the job training or are self taught in pertinent specialties.
Everyone makes mistakes. But not everyone admits to making mistakes. When you
find an error in someone's teaching, politely write to them explaining their error. And
note their reaction.
Do they ignore you? (No examples given because my aunt Lois told me, if you don't
have anything nice to say, don't say anything.)
Do they explain why they are correct, and you are wrong, or why you misunderstand?
Do they admit their error and thank you for the correction? (Chris Sajnog)
How does anyone learn? By making mistakes. Accepting the correction or criticism
of others. And correcting their mistakes.
"HOW DO YOU STACK UP?
How do you measure your ability to actually use your firearm?"
by Louie Tirona
https://tacticalperformancecenter.com/2021/05/25/how-do-you-stack-up/
Hat tip to Randy Harris.
Excerpt:
"It may be surprising to learn, but there is no nationally recognized standard for
law enforcement-related firearms training and/or methods for demonstrating
proficiency."
[In the context of police officers shooting poorly.]
"Again, for most of you familiar with competitive shooting sports, these results
are not very surprising. For the officers though, the results were quite eye-opening.
They were faced with the realization that they were not as good as they thought,
especially compared to “hobby/enthusiast” shooters."
"Not meant to be an excuse, but shooting comprises a very small (but extraordinarily
important) facet of the training an officer must complete regularly. Training such as
emergency vehicle operation, defensive tactics, trauma care, investigative skills,
interview and interrogation training, crisis intervention training and a myriad of other
training needs make huge demands on an officer’s time and a department’s resources."
---
From email from Randy Harris --
An interesting but not at all surprising article [see above] passed on to me by my
good friend Michael V. Swisher. If you carry a gun, especially in your job duties,
you probably want to be as proficient with it as you reasonably can be. It is one piece of equipment
that if not used with the appropriate level of skill can result in a very negative outcome . . .
and possibly a life ending outcome for the user.
This is why we at Harris Combative Strategies offer in the TN/GA/AL Training Group
our "How Qualified Are You" days where the participants get the opportunity to shoot
various courses of fire to determine how their skills stack up against known standards
and what they need to work on to get to where they want to be.
The next one is coming up this Saturday, June 10th of 2023 at
Windrock Shooting Range & Training Center, $80, 150 rounds,
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tngaal-training-group-oliver-springs-tn-tickets-500097032687
Excerpt:
We will be shooting some challenging warm up drills and then the
Bakersfield PD Qual, Federal Air Marshal pistol qualification,
FBI pistol qualification courses, and a few others. I will also keep records of these
(if you are happy with your scores) for future reference and use. This will serve to
get your shooting prowess on record by a third party in case it is ever needed in the
future in some legal matter. This is also something your church might like to have
for their records if you are a member of a church security team.
As far as the courts are concerned if it isn’t documented it didn’t happen
so this is an opportunity to get some official scores on paper in case you ever need them.
Randy Harris
Harris Combative Strategies
Harriscombative.com
https://harriscombative.com/
[This training event is a 2.5 hour drive for me and in a different time zone.
East-north-east of Knoxville, TN. -- Jon Low]
“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
"Those motivated by a desire to improve their gunfighting skills as opposed
to a quest for trophies, must be willing to bleed ego on the match results to avoid
shedding real blood in combat." -- Andy Stanford
From an email from Tim Larkin.
The other day I was talking to my son. He said something that made me think.
He told me he learned more from his job than at school. That's strange, right?
He was a great student in college. But here's the thing . . . we all think we need
school to be successful. But we don't always need it . . . Sure a doctor or a lawyer
needs a degree. But what about everyone else?
Now think about how to protect yourself. Do you have to be a world champion
fighter or a karate master? No, you don’t . . . What's important is knowing how to
stop the predator who wants to hurt you. . . .
Stay Safe,
Tim Larkin
"Pepper Spray-This is Important Episode #104" by CarryTrainer (Mickey Schuch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emGBzscQE0k
I took a class on moving while shooting from Mickey at last years Guardian Conference.
Interesting guy.
"Knowledge bombs from
“Training At The Speed Of Life”
Instructor Training With Ken Murray"
by Mike Ox
https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/knowledge-bombs-from-training-at-the-speed-of-life-instructor-training-with-ken-murray/
Excerpts:
One of the biggest problems with modern training is that people add speed to a
technique before they have the skill necessary to perform the technique at speed.
It’s important, especially early in the learning cycle, to go however slowly you need
to go to have early success and continual success. This is important for both instructors
and mostly self-taught shooters. >SLOW DOWN<
A LOT of force-on-force training creates episodic, emotional memories instead
of skill . . . and they create a sort of PRE-traumatic stress disorder where the simulated
event makes people anxious (instead of confident) when they face something similar
in the future.
Think about
1. Cover,
2. Condition (your condition, gun’s condition, threat’s condition, etc.)
3. Communication
4. Combat breathing. [Long 4 count inhale, 4 count hold, slow 4 count exhale, 4 count
respirator pause, repeat. -- Jon Low]
[These are things] that MUST be practiced . . . and practiced with specificity.
I have failed at this and I’ve seen numerous students fail at this.
Knowing how to do something and being able to talk about it doesn’t mean you can
do it under a little stress. There’s a video I’m going to be sharing with you that
demonstrates dozens of people trying to ride a special bike. They know what they’re
supposed to do, but as soon as a tiny bit of stress is added, they can’t ride the bike.
In fact, in the last decade, NOBODY who has tried to ride this bike has been able
to . . . despite knowing how. Head knowledge does not equal skill. And a tiny bit
of stress causes our brain to [execute] skills we have performed rather than ones
we only have head knowledge about.
[He's talking about a bicycle that turns the front wheel left when you turn the handle
bars right and vice versa. This psychological effect works both ways. When I
explain the way a bicycle works to my students in my physics classes, they refuse
to believe and insist that they are torquing the handle bars clockwise as viewed from
above when they execute a right turn. (Which is completely false.) Convinced of
this false "fact" we have seen many students crash their motorcycles in the university
parking lot when they attempted to executed a turn. (I teach a physics lab in
Mechanics. So we actually do experiments. I don't have a video for you.
But I can give you an example of students refusing to believe what I teach in text
as follows --
I explained that the √4, the square root of 4, is ±2, positive or negative 2.
By showing that -2 X -2 = 4, and that 2 X 2 = 4. In spite of this explanation,
I had several students tell me that the √4 = 2 only, and not -2. I asked why they
thought that. Their answer was that another professor had told them that in the
lecture portion of our course. And he was a real tenured professor, I was just
an adjunct. So they were going to believe the real professor.)
People often do things (skills) in an entirely different way from the way they
think they are doing it. This is actually deep psychology beyond the scope of this
newsletter. I have seen some Abnormal Psychology classes touch on it, but I'm
not sure how to find it in the literature.
-- Jon Low]
Students MUST be ready to learn.
“Before I heal you, are you willing to give up the things that are making you sick?”
-Hippocrates.
A student who thinks they know everything is incredibly unlikely to learn or make
the changes necessary to make those lessons stick.
[That's why organ transplant committees won't give a lung transplant to a smoker.
Unless the family pays a huge bribe, like donating a new wing to the hospital.
-- Jon Low]
In “Reality Based Training” not all scenarios should require shooting or drawing.
It’s not just a matter of conceptually knowing what cover is, but identifying it,
moving to it, and actually shooting over/around it during training.
. . . how long it takes to overwrite old skills and make a new one the default.
. . . the path from beginner to expert is NOT a straight line for most students . . .
it’s a curve where progress is slower initially as vocabulary and concepts are
internalized, but the rate of progress/performance/learning accelerates over time.
There are tie-ins here for why priming before training increases the amount of skills
learned during training AND why people who recycle and go through elite training
programs a 2nd or 3rd time tend to succeed at a very high rate and perform at a
higher level long term.
[I went through the Front Sight 4-day handgun class four times before earning the
Graduate Certificate. I know guys who had to take the
Rangemaster Instructor Development course more than once to graduate. One should
never feel bad about repeating a class. As Herr Doktor Professor Albert Einstein
said, the semester is an arbitrary unit of time, more than enough for some students,
less than enough for other students.
-- Jon Low]
Flip Side of “Dunning Kreuger”. The Dunning Kreuger effect is what happens
when people who have a taste of experience and minimal skill grossly overestimate
their skill level. The flip side is that exceptional performers oftentimes aren’t aware
of how good they are and they teach above the level of their students . . . thinking
that if something is easy for them, it must be easy for everyone.
The story of Deputy Jennifer Fulford. Responding to a call, she encountered
2 suspects. She was shot 10 times and had 7 rounds hit flesh. [The other 3 hit her
body armor, I assume. -- Jon Low] Shooting hand got taken out. Fought with her
other strong hand, including a reload, and decisively won the fight. Bullets are
not magical and don’t necessarily stop bad guys or good guys as quickly as portrayed.
It’s important to NOT train to stop fighting after being hit once . . . it’s important to
train to make sure that, if we have to shoot, that we stop the threat before thinking
the fight is over.
People can not consolidate new memories other than emotional, episodic
memories when the brain is experiencing anxiety. This leads into the importance
of creating scenarios, drills, AND DIY at-home practice sessions that are a little
bit of a stretch, but within your ability and not so far beyond your ability that they
create anxiety.
Cost of shots fired by officers. $10k for each shot fired in public.
$25k for each shot that hits something. $50k for each shot that hits someone.
Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice".
-- Claude Werner
*************************************************************************
----- Practice (how to get competent at that task) -----
"Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans."
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
"Gauging Your Progress
Becoming a better shot means tracking your results."
by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/gauging-your-progress/
Excerpts:
Practice sessions can be far more productive when we determine what
our goals are going to be for a particular session.
