Greetings Sheepdogs,
I received a thank you letter from Daniel Penny's law firm, Raiser & Kenniff.
My mother told me there are two type of people in this world: those who
write thank you letters and those who don't.
"All people, if they're in a position to help, should always help.
It's the American thing to do."
-- Daniel Penny
"What’s Next for Daniel Penny?" by Douglas Andrews
Excerpt:
"Warriors will always have to deal with guilt and mourning. It is unfortunate that
the guilt and mourning reside almost entirely with those asked to do the dirty work.
Choosing to fight for the right reasons can assuage this guilt. Mourning can lessen it.
But all warriors or erstwhile warriors will need to understand that, just like rucksack,
ammunition, water, and food, guilt and mourning will be among the things they carry.
They will shoulder it all for the society they fight for."
-- Karl Marlantes, Navy Cross recipient, Marine Corps veteran, and Rhodes Scholar,
from his excellent memoir of combat in Vietnam, "What It Is Like to Go to War".
"No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
-- Thomas Jefferson
If you don't understand anything that I say in my blog postings, please feel
free to ask me at
Jon_Low@yahoo.com
Table of Contents:
Prevention
Mindset
Situational Awareness
Safety
Training
Practice
Intervention
Strategy
Tactics
Techniques
Postvention
Aftermath
Medical
Survival
Education
Legal
Instruction
Gear
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Prevention ***** ***** *****
Things you can do to avoid the lethal force incident.
Table of sections:
Mindset
Safety
Training
Practice
*************************************************************************
----- Mindset and Attitude -----
Figuring out the correct way to think.
"I do not carry a pistol so that I may impose my will on others.
I carry a pistol so that others may not impose their will on me."
-- Tom Givens
Collected Wisdom of Tom Givens, Volume 1
"Survival is a mindset, not a skill set."
-- Greg Shaffer
From Orion Taraban, Psy.D.
"A life-long practice."
For two years, I worked in an outpatient setting as a therapist for folks with cancer,
and I conducted many sessions with people who had just received their diagnosis.
One thing that consistently surprised me – because it ran counter to my expectations –
was that a patient's age had little to do with his acceptance of mortality. I spoke with
dozens of men in their late 70s who apparently hadn't even considered the possibility
that death was approaching, despite the fact that they had outlived the average life
expectancy.
This experience taught me that it takes a long time to prepare to die. It takes more
than a few weeks – or a few months – to fully accommodate to death's inevitability.
You might even think of living as a protracted preparation for death: it can take that
long to be able to face it with some degree of acceptance and equanimity. This is not
something that occurs organically as a function of growing old: it is the product of
intentional practice over many years.
We facilitate this acceptance by having our affairs more or less in order. It is not
a good idea to face death with a lot of outstanding business to attend to. And since
we have no idea when death with come for us, we are incentivized to not put off for
tomorrow what can be done today. Heal that relationship. Make those emends.
Prioritize what you truly want to do in this life. That way, you won't be scrambling
to do so when the end draws near, and you will have the emotional bandwidth to
face it forthrightly.
Behavioral Experiment
I challenge you to change one thing about yourself or your life for one week.
Keep what works. Throw out what doesn't.
This week's experiment:
Send a note to someone to express your sincere gratitude.
Notice how you feel afterwards.
Warmly,
Orion
---
"Have your affairs in order."
-- John Hearne
---
My brother-in-law says, at my age (85) a life sentence or execution doesn't
have much deterrence.
My father (age 93, wife deceased, children and grandchildren financially
independent) says, with nothing to lose, I've become a very dangerous man.
I have no wife, no children to worry about, no assets (all in trusts), and
a good self-defense insurance policy. My inhibitions are very low.
If you have inhibitions, you will hesitate. That hesitation may cost you your life.
‷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
"If You Go To Guns You Failed" by Steve Tarani
As Michael Mann says, preveniton, not reaction.
Tarani is correct in saying that proactive action allows you to control the action.
[Nashville Police Chief, John Drake, issued an order to his subordinate police officers
forbidding them from doing any proactive police work. They may respond to calls,
but they are not to initiate anything. Think about that.
A female Commander in the Nashville Police Department went on TV and made
a public announcement that the NPD will have 30% female officers. A jounalist asked
the Commander how she would accomplish that. The Commander's response was in
part that the physical fitness requirement would be eliminated, replaced by an agility
test.
I recently saw the results of that policy. I was driving north on Nolensville Pike.
As I approached the intersection with Thompson Lane (a big intersection where
homeless beggars approach cars to ask for money), I saw a petite female police officer
struggling with a poorly dressed derelict. I pulled over, stopped, and got out to assist
the officer. She told me to go away. So, I left. As I drove away, I saw the derelict
beating her on the ground in my rear view mirror.]