. . . the best practice session is when we practice the basics and
we only use the drill to gauge our progress. It is not even necessary,
or a good idea, to shoot a drill during every practice session. Once every
fourth or fifth session is plenty.
Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
"One gun, one holster, all the time."
-- John Bianchi
He is not saying to only own one gun or one holster. He is saying choose one gun, one
holster, and where it in the same position all the time. Train with that system. Practice
with that system. Wear that system all the time.
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
"These Guys Believe They're The Future of Humanity" by Sabine Hossenfelder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm8hLZ_-8Gs
Excerpt:
"To get conscious control of unconscious processes."
---
Intentional Incompetent - won't get training for fear of exposing his incompetence to others.
Unconscious Incompetence - doesn't know that he is incompetent, no training or poor training.
Conscious Incompetence - knows that he is incompetent and so (hopefully) seeks training.
Conscious Competence - Competent, but must think about what he is doing.
Unconscious Competence - Thinks about threat assessment, strategy, and such. Because all
technique and tactics are automatic, not requiring any thought.
---
Before, (what nerds in the firearms training industry refer to as) "unconscious
competence", there is the stage of "conscious competence" where the shooter/athlete
attempts to bring everything under conscious control. That is to say, he is aware
of everything that he is doing, everything that his body is doing, everything that
his mind is doing; also referred to as kinesthetic awareness in the places of high
level training, such as the Olympic Training Centers in the U.S. [The OTCs have
open enrollment classes, that include food at the cafeteria (excellent and healthy)
and lodging in the athlete dormitories. If you are not taking advantage of this,
you are doing yourself a grave disservice. No, the private gun schools are not the
end all, be all. No, the college training programs are not either. No, the military
is not the "best", though the U.S. Army Marksmanship Training Unit is probably
the best within their niche. If you're thinking, "My instructor was a tier one
operator. I don't need anything else.", I suggest to you that there is another world
out there that you really ought to expose yourself to.]
If you are not aware of what you are doing, you are doing it differently every
time. That is why your shots are not grouping. You don't think you are making
any error, because you are not aware of any error. Practice increases your kinesthetic
awareness, so you become aware of your errors and correct them automatically.
Before you achieve a level of kinesthetic awareness where you notice that you are
doing anything wrong, you won't believe you are doing anything wrong. That is the
problem with beginners and those who refuse to practice.
Those who practice, generally speaking, enjoy practicing because they get satisfaction
and a feeling of accomplishment from practice, because they are in fact making progress.
Those who don't practice, refuse to practice, hate practicing, find practice boring, etc. are
not getting anything out of their practice sessions. (I hated practicing piano.
I understood the theory, because that was well defined math [whole step, whole step,
half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step in an octave; chords were
well defined patterns; I didn't need to hear any of it to understand it]. But the
music / emotion / feeling of the composition was meaningless to me. So, I didn't
practice. There was no point. I wasn't learning anything.)
So we have to search for motivation for practice. We have to learn to get something
from the practice session. If you can't, ASK for HELP! That's what coaches are for.
"Grip Technique For Action Pistol" by Corey Howard
https://www.ssusa.org/content/grip-technique-for-action-pistol/
"Be careful what you practice.
Because you will do in combat whatever you have practiced,
no matter how ridiculous."
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Intervention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to deal with the incident that you failed to avoid.
*************************************************************************
----- Strategy (deciding on the end state and how to achieve it,
which tactics to use, which includes walking away) -----
How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.
-- John Farnam
"You win gunfights by not getting shot."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Tactics (maneuver and fire in support of your strategy) -----
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"The Need to SEE" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/the-need-to-see
Excerpt:
Just remember this dictum: “Better position, NOT better view.”
“Fortuitous outcomes reinforce poor tactics.”
-- Chuck Haggard
"Charlotte Bus Shootout" by the Tactical Professor
https://thetacticalprofessor.net/2023/06/01/charlotte-bus-shootout/
Analysis of "an altercation [that] occurred between a bus driver and a young criminal
riding the bus in Charlotte NC." "On May 18, 2023, . . . "
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, and Escape
"Your Tactical Training Scenario- Shaking Hands" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/your-tactical-training-scenario-shaking-hands
I wouldn't hug or kiss anyone that I didn't know, why would I shake their hand?
Shaking hands is a primary vector for the transmission of viruses.
Open carry is stupid. Don't do it. Don't let your friends do it. Lots of uniformed cops
and private security officers get their pistols grabbed every year. Lots of those get shot
with their own pistols. Some die.
If the person shaking your hand brings their other hand up to shake your hand with
both of his hands, it's time to pull your hand in close to your chest or to step in to get
your hand close to your navel. If he starts to duck under your armpit, you need to
incapacitate him immediately. Ya, those of you who have studied Aikido know what
I'm talking about. No punching, kicking, or grappling in Aikido, but it's still lethal
force. Don't kid yourself.
Andrew Branca reviewed the case of David Ware who was recently sentenced to death
in Tulsa, OK for the murder of a police sergeant. (Ware also shot the other officer on the
scene multiple times.) It was a traffic stop in which Ware was initially passively
non-compliant, refusing to get out of his car. The cops tased him, no effect. The cops
pepper sprayed him, no effect. So they pull him out of the car. He produces a pistol
and shoots both of the cops multiple times in 4 seconds. Four seconds, think about that.
No matter what the trainers tell you, don't expect a taser to have any effect,
don't expect pepper spray to have any effect. That's reality. My real world experience
is that they don't work.
"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
"Handgun Action Shooting Technique - Shooting on the Move" by Dryfire Systems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZbpUatLlrE
Wow, I've never seen anyone teach crossing your feet while moving sideways.
I've always thought it was unstable. But to each his own.
"Handgun Self-Defense: Move to Stay Alive"
by W.H. "Chip" Gross
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/handgun-self-defense-move-to-stay-alive/
Excerpts:
“As human beings, we are hardwired to look each other in the eye,” Sly said.
“But during a gunfight that’s counterproductive because your shots will likely
go where you are looking . . . the head is a much smaller target than the torso,
so look and aim there.”
“You should be drawing your sidearm as you begin moving,” Sly often repeated.
“Don’t move and then draw, that’s too late. And if for some reason you can’t get
your gun out of the holster, which sometimes happens during high-stress situations,
especially if you are wearing a cover garment, don’t stop to do so, keep moving.
The same for reloading, if your gun runs dry, reload on the move, don’t stop.
Stopping gets you killed.”
“Continue practicing what you learned by incorporating movement into your
handgun training. Learn to quickly assess a potentially dangerous situation, and
then if it does hit the fan, move and shoot your way out of it.”
[Right-handers should move right so as to be able to shoot at the enemy to
their left with a Weaver upper body platform. Left-handers should move left
for the same reason.
-- Jon Low]
"Basics of Shooting: Breath Control
Keeping your shots steady can be as natural as breathing . . . or not."
by Larry Quandahl
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/basics-of-shooting-breath-control/
If you decide not to breathe during the shot process, never hold your breath for more
than 7 seconds (which is an eternity). The partial pressure of oxygen in your blood stream
will decrease causing a loss of fine visual acuity. You would never notice this without
setting up an experiment, but it's true and of concern to target shooters.
I never taught breath control to the athletes that I coached because in 1975 a team from
the U.S. Army Marksmanship Training Unit came to my high school, Punahou, and told
us that without instruction, just practice, the shooter will automatically release the shot
between breaths, during the respiratory pause. And with further dedicated deliberate
practice (again without specific instructions to do so), the shooter will automatically
release the shot between heartbeats. So teaching breath control is just another distraction,
because practice will take care of the perceived problem automatically.
I have seen confirmation of this truth more recently at the Olympic Training Center
in Colorado Springs, CO when I attend coaching classes. This natural automatic technique
occurs in both riflery and archery (at the high levels).
"RG101: The Left-Handed Revolver Reload" by Greyson
https://revolverguy.com/left-handed-universal-revolver-reload/
If you're an instructor, you need to know this well enough to teach it.
Telling students that revolvers are not allowed in your classes is unacceptable.
(You think I'm joking? NRA Carry Guard did just that. That's one of the many
reasons it doesn't exist anymore.)
Telling the students to reload using the right-handed technique is unacceptable.
Teach your left-handed students as left-handed persons. Being left-handed is not
a disability that can be "fixed" by doing it right-handed. Left-handed persons are
different from right-handed persons. And so must be treated as left-handed persons.
The comments to the article are worth reading.
"Understanding Point Shooting
Point shooting is useless . . . until it isn't."
by Sheriff Jim Wilson
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/understanding-point-shooting/
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Postvention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to treat your wounds, avoid prosecution, conviction, and prison time.
*************************************************************************
----- Aftermath (You must be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.) -----
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
The high stress of a lethal force confrontation induces constipation of the brain and
diarrhea of the mouth. Anything you say will be used against you, to facilitate your
arrest and conviction. No, the police are not your friends in this situation. Police
raises and promotions are based on arrests and convictions. Exonerations don't count.
“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him,
but because he loves what is behind him.”
― G.K. Chesterton
In America, you get as much justice as you can afford. You must have a
powerful politically connected attorney from an established firm with deep
connections in the legal community. You want all charges dismissed. You
don't want a trial. Do you have the ability to generate the hundreds of thousands
of dollars for legal fees when the need arises? If not, you must have an insurance
policy.
In the right hand column, click on the link labeled "Self Defense Insurance".
Or, the direct link is,
http://defensivepistolcraft.blogspot.com/p/self-defense-insurance.html
Read this before you buy insurance. You need to make an informed decision.
The various policies are drastically different.
"You need to read the fine print." -- Massad Ayoob
“Your understanding and consent are not required
for someone to take your life, kill your loved ones,
and destroy all you hold dear.”
-- William Aprill
----- Survival, Medical, etc. -----
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
"This Magic Drug Might Be Free" by Brian McLaughlin
https://www.mountainmanmedical.com/this-magic-drug-is-saving-lives-and-might-be-free/
Noloxone, or as its better know by its brand name, Narcan.
"The Wind River Trauma and First-Aid Kit"
https://www.mountainmanmedical.com/product/the-wind-river-trauma-and-first-aid-kit/
The description will give you an idea of what you ought to have in your
trauma kit. Of course, it's all useless unless you have the training to use the
equipment.
If you have the training, you can make do with stuff you find at hand.
The stuff in the trauma kit, just makes it easier and less likely to cause
infection. For example, if you don't have water to wash the wound, piss
on it. Urine is sterile. (At least that's what the Corpsman told us when
I was in the Corps.)
Today, I took the AVERT "Active Shooter" class given by Edward Gaddis for
Allied Universal Security. Some of the things I learned:
When applying direct pressure to stop the bleeding, use two fingers, not your whole hand.
Smaller area (two fingers) with a given force (your arm and upper body pushing) will
create more pressure than a larger area (your whole hand).
At random times during the class the audio system gave us the sound of gun shots
(in different environments, so they all sounded different). At the sound of gun shots,
we had 25 seconds to apply a tourniquet to stop the bleeding at the designated wound
location given on the screen (about 10% of the persons applied the tourniquet in the
wrong location, stress induced confusion), while a timer counted down. At zero, we
were told to stop. If you had the tourniquet correctly placed, Great! If not, you have
passed out from loss of blood, so you bleed to death in 3 minutes (unless some one
else finishes putting the tourniquet on you).
All commercially available tourniquets have a place for you to write the time and
date that the tourniquet was applied. If you don't have a pen, use blood to write a T
on the victim's forehead to let medical personnel know that a tourniquet has been
applied. No, as a matter of fact it is not obvious and may not be visible.
Training will allow you to overcome the unconscious response of freezing. No,
freezing is not something that a person does consciously. Rather it is an unconscious
response because they don't know what to do. Training gives them a thing to do.
Which they will do. So training defeats freezing.
A large portion of the class was dedicated to hands on tactical drills to disarm the
bad guy. Yes, you can! Especially if there are more than one of you. Set up your
ambush. Stage at the sides of the doorway. Grab the barrel. Turn and twist your body,
keeping the muzzle away from you. Drive the bad guy to the ground. The others
should be jumping on the bad guy. If they see that you have control of the gun,
they will help. Use your fingers to gouge the eyes. Use your palm to smash the nose.
Once you have disarmed the bad guy, try to roll him onto his stomach, hold him down.
DO NOT pick up the gun! Because the responding officers might shoot you.
"If you stay fit, you do not have to get fit.
If you stay trained, you do not have to get trained.
If you stay prepared, you do not have to get prepared."
-- Robert Margulies
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Education ***** ***** *****
*************************************************************************
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
"Weekend Knowledge Dump- June 9, 2023" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/weekend-knowledge-dump-june-9-2023
"3 Welcome Surprises of Concealed Carry
What the author thought were invisible hurdles to CCW
turned out to be welcome surprises . . . you may find the same!"
by Frank Melloni
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/3-welcome-surprises-of-concealed-carry/
"2021 National Firearm Survey: What Do Americans Own, And Why?"
by Daniel Y
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2023/06/08/2021-national-firearm-survey-what-do-americans-own-and-why/
Excerpts:
• 31.1% of gun owners, or approximately 25.3 million adult Americans,
have used a gun in self-defense.
[The U.S. population is 333,287,557 according to the U.S. Census Bureau,
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/POP010220
So, 25,300,000 ÷ 333,287,557 = 7.59% of Americans have used a gun in self-defense.
I have. Have you?
-- Jon Low]
• In most cases (81.9%) the gun is not fired.
---
How often do you carry a handgun?
9.1% Always or almost always [Because these persons think. -- Jon Low]
6.9% Often [Complacency kills. -- Jon Low]
19.0% Sometimes [Complacency gets loved ones killed. -- Jon Low]
1.2% Only in particular dangerous circumstances
[Because these persons are clairvoyant? -- Jon Low]
43.8% Never
[Because these persons shirk their duty to protect
themselves and their loved ones. -- Jon Low]
---
Of gun owners:
82.7% report owning a handgun,
68.8% report owning a rifle, and
58.4% report owning a shotgun.
---
Source document,
"2021 National Firearms Survey
Georgetown McDonough School of Business Research Paper No. 3887145"
by William English
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3887145
"The Red-Dot Revolution" by B. Gil Horman
https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/the-red-dot-revolution/
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
***** ***** ***** Legal ***** ***** *****
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate for the governance of any other.
-- John Adams, October 11, 1798
"Law of Self Defense" book (free of charge, just pay shipping so you don't have to
go to Colorado to pick it up)
https://bit.ly/losdpmax
Hello Jonathan,
This year is the ten-year anniversary of the acquittal of George Zimmerman,
who successfully defended himself against a lethal attack by Trayvon Martin---and
thus it should come as no surprise that the law side of the racial grievance industrial
complex is using the opportunity to foster yet more racial hate and division by
propagandizing and outright lying about the facts and law of that case.
Yesterday I came across a law review article doing precisely this, concocted
by one Professor of Law Martin S. Brodin and shamefully published by Marquette
University Law School.
So today, we'll do what we do best at Law of Self Defense--filter out the
propaganda and lies and show you the truth of use-of-force law and the cases that
involve those laws, focusing in today's live stream on debunking this work of
hot racist garbage by Professor Brodin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBceczQ0S_U
"Fruit of Caetano and Bruen, Short Clubs are Protected by Second Amendment"
by Dean Weingarten
https://www.ammoland.com/2023/06/fruit-of-caetano-and-bruen-short-clubs-are-protected-by-second-amendment/
Hat tip to Liston Matthews.
Good to see so much good law coming out of my former home of Hawaii.
"Third Circuit Holds That at Least Some Felons Retain Second Amendment Rights"
by Eugene Volokh
https://reason.com/volokh/2023/06/06/third-circuit-holds-that-at-least-some-felons-retain-second-amendment-rights/
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
Cited case,
Range v. Attorney General
https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/212835pen.pdf
This ruling is in conflict with a 5th Circuit ruling and invalidates a federal law, so it's
probably going to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Does Displaying a Gun Equate to Deadly Force?" by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Im0yHNpCI
Cited case,
Burns v. State, 2023 Fla. App. LEXIS 3451 (FL Ct. App. 2023)
https://lawofselfdefense.com/law_case/burns-v-state-2023-fla-app-lexis-3451-fl-ct-app-2023/
Excerpt:
"Openly carrying or displaying a firearm, and loading it by advancing a bullet in
its chamber for it to be ready for use if needed, does not constitute the unjustified
or threatened use of deadly force as a matter of law."
---
Apparently not in Florida. (The pistol was never pointed at anyone. The incident
occurred at the defendant's home. On the defendant's property.)
This was a self-defense immunity hearing. Trial judge says, no immunity, go to trial.
The appellate court overrules and grants immunity.
---
There was no way the defendant could know if his pointing the pistol or not pointing
the pistol had any relevance to the law, by a plain reading of the statute. It doesn't matter
what the statute says, all that matters is how the court (judge) interprets the statute.
Sorry, that's just reality.
---
So, one could argue that you should not present your pistol from concealment unless
you are justified to shoot. And if you present, you should immediately shoot. Otherwise,
why did you present in the first place? Presenting and not immediately shooting, opens
you to a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
How to avoid the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon? Establish a correct grip
while keeping your pistol in your holster? Maybe. Presenting your pistol to low ready?
Maybe.
If you're going to shoot, SHOOT! If you're not going to shoot, keep your pistol
concealed. Displaying your pistol to threaten is skating on thin ice.
This cost the defendant a lot of money. The process is the punishment.
"Brady Center loses two more lawsuits against Armslist.com" by Ranjit Singh
https://bearingarms.com/ranjit-singh/2023/06/13/brady-center-loses-two-more-lawsuits-against-armslist-com-n71400
Excerpt:
"These provisions no more endorse illegal activity than a
'swim at your own risk' sign placed at a hotel pool endorses
using the pool to drown another."
The Brady Center lost the law suits, but the plaintiffs got stuck with the bill for the
legal fees. The Brady Center conned the plaintiffs into signing the papers so that the
Brady Center would have standing to file the law suits. The Brady Center knew that
they would lose. The law is clear. The legal theories are well established. The Brady
Center just wanted to force Armslist.com to expend money on legal fees, in hopes of
eventually bankrupting Armslist.com. Truly despicable.
"Unconstitutional: Circuit Court Strikes Down Longstanding Gun Control"
by Armed Attorneys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9-ia9fnc4U
Cited ruling,
https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/212835pen.pdf
"From Hero to Defendant: The Legal Consequences of Defending Others"
by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S75Y6hZVERM
“Is there no virtue among us?
If there is not, we are without hope!
No form of government, existing nor theoretical, will keep us from harm.
To think that any government, in any form, will insure liberty and happiness
for a dishonorable population represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
***** ***** ***** Instruction ***** ***** *****
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God's gift to our students.
Our students are God's gift to us."
----- Instructors -----
"Remember,
the students who require the extra effort
are the ones who need us the most!"
-- John Farnam
A church called me to give them some training. But what the pastor really wanted was
for some outside party to kick incompetent persons off the volunteer security team.
Because it would have been socially awkward for anyone in the church hierarchy to do so.
Of the 30 volunteers, 6 didn't show up for "training". (I suspect they did not want to
demonstrate their incompetence in front of their peers. Such persons are referred to
as Intentionally Incompetent.)