---
As Massad Ayoob says, if you give the bad guy your wallet, the bad guy now has
your home address, where your loved one's live.
As Greg Ellifritz says, if you talk to the police, the police will get all of your
information, and the police will give all of your information to the bad guy or his
Mafia / gang colleagues during discover before the trial.
Do you want the bad guys attacking your home? kidnapping and raping your
children? maiming or murdering your spouse to convince you not to testify?
---
When I was in the Marine Corps, we often carried classified stuff. If you were
of the mindset that you would surrender the stuff, you shouldn't accept the courier
card, material, and mission in the first place. I've never heard of anyone every
being prosecuted, arrested, or even questioned for killing anyone to protect classifed
material. Then again, I've never heard of anyone reporting that they had killed
anyone to protect the material. Just walk away. [That's what my father would
always tell me, "Walk away."]
If you let the cops arrest you, there is a chance your command will disavow
any knowledge of your actions. It happened to me. The colonel (who would
only talk to me through my attorney) said, you should have gotten the orders
in writing. The world is full of disloyal scum bags.
[Ya, of course, there was more to it than that.]
“Willingness is a state of mind. Readiness is a statement of fact!”
-- Lt. Gen. David M Shoup, USMC Commandant 1960-1963
"7 Steps To Control Fear And Make Sound Decisions Under Stress"
by Tom Givens
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"Your gunfights will always be anomalies.
So are those of all the instructors you venerate.
It’s useful to keep those facts in mind."
-- Greg Ellifritz
"Lights, Seeing is Required" by Jeff Gonzales
‟Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice.”
-- Rear Admiral Joseph Kernan, U.S. Navy
"On Getting Help When You Need It" by Dr. Darcie Dixon
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"I wish more people understood that criminals are generally
not scared of or impressed by your firearm."
-- Greg Ellifritz
My mother told me, "If you haven't looked at it in a year, you never will. Throw it away."
"Ruthlessly throw things away. Otherwise, you'll end up hoarding. Everything has
sentimental value. If it has real sentimental value, you'll have the memory."
“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
"Why Me?" by Clint Smith
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
‟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
"Responder Zero" by Aaron
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"From play to purpose." by Orion Taraban, Psy.D., Wednesday, December 11th, 2024
People need much less leisure than they think. The main reason so many people
devote hours of their lives to entertainment in the evenings (or to “blowing off steam”
on the weekends) is because they spend most of their time doing things that they
don't really want to do (but often believe that they “have” to do). Living with that
internal resistance is exhausting, and this exhaustion is directly responsible for the
prevalence of hypnogogic lethargy on the one hand and manic overindulgence on
the other.
By contrast, when people enjoy how they spend the majority of their time –
when they find their work stimulating, fulfilling, meaningful, and rewarding – they
do not require much in terms of relaxation. If anything, too much enforced leisure
can make them feel restless or depressed. Deeply understanding this causes a shift
in lifestyle priorities: from trying to carve out more “free time” to play and indulge
to building a life from which you never “need” a vacation.
It is within the reach of all people to build such a life for themselves – and, frankly,
it has never been easier in the history of the world to do so than it is today. However,
creating such a life – which, by definition, will be unconventional and custom-tailored
to the individual involved – requires courage, risk, effort, and self-direction. Everyone
can do it – but not everyone will. The question is: what's the alternative? Either take
the leap of faith to build the life that you can love or content yourself with eating crumbs
from your own table.
Warmly,
Orion
Hi Students,
It was Sensei Cat Fitzgerald
who said,
"Everyone wants to show that they have the biggest balls.
They fear being the pussy.
Be the pussy. The pussy is strong. You can push a baby through a pussy.
Get kicked in the balls and what?"
Cheers,
Jon
Facebook.com post by Tom Givens --
Normalize Wearing a Gun
Here are some interesting figures for you:
Current US population- 325,000,000
Percentage under 20 years of age or over 80 years of age = 28.7%
That leaves 71.3% of the population between 20 and 80 years old.
According to the US government, there are now 21,800,000 pistol carry permits in the US.
This number is down slightly from 3 years ago, because 27 states now allow carry without
a permit. Thus, many who had a permit in those states did not renew when their permits
expired.
This means that not counting people who can legally carry a handgun in public in
permit-less states, 1 person out of every 10.6 people between the ages of 20 and 80 have
a carry permit. That’s 9% of the population! So, don’t let anyone make you think you
are a rarity, or somehow crazy to carry a personal defense handgun.