Of the 24 who showed up, after running through a few dry drills (4 shooters at a time),
I informed 12 that their gun handling was not safe and that they would require more
training and practice in basic gun safety before they would be ready to progress to
basic marksmanship training. I told them when I would be giving the ten hours of
classes and asked them to attend.
[No one was ever asked to leave the range. Everyone was welcome to hang around and
watch.]
Of the 12 remaining, after running through a few live fire drills, I informed 7 that
I would be giving 10 hours of basic marksmanship training and asked them to attend
those classes.
With the 5 remaining, I said that if they did not feel that they could do the exercise
safely to just watch the others, and that they would learn to do the techniques in the
upcoming training. We did the following one at a time. We did some basic movement
and shooting (or movement while shooting, if they felt competent to do so).
We did some presenting and shooting at targets that were not in front of them,
requiring turning. We did some presenting and shooting with only one hand
(left and right, because I don't think it makes sense to do one handed shooting from
a ready position; how did the pistol magically get from the holster into the hand?).
We did Farnam's hostage rescue drill (around the left and right side of a wall).
I told them when I would be giving classes to refine their skills and asked
them to attend.
A day later, a church leader called to tell me that I need not give the classes
that I had planned to give, and that my services would no longer be required.
He let me know in no uncertain terms that they were very angry with me and
considered me rude and disrespectful.
One of those that I had found to be lacking in safe gun handling skill was a
former assistant police chief. So my evaluations were clearly ridiculous and
demeaning. As if my knowing who that person was would have changed
anything. I think my not knowing any of the persons eliminated any bias in
my evaluations.
Be careful what you teach.
Because your students will do in combat
whatever you have trained them to do,
no matter how ridiculous.
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
----- Andragogy -----
"An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented."
-- "Building Shooters" by Dustin Salomon
"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives."
-- Robert John Meehan
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Gear ***** ***** *****
*************************************************************************
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
"Red Dot Sights and Astigmatism
How does astigmatism affect your ability to see the dot?"
by Ilya Koshkin
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/red-dot-sights-and-astigmatism/
Excerpt:
"When you look through a red dot sight, if instead of a dot you see some sort
of a mis-shapen structure, rotate the sight by 90 degrees. If the pattern you are
seeing rotates, then it is a problem with the optic. If it does not, you have
astigmatism in your eye."
"Not focusing on the dot will often make it look less deformed."
[If your red dot sight system has no adjustment for focusing the dot,
the dot should be in focus at infinity (when your eyes are relaxed, they focus to infinity).
If you can adjust the focus of your dot, you should adjust the dot to be in focus
at the distance that you have zeroed your pistol.
-- Jon Low]
[In theory, the lens / reflector should be in the shape of a parabola. But machining
such a shape is difficult / expensive. So to reduce cost / production time, manufacturers
will machine a spherical shape instead. If the curvature of the lens / reflector is "low"
and the sight is only using a portion of the lens / reflector that is "close" to the axis of
symmetry, this works well. But modern red dot sights are small, so the curvature is
high, so parabolic lenses / reflectors work much better than spherical lenses / reflectors.
-- Jon Low]
[The diagrams in the article show the focal point at the surface of the retina.
A correct diagram would show the inverted image on the retina, with the focal
point in the interior of the eyeball.
-- Jon Low]
[Parallax is important. If parallax is adjusted correctly (also stated "no parallax" or
"parallax free"), when you don't have the dot centered in the window, the dot will still
be on the target. When parallax is wrong, the dot will not be on the target when viewed
from other than the center of the window. Does this matter? Depends on how anally
retentive you are. I know some systems don't allow adjustment for parallax.
Grossly speaking, parabolic lenses / reflectors should be parallax free. While
spherical lenses / reflectors will have parallax problems.
-- Jon Low]
"CCW: Buy the Best Holster You Can Afford"
by Jim WIlson
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/ccw-buy-the-best-holster-you-can-afford/
Excerpt:
"The defensive holster should be made to fit the particular gun that a person is
going to carry. The one-size-fits-all rigs don’t. A properly fitted holster helps to
hold the handgun securely and, at the same time, facilitates a fast defensive draw.
If it is a holster that is worn on the waist, it should also be mated to a sturdy belt
that helps keep that holster in the same place on the body at all times."
"When thinking about quality defensive handguns and the rigs that we carry
them in, it is a good idea to keep in mind that the average funeral costs $8,000.
What is your personal safety, and that of your family, worth? Don’t buy cheap!"
"How To Choose a Defensive Firearm Holster
There is no one best method of concealed carry . . .
only the best method for you. Here's how to figure it out."
by Jim Wilson
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/how-to-choose-a-defensive-firearm-holster/
Excerpt:
"Don't be afraid to experiment to see what works best for you.
And don't be afraid to buy quality. Remember, when selecting
defensive pistols and holsters, that this is equipment that you may
very well have to bet your life on."
"5 Concealed Carry Pistol Laser Sight Myths" by Mike Ox
https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/5-concealed-carry-pistol-laser-sight-myths/
As a training tool, correctly zeroed lasers are fine. I don't recommend them
on carry weapons because they don't provide enough light to positively identify
a target in low light conditions and they are not bright enough to be seen in day
light conditions. So for the cost (including finding a holster that will fit the
weapon mounted laser), you don't get much utility.
If you're using a non-visible laser with appropriate night vision goggles
that allow you to see your laser that's different situation. But then you're hunting
at night, which is outside the scope of this newsletter. Check out Gabe Suarez's
writings on the subject.
"Why Won’t My Revolver Cylinder Turn?" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/why-wont-my-revolver-cylinder-turn
"High-Performance" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/high-performance/
"Going Red Dot: An Analytical Approach" by Massad Ayoob
https://americanhandgunner.com/our-experts/going-red-dot-an-analytical-approach/
Excerpts:
"The issue was not what gun the holster was originally built for but whether
the new gun fit properly. GPD determined that it did. No slop. No snag. No
impingement on the trigger."
[This is significant. Don't be afraid to use a holster that is not marked for that
pistol. Whether or not it fits is all that counts. -- Jon Low]
"Staying with the same firearms platform and the same type of holster helped
to make the transition seamless. Grantham’s experience indicates that the key to
a successful transition from iron sights to RDO on service pistols lies in planning
and training."
[If you're going to make changes, change only one thing at a time. If you make
multiple changes at the same time, you're not going know which change caused
the problem and which change caused the improvement. -- Jon Low]
"Top 6 Appendix Carry Mistakes" by PHLster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOMlbJzy9Xc
Steve Cooper's suggestions for a rifle --
Jamie Ogburn at Ogburn Combat Development (http://www.ogburnrifles.com/)
for assembly.
PSA upper with nitride mid-length 16″ pencil barrel
Bravo Company light weight 13″ handguard
www.bravocompanyusa.com/bcm-mcmr-13-m-lok-compatible-modular-rail/
Toolcraft bolt carrier
www.toolcraftinc.com/
JP Enterprises enhanced bolt assembly
www.jprifles.com/1.4.7_Bolt.php
PSA lower
Bravo Company MK 2 receiver extension and buffer assy
www.bravocompanyusa.com/bcm-mk2-recoil-mitigation-system-mod-1-t1/
Geissele SSA two-stage trigger
www.geissele.com/super-semi-automatic-ssar-trigger.html
Geissele Ambi charging handle
www.geissele.com/super-charging-handle-schr-5-56-black.html
All the upgrades above are to increase reliability and durability, reduce recoil
or save weight. The finished gun should weigh in at just under 6 pounds.
The parts total right at $1500.
"80-year-old store owner shoots robber’s arm off" by Jason Hanson
Craig C. was a well-respected member of the Norco, California community.
The 80-year-old had owned and operated Norco Market & Liquor since 1976.
One summer, he went viral for defending his store against a group of four robbers.
The suspects burst into the market with rifles and attempted to rob the store owner.
But Craig was watching the men on security cameras, and he got out his shotgun
and prepared to defend himself.
When the robbers came into the store, Craig lifted his shotgun from behind the
counter and fired towards one of the robbers.
On the surveillance video, the suspect who was shot ran out of the store screaming,
“He shot my arm off! He shot my arm off!"
After the shooting, the four suspects were taken into custody at a nearby hospital.
The suspect who was shot was in critical condition but was expected to survive.
Police also recovered a stolen car, firearms, and evidence related to other robberies.
Craig told local media, "I didn't have time to be afraid. Literally from the time
they got out of that car to when they came in was at most 10 seconds."
He became somewhat of a local celebrity. People came to the store to meet him.
The store sold T-shirts that said, "Don't mess with Norco, we’ll shoot your arm off."
A regular customer of the market said, "He did what everyone needs to do.
He stood there, he drew a line, and he stood on it."
Sadly, after the incident, the 80-year-old Craig suffered a heart attack. He recovered
and returned to work, but a few months later he passed away.
Shotguns have long been a self-defense weapon of choice for home and store owners.
But there are so many different types of shotguns – including a choice you might not
have considered: a short-barrel shotgun [less than 18" barrel length].
Benefits of a short barrel shotgun:
The biggest benefit of a short-barrel shotgun is its maneuverability. Compared
to a standard-length shotgun, the shorter barrel is easier for clearing a house.
Also, since most home defense shootings are at close range, the shorter barrel
means the shooter can get on target faster.
Short-barrel shotguns also change the balance of the shotgun, which can be good
or bad depending on the desire of the shooter. Longer barrel shotguns are more nose
heavy, while shorter barrel shotguns are more stock-heavy.
Drawbacks to short barrel shotguns:
Shotguns with shorter barrels lose some velocity compared to longer-barrel
shotguns. In addition, the shorter barrel means the shotgun is less accurate.
So, a short-barrel shotgun is not a gun you would use for skeet or trap shooting or
firing from a distance.