-- Tom Givens
"Fighting or Shooting?" by Dave Spaulding
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
It is in one of the finest pieces of cinema ever produced (in my opinion) --
THE SHOOTIST (1976), where Ron Howard (Gillum) says to John Wayne (J.B. Books):
Gillum: "How did you get into so many fights and always come out on top?
I nearly tied you shooting!"
Books: "Friend, there's nobody out there shooting back at you! It isn't always
about being fast . . . or even accurate . . . that counts. It’s being willing!
I found out early that most men, regardless of cause or need, aren't willing.
They'll blink an eye or draw a breath before they pull the trigger . . . and I won't!"
***** Situational Awareness *****
How to avoid being taken by surprise.
"Many people don't realize that your awareness skills are more important than
your marksmanship skills. Well, you can't shoot something you don't know is there,
or don't know it needs to be shot!" -- Tom Givens
"Jeff Cooper's Color Code exists to help you get your head
around the need to kill someone in the immediate future."
-- John Hearne
---
Jeff Cooper's Color Code of Mental Awareness
UNAWARE - of what's going on around you. (White)
AWARE - of who is around you and what they are doing. (Yellow)
ALERT - to a POTENTIAL threat and taking action to avoid the threat. (Orange)
ALARM - by a REAL threat and taking action to escape the threat,
which might include shooting to PREVENT the attack. (Red)
COMBAT - front sight, press. Shooting to STOP the attack. (Black)
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
----- Safety -----
How to prevent the bad thing from happening in the first place.
How to avoid shooting yourself, friendlies, and innocent bystanders.
How to prevent unauthorized persons from using your guns.
Jeff Cooper′s Rules of Gun Safety
RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING
THAT YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER
UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET.
---
RULE V: Maintain control of your gun. -- Stephen P. Wenger
From "Collected Wisdom of Tom Givens", Volume III --
UNIVERSAL FIREARMS SAFETY RULES
1. ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED.
Before you can clean it, tinker with it, or show it to a buddy, you must clear it first.
If you want to shoot it-shoot it. If you want to do anything else with it, clear it first.
2. NEVER POINT A GUN AT ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY.
Keep up with where your gun is pointed, at all times. Here, the gun will either be
in the holster, at the ready, or on target, period.
3. KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL
YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET.
Pressure on the trigger is what causes the gun to fire. Keep your finger indexed well
away from the trigger unless you want the gun to fire.
Gun on target = finger on trigger. Gun off target = finger off trigger.
4. ALWAYS BE CERTAIN OF YOUR TARGET AND
WHAT IS BEYOND IT AND AROUND IT.
Know what you are shooting and why. What is behind it?
"3 Warning Signs of Public-Range Gun-Safety "Issues"
Here's what to keep an eye (and ear) out for on the public range."
by Frank Melloni
"It's easier to stay out of trouble than to get out of trouble."
-- Claude Werner
What If: 911 Down?
"I predict this problem will become far worse before it improves.
You should have a plan in the event no one answers your emergency 911 call."
-- Greg Ellifritz
John Farnam's rules to keep you out of trouble:
Don’t go to stupid places.
Don’t associate with stupid people.
Don’t do stupid things.
Have a “normal” appearance.
Be in bed by 10:00 PM (your own bed).
Don’t fail the attitude test.
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
----- Training -----
Figuring out the correct tasks to practice.
"There are three different areas,or disciplines, in which the armed person must train.
These are mindset, gunhandling, and marksmanship. Each is equally important, and
you must be at least competent in all three areas." -- Tom Givens
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)
"What is the value of training?" by tacticalprofessor (Claude Werner)
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
The format of a 4 or 5 day course (taught in 4 or 5 contiguous days) is wrong.
It may be logistically practical, but it's wrong. The student is drinking from a fire
hose. The student thinks he is getting his money's worth, but he is not retaining
anything. As Dustin Salomon says, you need time away from the material and 24
to 48 hours between 90 minute classes, to sleep. I'm sure Dustin is referring to
REM sleep, which you don't get in cat naps or power naps (whatever they are).
I know for the traveling instructor it is impractical to return to the area week
after week for a 50 hour class. I know it is impractical for the student to return
to the area week after week for such a class. But seven 3-hour classes 3 or 4 days
apart for a 20 hour classroom curriculum followed by five 4-hour or four 5-hour
live fire sessions with a couple of days between each session is much better than
the contiguous four or five 10 hour days.
That's why I only get local students. Fortunately, I am in an area with lots of
such dedicated students.
As Dustin says, no leaning takes place the first time information is presented.