The biggest downside to owning a short-barrel shotgun is the wait and costs of
applying for an NFA-regulated weapon.
The legality of short barrel shotguns:
There are legal restrictions for how short a shotgun barrel can be.
According to the National Firearms Act, the minimum legal barrel length for
a shotgun is 18 inches. However, shotguns with shorter barrels can be legally
owned with federal registration and a $200 tax stamp.
Is it worth getting a short-barrel shotgun? Short barrel shotguns can be useful
for close-quarters combat. But they come with the red tape mentioned above.
If you want to own a short-barrel shotgun, consider the Mossberg Shockwave.
The Shockwave has a 14-inch barrel and comes with a pistol grip. The shotgun is
not designed to be fired from the shoulder because of the pistol grip. This makes
the Shockwave legal to own without an NFA license. [Because it's a pistol, not
a short barrelled shotgun, because it lacks a shoulder stock. -- Jon Low]
I’m not a lawyer, so before applying for an NFA tax stamp or buying a Shockwave,
be sure to check local, state, and federal laws (as things are always changing).
Again, the reason for using a short barrel shotgun is the close range at which
many self-defense gunfights occur.
But if you’re in such close range that you couldn’t raise even a short barrel
shotgun if you had one, you need something else to level the playing field in a
violent attack.
"All About Hollow Point Bullets" by Richard A. Mann
https://gundigest.com/article/hollow-point-bullets
If you have recently come to the world of pistol shooting from the world of rifle shooting,
you may be thinking to yourself, "That sight adjustment can't be right." when attempting to
zero your pistol. Your sense of estimation is disturbed because:
1. The sight radius is much smaller on your pistol than your rifle. So a given adjustment
of the rear sight of your pistol will cause a much larger change in your point of impact than
the same adjustment on your rifle. (That's why in some competitions you will see tubes
attached to the barrel of smallbore rifles and air rifles to move the front sight further
forward, or front sight extensions on target pistols. They are increasing the sight radius.)
And
2. Your pistol is zeroed at the first crossing of the bullet with the line of sight,
whereas your rifle was zeroed at the second crossing.
At the first crossing, your bullet is traveling up relative to the line of sight.
At the second crossing, your bullet is traveling down relative to the line of sight.
So when a pistol shooter is shooting "long range", at range beyond his zero,
he has to aim low, because the point of impact is higher than the point of aim.
Whereas, a rifle shooter who is shooting at "long range", at a range beyond his zero,
he must aim high, because the point of impact is lower than the point of aim.
How much? You have to plug your data into a ballistic calculator. Or, shoot
the distances and find out experimentally (the preferred method, because the
calculators all use different formulae and underlying presumptions).
A student / client had a pistol for which she could not find a holster. There was a
shop in Hendersonville, TN that could have made a nice leather holster for her, but
it would have been a bit too bulky. So I made a hybrid (plastic shell attached to a
leather panel that pressed against the body) for her. I copied an Alien Gear design
for the leather, tracing out the pattern of a Cloak Tuck IWB Holster. I used a piece
of 8 year old (aged, not sitting around for that long), single shoulder, 6/7 oz.
vegetable tanned leather, that I got from Tandy Leather. I punched the holes with
a 5/32" round punch. The belt clips were from Tandy. They have nice strong steel
clips for inside the waistband holsters. (I don't like the nylon belt clips. They
deform and don't bounce back.) The plastic shell was from Alien Gear. I had to
heat it (350° F in my oven) and form it to the pistol. No vacuum mold, just laid
a towel over it and pressed with my fingers. Which worked okay. After attaching
the plastic shell to the leather (hardware from Alien Gear and Tandy Leather),
I soaked the holster in water (water molding, ya there are other molding techniques
but they're more involved), inserted the pistol, and let the holster dry. I could have
put the whole thing under pressure, but didn't need to. The leather took the form
when wet and held it when dry. I removed the shell from the leather and used
my Dremel tool on the edge of the leather to sand it into shape and then burnish
the edge. Then I coated the leather with an acrylic finish, Neutral Resolene,
and reassembled.
She's been wearing it and using it in classes for a few weeks. It works, so
I'm happy.
"Best Gifts for Gun Lovers" by Eric Hung
https://www.pewpewtactical.com/best-gifts-for-gun-lovers/
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
*************************************************************************
***** ***** Religion, Politics, Opinion, Etc. ***** ***** *****
*************************************************************************
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
“What is ‘Freedom of Expression?’
Without the ‘freedom to offend,’ it ceases to exist.”
-- Salman Rushdie
“Dangerous Freedom!” by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/dangerous-freedom/
“What good does it do to ban ‘some’ guns?”
-- Howard Metzenbaum, Ohio Democrat (died in 2008)
Tucker Carlson, episode 1 on Twitter
https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1666203439146172419
Cited article,
"Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Craft of Non-Human Origin"
by LESLIE KEAN and RALPH BLUMENTHAL
https://thedebrief.org/intelligence-officials-say-u-s-has-retrieved-non-human-craft/
The Debrief,
https://thedebrief.org/
After being shot in the head and losing his left eye, Raul Mendez gets up
and fires 4 rounds into the bad guy's chest, stopping the attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EMe5h8Qf7s
While celebrating in the company of family and friends on the night before
the 4th of July in Surprise, AZ, a uninvited neighbor crashed the party. He was
offered a seat, food and drink, but without warning or provocation, the neighbor
stood up, pulled a gun and started shooting. After being shot in the head, going
unconscious, and losing his left eye, Raul Mendez gets up and fires 4 rounds
into the bad guy's chest, stopping the attack.
Raul Mendez was carrying a loaded pistol, was competent in its use, and
was willing to shoot the bad guy. Saving lives, saving loved ones.
Taken by surprise, so he wasn't able to prevent. He wasn't able to save
everyone. But a good outcome given the circumstances.
Can you imagine getting shot in the right temple, getting your left eye blown
out, and then getting up and taking care of business?
-- Jon Low]
• In most cases (81.9%) the gun is not fired.
---
How often do you carry a handgun?
9.1% Always or almost always [Because these persons think. -- Jon Low]
6.9% Often [Complacency kills. -- Jon Low]
19.0% Sometimes [Complacency gets loved ones killed. -- Jon Low]
1.2% Only in particular dangerous circumstances
[Because these persons are clairvoyant? -- Jon Low]
43.8% Never
[Because these persons shirk their duty to protect
themselves and their loved ones. -- Jon Low]
---
Of gun owners:
82.7% report owning a handgun,
68.8% report owning a rifle, and
58.4% report owning a shotgun.
---
Source document,
"2021 National Firearms Survey
Georgetown McDonough School of Business Research Paper No. 3887145"
by William English
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3887145
"The Red-Dot Revolution" by B. Gil Horman
https://www.americanrifleman.org/content/the-red-dot-revolution/
"Cogito, ergo armatum sum." (I think, therefore armed am I.)
-- John Farnam
***** ***** ***** Legal ***** ***** *****
"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.
It is wholly inadequate for the governance of any other.
-- John Adams, October 11, 1798
"Law of Self Defense" book (free of charge, just pay shipping so you don't have to
go to Colorado to pick it up)
https://bit.ly/losdpmax
Hello Jonathan,
This year is the ten-year anniversary of the acquittal of George Zimmerman,
who successfully defended himself against a lethal attack by Trayvon Martin---and
thus it should come as no surprise that the law side of the racial grievance industrial
complex is using the opportunity to foster yet more racial hate and division by
propagandizing and outright lying about the facts and law of that case.
Yesterday I came across a law review article doing precisely this, concocted
by one Professor of Law Martin S. Brodin and shamefully published by Marquette
University Law School.
So today, we'll do what we do best at Law of Self Defense--filter out the
propaganda and lies and show you the truth of use-of-force law and the cases that
involve those laws, focusing in today's live stream on debunking this work of
hot racist garbage by Professor Brodin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBceczQ0S_U
"Fruit of Caetano and Bruen, Short Clubs are Protected by Second Amendment"
by Dean Weingarten
https://www.ammoland.com/2023/06/fruit-of-caetano-and-bruen-short-clubs-are-protected-by-second-amendment/
Hat tip to Liston Matthews.
Good to see so much good law coming out of my former home of Hawaii.
"Third Circuit Holds That at Least Some Felons Retain Second Amendment Rights"
by Eugene Volokh
https://reason.com/volokh/2023/06/06/third-circuit-holds-that-at-least-some-felons-retain-second-amendment-rights/
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
Cited case,
Range v. Attorney General
https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/212835pen.pdf
This ruling is in conflict with a 5th Circuit ruling and invalidates a federal law, so it's
probably going to be reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Does Displaying a Gun Equate to Deadly Force?" by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5Im0yHNpCI
Cited case,
Burns v. State, 2023 Fla. App. LEXIS 3451 (FL Ct. App. 2023)
https://lawofselfdefense.com/law_case/burns-v-state-2023-fla-app-lexis-3451-fl-ct-app-2023/
Excerpt:
"Openly carrying or displaying a firearm, and loading it by advancing a bullet in
its chamber for it to be ready for use if needed, does not constitute the unjustified
or threatened use of deadly force as a matter of law."
---
Apparently not in Florida. (The pistol was never pointed at anyone. The incident
occurred at the defendant's home. On the defendant's property.)
This was a self-defense immunity hearing. Trial judge says, no immunity, go to trial.
The appellate court overrules and grants immunity.
---
There was no way the defendant could know if his pointing the pistol or not pointing
the pistol had any relevance to the law, by a plain reading of the statute. It doesn't matter
what the statute says, all that matters is how the court (judge) interprets the statute.
Sorry, that's just reality.
---
So, one could argue that you should not present your pistol from concealment unless
you are justified to shoot. And if you present, you should immediately shoot. Otherwise,
why did you present in the first place? Presenting and not immediately shooting, opens
you to a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
How to avoid the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon? Establish a correct grip
while keeping your pistol in your holster? Maybe. Presenting your pistol to low ready?
Maybe.
If you're going to shoot, SHOOT! If you're not going to shoot, keep your pistol
concealed. Displaying your pistol to threaten is skating on thin ice.
This cost the defendant a lot of money. The process is the punishment.
"Brady Center loses two more lawsuits against Armslist.com" by Ranjit Singh
https://bearingarms.com/ranjit-singh/2023/06/13/brady-center-loses-two-more-lawsuits-against-armslist-com-n71400
Excerpt:
"These provisions no more endorse illegal activity than a
'swim at your own risk' sign placed at a hotel pool endorses
using the pool to drown another."
The Brady Center lost the law suits, but the plaintiffs got stuck with the bill for the
legal fees. The Brady Center conned the plaintiffs into signing the papers so that the
Brady Center would have standing to file the law suits. The Brady Center knew that
they would lose. The law is clear. The legal theories are well established. The Brady
Center just wanted to force Armslist.com to expend money on legal fees, in hopes of
eventually bankrupting Armslist.com. Truly despicable.
"Unconstitutional: Circuit Court Strikes Down Longstanding Gun Control"
by Armed Attorneys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9-ia9fnc4U
Cited ruling,
https://www2.ca3.uscourts.gov/opinarch/212835pen.pdf
"From Hero to Defendant: The Legal Consequences of Defending Others"
by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S75Y6hZVERM
“Is there no virtue among us?
If there is not, we are without hope!
No form of government, existing nor theoretical, will keep us from harm.
To think that any government, in any form, will insure liberty and happiness
for a dishonorable population represents the height of self-deception.”
-- James Madison, 1788
***** ***** ***** Instruction ***** ***** *****
Colonel Robert Lindsey to his fellow trainers:
"We are not God's gift to our students.
Our students are God's gift to us."
----- Instructors -----
"Remember,
the students who require the extra effort
are the ones who need us the most!"
-- John Farnam
A church called me to give them some training. But what the pastor really wanted was
for some outside party to kick incompetent persons off the volunteer security team.
Because it would have been socially awkward for anyone in the church hierarchy to do so.
Of the 30 volunteers, 6 didn't show up for "training". (I suspect they did not want to
demonstrate their incompetence in front of their peers. Such persons are referred to
as Intentionally Incompetent.)
Of the 24 who showed up, after running through a few dry drills (4 shooters at a time),
I informed 12 that their gun handling was not safe and that they would require more
training and practice in basic gun safety before they would be ready to progress to
basic marksmanship training. I told them when I would be giving the ten hours of
classes and asked them to attend.
[No one was ever asked to leave the range. Everyone was welcome to hang around and
watch.]
Of the 12 remaining, after running through a few live fire drills, I informed 7 that
I would be giving 10 hours of basic marksmanship training and asked them to attend
those classes.
With the 5 remaining, I said that if they did not feel that they could do the exercise
safely to just watch the others, and that they would learn to do the techniques in the
upcoming training. We did the following one at a time. We did some basic movement
and shooting (or movement while shooting, if they felt competent to do so).
We did some presenting and shooting at targets that were not in front of them,
requiring turning. We did some presenting and shooting with only one hand
(left and right, because I don't think it makes sense to do one handed shooting from
a ready position; how did the pistol magically get from the holster into the hand?).
We did Farnam's hostage rescue drill (around the left and right side of a wall).
I told them when I would be giving classes to refine their skills and asked
them to attend.
A day later, a church leader called to tell me that I need not give the classes
that I had planned to give, and that my services would no longer be required.
He let me know in no uncertain terms that they were very angry with me and
considered me rude and disrespectful.
One of those that I had found to be lacking in safe gun handling skill was a
former assistant police chief. So my evaluations were clearly ridiculous and
demeaning. As if my knowing who that person was would have changed
anything. I think my not knowing any of the persons eliminated any bias in
my evaluations.
Be careful what you teach.
Because your students will do in combat
whatever you have trained them to do,
no matter how ridiculous.
-- "Shooting in Self-Defense" by Sara Ahrens
----- Andragogy -----
"An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented."
-- "Building Shooters" by Dustin Salomon
"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives."
-- Robert John Meehan
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Gear ***** ***** *****
*************************************************************************
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
"Red Dot Sights and Astigmatism
How does astigmatism affect your ability to see the dot?"
by Ilya Koshkin
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/content/red-dot-sights-and-astigmatism/
Excerpt:
"When you look through a red dot sight, if instead of a dot you see some sort
of a mis-shapen structure, rotate the sight by 90 degrees. If the pattern you are
seeing rotates, then it is a problem with the optic. If it does not, you have
astigmatism in your eye."
"Not focusing on the dot will often make it look less deformed."
[If your red dot sight system has no adjustment for focusing the dot,
the dot should be in focus at infinity (when your eyes are relaxed, they focus to infinity).
If you can adjust the focus of your dot, you should adjust the dot to be in focus
at the distance that you have zeroed your pistol.
-- Jon Low]
[In theory, the lens / reflector should be in the shape of a parabola. But machining
such a shape is difficult / expensive. So to reduce cost / production time, manufacturers
will machine a spherical shape instead. If the curvature of the lens / reflector is "low"
and the sight is only using a portion of the lens / reflector that is "close" to the axis of
symmetry, this works well. But modern red dot sights are small, so the curvature is
high, so parabolic lenses / reflectors work much better than spherical lenses / reflectors.
-- Jon Low]
[The diagrams in the article show the focal point at the surface of the retina.
A correct diagram would show the inverted image on the retina, with the focal
point in the interior of the eyeball.
-- Jon Low]
[Parallax is important. If parallax is adjusted correctly (also stated "no parallax" or
"parallax free"), when you don't have the dot centered in the window, the dot will still
be on the target. When parallax is wrong, the dot will not be on the target when viewed
from other than the center of the window. Does this matter? Depends on how anally
retentive you are. I know some systems don't allow adjustment for parallax.
Grossly speaking, parabolic lenses / reflectors should be parallax free. While
spherical lenses / reflectors will have parallax problems.
-- Jon Low]
"CCW: Buy the Best Holster You Can Afford"
by Jim WIlson
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/ccw-buy-the-best-holster-you-can-afford/
Excerpt:
"The defensive holster should be made to fit the particular gun that a person is
going to carry. The one-size-fits-all rigs don’t. A properly fitted holster helps to
hold the handgun securely and, at the same time, facilitates a fast defensive draw.
If it is a holster that is worn on the waist, it should also be mated to a sturdy belt
that helps keep that holster in the same place on the body at all times."
"When thinking about quality defensive handguns and the rigs that we carry
them in, it is a good idea to keep in mind that the average funeral costs $8,000.
What is your personal safety, and that of your family, worth? Don’t buy cheap!"
"How To Choose a Defensive Firearm Holster
There is no one best method of concealed carry . . .
only the best method for you. Here's how to figure it out."
by Jim Wilson
https://www.nrafamily.org/content/how-to-choose-a-defensive-firearm-holster/
Excerpt:
"Don't be afraid to experiment to see what works best for you.
And don't be afraid to buy quality. Remember, when selecting
defensive pistols and holsters, that this is equipment that you may
very well have to bet your life on."
"5 Concealed Carry Pistol Laser Sight Myths" by Mike Ox
https://dryfiretrainingcards.com/blog/5-concealed-carry-pistol-laser-sight-myths/
As a training tool, correctly zeroed lasers are fine. I don't recommend them
on carry weapons because they don't provide enough light to positively identify
a target in low light conditions and they are not bright enough to be seen in day
light conditions. So for the cost (including finding a holster that will fit the
weapon mounted laser), you don't get much utility.
If you're using a non-visible laser with appropriate night vision goggles
that allow you to see your laser that's different situation. But then you're hunting
at night, which is outside the scope of this newsletter. Check out Gabe Suarez's
writings on the subject.
"Why Won’t My Revolver Cylinder Turn?" by Greg Ellifritz
https://www.activeresponsetraining.net/why-wont-my-revolver-cylinder-turn
"High-Performance" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/high-performance/
"Going Red Dot: An Analytical Approach" by Massad Ayoob
https://americanhandgunner.com/our-experts/going-red-dot-an-analytical-approach/
Excerpts:
"The issue was not what gun the holster was originally built for but whether
the new gun fit properly. GPD determined that it did. No slop. No snag. No
impingement on the trigger."
[This is significant. Don't be afraid to use a holster that is not marked for that
pistol. Whether or not it fits is all that counts. -- Jon Low]
"Staying with the same firearms platform and the same type of holster helped
to make the transition seamless. Grantham’s experience indicates that the key to
a successful transition from iron sights to RDO on service pistols lies in planning
and training."
[If you're going to make changes, change only one thing at a time. If you make
multiple changes at the same time, you're not going know which change caused
the problem and which change caused the improvement. -- Jon Low]
"Top 6 Appendix Carry Mistakes" by PHLster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOMlbJzy9Xc
Steve Cooper's suggestions for a rifle --
Jamie Ogburn at Ogburn Combat Development (http://www.ogburnrifles.com/)
for assembly.
PSA upper with nitride mid-length 16″ pencil barrel
Bravo Company light weight 13″ handguard
www.bravocompanyusa.com/bcm-mcmr-13-m-lok-compatible-modular-rail/
Toolcraft bolt carrier
www.toolcraftinc.com/
JP Enterprises enhanced bolt assembly
www.jprifles.com/1.4.7_Bolt.php
PSA lower
Bravo Company MK 2 receiver extension and buffer assy
www.bravocompanyusa.com/bcm-mk2-recoil-mitigation-system-mod-1-t1/
Geissele SSA two-stage trigger
www.geissele.com/super-semi-automatic-ssar-trigger.html
Geissele Ambi charging handle
www.geissele.com/super-charging-handle-schr-5-56-black.html
All the upgrades above are to increase reliability and durability, reduce recoil
or save weight. The finished gun should weigh in at just under 6 pounds.
The parts total right at $1500.
"80-year-old store owner shoots robber’s arm off" by Jason Hanson
Craig C. was a well-respected member of the Norco, California community.
The 80-year-old had owned and operated Norco Market & Liquor since 1976.
One summer, he went viral for defending his store against a group of four robbers.
The suspects burst into the market with rifles and attempted to rob the store owner.
But Craig was watching the men on security cameras, and he got out his shotgun
and prepared to defend himself.
When the robbers came into the store, Craig lifted his shotgun from behind the
counter and fired towards one of the robbers.
On the surveillance video, the suspect who was shot ran out of the store screaming,
“He shot my arm off! He shot my arm off!"
After the shooting, the four suspects were taken into custody at a nearby hospital.
The suspect who was shot was in critical condition but was expected to survive.
Police also recovered a stolen car, firearms, and evidence related to other robberies.
Craig told local media, "I didn't have time to be afraid. Literally from the time
they got out of that car to when they came in was at most 10 seconds."
He became somewhat of a local celebrity. People came to the store to meet him.
The store sold T-shirts that said, "Don't mess with Norco, we’ll shoot your arm off."
A regular customer of the market said, "He did what everyone needs to do.
He stood there, he drew a line, and he stood on it."
Sadly, after the incident, the 80-year-old Craig suffered a heart attack. He recovered
and returned to work, but a few months later he passed away.
Shotguns have long been a self-defense weapon of choice for home and store owners.
But there are so many different types of shotguns – including a choice you might not
have considered: a short-barrel shotgun [less than 18" barrel length].
Benefits of a short barrel shotgun:
The biggest benefit of a short-barrel shotgun is its maneuverability. Compared
to a standard-length shotgun, the shorter barrel is easier for clearing a house.
Also, since most home defense shootings are at close range, the shorter barrel
means the shooter can get on target faster.
Short-barrel shotguns also change the balance of the shotgun, which can be good
or bad depending on the desire of the shooter. Longer barrel shotguns are more nose
heavy, while shorter barrel shotguns are more stock-heavy.
Drawbacks to short barrel shotguns:
Shotguns with shorter barrels lose some velocity compared to longer-barrel
shotguns. In addition, the shorter barrel means the shotgun is less accurate.
So, a short-barrel shotgun is not a gun you would use for skeet or trap shooting or
firing from a distance.
The biggest downside to owning a short-barrel shotgun is the wait and costs of
applying for an NFA-regulated weapon.
The legality of short barrel shotguns:
There are legal restrictions for how short a shotgun barrel can be.
According to the National Firearms Act, the minimum legal barrel length for
a shotgun is 18 inches. However, shotguns with shorter barrels can be legally
owned with federal registration and a $200 tax stamp.
Is it worth getting a short-barrel shotgun? Short barrel shotguns can be useful
for close-quarters combat. But they come with the red tape mentioned above.
If you want to own a short-barrel shotgun, consider the Mossberg Shockwave.
The Shockwave has a 14-inch barrel and comes with a pistol grip. The shotgun is
not designed to be fired from the shoulder because of the pistol grip. This makes
the Shockwave legal to own without an NFA license. [Because it's a pistol, not
a short barrelled shotgun, because it lacks a shoulder stock. -- Jon Low]
I’m not a lawyer, so before applying for an NFA tax stamp or buying a Shockwave,
be sure to check local, state, and federal laws (as things are always changing).
Again, the reason for using a short barrel shotgun is the close range at which
many self-defense gunfights occur.
But if you’re in such close range that you couldn’t raise even a short barrel
shotgun if you had one, you need something else to level the playing field in a
violent attack.
"All About Hollow Point Bullets" by Richard A. Mann
https://gundigest.com/article/hollow-point-bullets
If you have recently come to the world of pistol shooting from the world of rifle shooting,
you may be thinking to yourself, "That sight adjustment can't be right." when attempting to
zero your pistol. Your sense of estimation is disturbed because:
1. The sight radius is much smaller on your pistol than your rifle. So a given adjustment
of the rear sight of your pistol will cause a much larger change in your point of impact than
the same adjustment on your rifle. (That's why in some competitions you will see tubes
attached to the barrel of smallbore rifles and air rifles to move the front sight further
forward, or front sight extensions on target pistols. They are increasing the sight radius.)
And
2. Your pistol is zeroed at the first crossing of the bullet with the line of sight,
whereas your rifle was zeroed at the second crossing.
At the first crossing, your bullet is traveling up relative to the line of sight.
At the second crossing, your bullet is traveling down relative to the line of sight.
So when a pistol shooter is shooting "long range", at range beyond his zero,
he has to aim low, because the point of impact is higher than the point of aim.
Whereas, a rifle shooter who is shooting at "long range", at a range beyond his zero,
he must aim high, because the point of impact is lower than the point of aim.
How much? You have to plug your data into a ballistic calculator. Or, shoot
the distances and find out experimentally (the preferred method, because the
calculators all use different formulae and underlying presumptions).
A student / client had a pistol for which she could not find a holster. There was a
shop in Hendersonville, TN that could have made a nice leather holster for her, but
it would have been a bit too bulky. So I made a hybrid (plastic shell attached to a
leather panel that pressed against the body) for her. I copied an Alien Gear design
for the leather, tracing out the pattern of a Cloak Tuck IWB Holster. I used a piece
of 8 year old (aged, not sitting around for that long), single shoulder, 6/7 oz.
vegetable tanned leather, that I got from Tandy Leather. I punched the holes with
a 5/32" round punch. The belt clips were from Tandy. They have nice strong steel
clips for inside the waistband holsters. (I don't like the nylon belt clips. They
deform and don't bounce back.) The plastic shell was from Alien Gear. I had to
heat it (350° F in my oven) and form it to the pistol. No vacuum mold, just laid
a towel over it and pressed with my fingers. Which worked okay. After attaching
the plastic shell to the leather (hardware from Alien Gear and Tandy Leather),
I soaked the holster in water (water molding, ya there are other molding techniques
but they're more involved), inserted the pistol, and let the holster dry. I could have
put the whole thing under pressure, but didn't need to. The leather took the form
when wet and held it when dry. I removed the shell from the leather and used
my Dremel tool on the edge of the leather to sand it into shape and then burnish
the edge. Then I coated the leather with an acrylic finish, Neutral Resolene,
and reassembled.
She's been wearing it and using it in classes for a few weeks. It works, so
I'm happy.
"Best Gifts for Gun Lovers" by Eric Hung
https://www.pewpewtactical.com/best-gifts-for-gun-lovers/
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
*************************************************************************
***** ***** Religion, Politics, Opinion, Etc. ***** ***** *****
*************************************************************************
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
“What is ‘Freedom of Expression?’
Without the ‘freedom to offend,’ it ceases to exist.”
-- Salman Rushdie
“Dangerous Freedom!” by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/dangerous-freedom/
“What good does it do to ban ‘some’ guns?”
-- Howard Metzenbaum, Ohio Democrat (died in 2008)
Tucker Carlson, episode 1 on Twitter
https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1666203439146172419
Cited article,
"Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Craft of Non-Human Origin"
by LESLIE KEAN and RALPH BLUMENTHAL
https://thedebrief.org/intelligence-officials-say-u-s-has-retrieved-non-human-craft/
The Debrief,
https://thedebrief.org/
After being shot in the head and losing his left eye, Raul Mendez gets up
and fires 4 rounds into the bad guy's chest, stopping the attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EMe5h8Qf7s
While celebrating in the company of family and friends on the night before
the 4th of July in Surprise, AZ, a uninvited neighbor crashed the party. He was
offered a seat, food and drink, but without warning or provocation, the neighbor
stood up, pulled a gun and started shooting. After being shot in the head, going
unconscious, and losing his left eye, Raul Mendez gets up and fires 4 rounds
into the bad guy's chest, stopping the attack.
Raul Mendez was carrying a loaded pistol, was competent in its use, and
was willing to shoot the bad guy. Saving lives, saving loved ones.
Taken by surprise, so he wasn't able to prevent. He wasn't able to save
everyone. But a good outcome given the circumstances.
Can you imagine getting shot in the right temple, getting your left eye blown
out, and then getting up and taking care of business?
"Daniel Penny: Marine vet accused of fatal subway chokehold reveals why he stepped in"
by Rebecca Rosenberg
https://www.foxnews.com/us/ex-marine-daniel-penny-says-thought-subway-rider-jordan-neely-killed-somebody
Mr. Penny has $2,827,617 for his legal fees when I viewed his GiveSendGo account
on 8 June 2023. Will you have that much money when the nasty politicians come after
you for doing the right thing, for saving the lives of other innocent persons?
The law firm, Raiser & Kenniff,
https://www.raiserandkenniff.com/
handling the case for Penny ain't cheap.
Penny's defense could easily go way over 3 million dollars. Remember:
“Neely’s death spurred widespread protests across the city with many demonstrators
and even politicians calling Penny a "murderer" and a racist.”
“Rev. Al Sharpton gave a eulogy at Neely’s funeral blasting the decision
not to arrest Penny on the spot.”
---
Daniel Penny's Legal Defense Fund
https://www.givesendgo.com/daniel_penny
"Every man shall give as he is able,
according to the blessing of the LORD
your God which He has given you."
-- Deuteronomy 16:17
“A generous person will prosper;
whoever refreshes others will be refreshed."
-- Proverbs 11:25
---
But it's not just the criminal charges. Carolyn Neely, Jordan Neely's aunt,
filed a civil lawsuit claiming personal injuries and wrongful death. The family
didn't house Neely (he was homeless at the time), but their happy to cash in
on his death.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/jordan-neely-death-family-will-file-wrongful-death-lawsuit-against-daniel-penny
Tennessee Governor Lee proposed red flag laws in direct response to the Covenant
Church / Elementary School murders. This was his knee jerk reaction to pressure
from anti-gun liberals in Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville (where the woke live).
But the rational people of Tennessee aren't buying it.
---
"The poll that scuttles Tennessee Governor Lee’s red flag proposals" by John Petrolino
https://bearingarms.com/john-petrolino/2023/06/10/the-poll-that-scuttles-tennessee-governor-lees-red-flag-proposals-n71365
---
"More than half of U.S. churches rely on armed members as part of security plan: Survey"
by Mark A. Kellner
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/jun/7/more-half-us-churches-rely-armed-members-part-secu/
As Ed Monk taught recently in the classes he gave at the Glock Store in Nashville,
if your plan is to call 911, you can expect the bad guy to shoot a victim every 10 seconds
until done.
2 to 4 victims in the first minute.
1 to 4 minutes from first shot to 911 call. 16 victims.
3 minutes to cops receiving call. 21 victims.
911 call to arrival of cops, 6 minutes. 34 victims.
(National averages over the last 2 decades.)
So the only way to get a low victim count is to immediately stop the bad guy,
which means immediately shooting him, which means the good guy present
at the scene must be carrying a loaded pistol, be competent in its use, and be
willing to shoot the bad guy.
---
"BREAKING: Nashville Shooter Autopsy Obtained" by Mia Cathell
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/miacathell/2023/06/12/audrey-hale-autopsy-n2624407
Excerpt:
"Included in the 11-page document from the Davidson County Medical Examiner's
office, a toxicology report found that the blood-, urine- and vitreous-humor analysis
performed on Hale did not detect abuse of substances or alcohol."
[This statement is extremely misleading. The Davidson County Medical Examiner
does not consider it "abuse" to saturate a person's blood stream with testosterone to
turn a female into a male. Nor does the Davidson County Medical Examiner consider
it "abuse" to pump a person full of psychotropic drugs to change a person's personality
from that of a female into that of male. As long as a doctor has prescribed the drugs
and hormones, it is not "abuse".
The toxicology report shows that testing for the hormones and psychotropic drugs
was not requested and so was not reported. Because they were doctor prescribed for
transitioning, and therefore outside the scope of the toxicology report.
-- Jon Low ]
---
"James Hammond and Tennessee Firearms Association file open records lawsuit
over Covenant School manifesto" by John Harris
https://tennesseefirearms.com/2023/05/james-hammond-and-tennessee-firearms-association-file-open-records-lawsuit-over-covenant-school-manifesto/
Legal document included at bottom of web page.
---
"TFA: Covenant School "Manifesto" case updates - Autopsy Report & more schools involved"
https://app.getresponse.com/view.html?x=a62b&m=BFK82y&mc=rQ&s=zwPKif&u=izZc&z=EyZ6BbN&
You should be wondering why so many persons and organizations are trying to
suppress this information. Consider how much money in legal fees is being spent on this.
Follow the money. Who is the information in the manifesto going to hurt?
Everyone knows what's in the journals. That's why they are fighting so hard to
prevent its public release.
"2024" by John Farnam
https://defense-training.com/2024-3/
"Biden Administration Accused of Violating US Flag Code via Pride Month Display"
https://lizwheeler.com/trending-story/biden-us-flag-code-pride-month/
Truly disgusting.
"George Zimmerman Had No Equal Rights In His Case" by Andrew Branca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y05qfenG29A
"Judge Rocks Joe Biden's Justice Department -
Gives Trump Massive Victory At Arraignment"
by Explain America
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2ckP53SQiM
Tucker Carlson on Twitter… episode 3! Talks on Trumps Indictment"
by Amazeen Outdoors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1s_PLdGOcI
On YouTube.com in case you don't want to create a Twitter account.
"Ep. 4 Wannabe Dictator" by Tucker Carlson
https://twitter.com/i/status/1669472439472988161
Did you every wonder how to put those exotic text characters into your document?
You can copy and paste them from
https://www.rapidtables.com/code/text/unicode-characters.html
255 pages of unicode characters
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (year 5),
"The Advanced Guard" (Chapter 3) --
Professor Alastor (Mad-Eye) Moody: "I want three-hundred-and-sixty-degree
visibility on the return journey."
Shouldn't that have been "I want four Pi steradian visibility on the return journey."
Does J. K. Rowling make such mistakes? Was it a mistake? Was it beyond the
reading level of her intended audience? Or, was she saying exactly what she meant?
"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]
Honey pot.
"Outsmarting the Giant Hornets: Beekeeper's Innovative Method to Protect Honeybees"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onq9ixC7OEg
What is the analogy of the phermones in our environment? Yes, very good. What
is the analogy of the sticky trap in our environment?
What do black hats do when they find a honey pot? What do they do when they get
caught?
"A totally different way to do math (p-adic numbers)" by Veritasium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRaq4aYPzCc
"The Discovery That Transformed Pi" by Veritasium
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMlf1ELvRzc
Series that converge to fractions of Pi.
"The Most Powerful Diagram in Mathematics" by Another Roof
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xnRZqD7rAo
S(5,8,24) the Steiner group with 24 elements
where 5 elements uniquely define one of the 8 element blocks.
MOG (Miracle Octad Generator).
Do you see how you can use this?
Hertzsprung’s Problem
"A Lifelong Mathematical Obsession" by Another Roof
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt5I1gZj1ew
---
The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences
https://oeis.org/search?q=Hertzsprung%E2%80%99s+Problem&language=english&go=Search
Stopped by Neil J. A. Sloane's house with my girlfriend when I lived in New Jersey.
Talked about packing n-dimensional spheres on the surface of an n-1 dimensional sphere.
"The Dream: Riemann Hypothesis and F1 (RH Saga S1E1)" by PeakMath
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTCE2SXguwU
Cited papers are listed below the video.
Do you see how you can use this?
"why are computers horrible at division? (a painful discovery)"
by Low Level Learing (low level as in assembly language level)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssDBqQ5f5_0
"how can HACKERS abuse buffers that are TOO SMALL??
(live buffer overflow demo)" by Low Level Learning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpyRz5lkRjE
Segmentation fault (core dumped)
You have to listen carefully, as he talks quickly, but all the details are there.
At one point he says "bracket", he means "parentheses". But the text on his editor
screen clearly shows parentheses, so it should be clear.
[Hey, we got a lot of newbies reading this blog.]
CineMatch for you steganographers.
https://www.cinematch.com/purchase/?promoCode=STANDARD
Promotion code: STANDARD
"AI-Generated Steganography" by Bruce Schneier
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2023/06/ai-generated-steganography.html
Cited article,
"Secret Messages Can Hide in AI-Generated Media" by Stephen Ornes
https://www.quantamagazine.org/secret-messages-can-hide-in-ai-generated-media-20230518/
[I don't think Samuel Sokota and Christian Schroeder de Witt's definition of
"perfect security" makes sense. It's certainly not "perfect" in the sense of a one time pad.
I don't think they understand Shannon's seminal paper.
-- Jon Low]
Cited paper (abstract),
"Perfectly Secure Steganography Using Minimum Entropy Coupling"
by Christian Schroeder de Witt, Samuel Sokota, J. Zico Kolter, Jakob Foerster,
and Martin Strohmeier
https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.14889
Source document,
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2210.14889.pdf
[I don't think the definition of "minimum entropy coupling" in section 3 of the paper
makes sense. But, then again, arXiv is not a peer reviewed journal. So the writing is
rarely crystal clear. (IEEE Journal on Information Theory requires that the writing
be crystal clear, in the opinion of the editor, before the paper is sent out for peer review.)
-- Jon Low]
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil."
-- Donald Knuth
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***** ***** ***** Intelligence ***** ***** *****
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State,
the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
-- Second Amendment, U.S. Constitution
"Expeditionary Cyberspace Operations" by Bruce Schneier
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2023/05/expeditionary-cyberspace-operations.html
Cited article,
New DOD doctrine officially outlines and defines
‘expeditionary cyberspace operations’
by Mark Pomerleau
https://defensescoop.com/2023/05/12/new-dod-doctrine-officially-outlines-and-defines-expeditionary-cyberspace-operations/
Kind of interesting (disturbing) that the author talks about the
Marine Corps so much. I wonder what that means?
"Intelligence Officials Say U.S. Has Retrieved Craft of Non-Human Origin"
by LESLIE KEAN and RALPH BLUMENTHAL
https://thedebrief.org/intelligence-officials-say-u-s-has-retrieved-non-human-craft/
David Charles Grusch.
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).
National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC).
Department of the Navy under the
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security,
reorganized and expanded into the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office.
Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG).
Karl E. Nell.
Christopher Mellon.
Jonathan Grey.
National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC).
What do you notice?
"Of Dams and Damn Trolls: A Reflection" by Peter Zeihan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlrUkIRCSWI
A different perspective on the Kakhovka Dam.
The Russians blew it up. And the reasons why.
"How Russia Destroyed the Kakhovka Dam" by Ryan McBeth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z4rhBKTT5U
"Volt Typhoon targets US critical infrastructure with living-off-the-land techniques"
by Microsoft Threat Intelligence
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/05/24/volt-typhoon-targets-us-critical-infrastructure-with-living-off-the-land-techniques/
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
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"You can’t truly call yourself 'peaceful' unless you are capable of great violence.
If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful, you’re harmless.
Important distinction." -- Stef Starkgaryen
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Email: Jon_Low@yahoo.com
Radio: KI4SDN
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