So you must prime your students by instructing them to read your book or handouts
before the class. Otherwise, your lecture is going to go over their heads. They may
understand your words, but they won't get any understanding of your meaning.
Once you teach a skill, it is in your student's short term memory. They need
time away from the material and sleep to transfer the skill into long term memory,
declarative memory in particular (that which can be consciously recalled at will).
After that they need repetitions (Russel Tanji says 2000 repetitions.) to transfer the
skill into procedural memory (that which can be subconsciously executed without
conscious thought).
You're just not going to get that in a 4 or 5 day overload information dump.
“Training deals not with an object,
but with the human spirit and human emotions.”
--Bruce Lee
"When To Stop Shooting
Maybe it’s time for a new cliché: There are no stop signs in a gunfight."
by George T. Williams
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpts:
"If we come to believe that shooting faster will save our lives,
whether through prior training or through desperation, the act of shooting
as quickly as possible—simply putting rounds downrange—will be prioritized
more than hitting."
"An untrained shooter can fire four rounds per second while an elite,
trained shooter is capable of firing seven or eight accurate rounds per second.
This inherent delay to stop shooting generally translates into one to four
rounds fired before being capable of stopping our fingers from rapidly
pressing our triggers. It simply requires time to stop shooting after finally
perceiving the threat is over."
"Self-defense shooting, whether close or at distance, is not about “speed.”
Success is about effectively hitting in time, on-time. Orienting our mindset
to deliberately “hitting” rather than “shooting” can help us, resulting in being
forced to fire fewer rounds with greater effectiveness, while possibly lessening
our exposure to prosecution later. Shooting to save one’s life by stopping a
threat also means stopping as soon as possible after perceiving the threat has
ended."
"Most are worried about “when to shoot.” That valid question can only
be answered within the context of the specific facts in the moment. We must
be equally concerned about “when to stop shooting.” The answers at both
ends of the self-defense shooting are grave and as important to us in our
continuing health and freedom. Of the two, perceiving when to stop may
be the more difficult."
---
[Being a good guy in civilian self-defense is orders of maganitute more
difficult than being the bad guy, or a soldier in a free-fire-zone, or a police officer
in an active shooter situation, or a special operator on a body extraction or
termination mission. They are not concerned with being prosecuted, convicted,
and imprisoned; nor with being sued resulting in bankruptcy and destitution for
the their family.
Good guys have assets and loved ones. Bad guys don't. (Illegally obtained
goods do not count as assets. Sex partners do not count as loved ones.)
Good guys are fundamentally different from bad guys. Humans are all God's
creation, but not all are God's children.
-- Jon Low]
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always
possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Richard Henry Lee
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
This past weekend (7th and 8th December 2024 A.D.), I assisted John Farnam
with his Instructor Development class at the Deer Hollow range in Cross Plains, TN
(north of Nashville). I had taken the class on the 5th and 6th of October 2019 A.D.
(The late James Yeager of Tactical Response was the assistant instructor when
I took the class.) In the intervening 5 years, the class has changed dramatically.
As one would expect of an instructor who is constantly learning and staying up
with best practices. Here are some of the things that I learned (or had adjusted
in my mind) [I'm not going to mention the subtle things, as I cannot relay them
to you with any level of confidence.] The organization of the following is mine,
not John's, just to make my synopsis readable for my audience:
---
Training --
We, as professional gunmen, must avoid the lethal confrontation.
We must hold ourselves to a higher standard. The courts will hold us to a
higher standard.
1. We must lower our expectations of what our bullet will do to the bad guy.
2. We must raise our standards of accuracy. Because we will be much less
accurate when under stress.
3. We must raise our expectation of our performance after being injured (shot,
stabbed, punched, etc.). Keep fighting!
ASP dummy guns are 10% oversized, so won't fit in holsters made for the real gun.
John showed us a plastic holster made by Phalanx Defense Systems that is great
to have on hand for students who did not bring a safe holster to your class. As they
will fit just about any modern semi-auto pistol well enough to be safe for use in
a class. (I tried several search engines, but could not find their web site. Though
Stealth Operator,
claims to be their web site.) They are available from distributors, including
Amazon.com, Scheels,
and others. We should have a left and right handed holster in our gear bag
for our students.
The purpose of our training is to ensure that our students die of old age and
don't spend time in penitentiaries.
Struggle is good.
Don't beat your head against a wall that has a door in it.
If you're going to use those metal magazines in your Glock, you need to install
a metal mag release system. As the metal magazines will chew up your plastic mag
release. The metal mag release will also chew up your plastic covered Glock mags.
So, it would be best to change the mag release and only use metal magazines.
More capacity.
Passive safeties (grip safety, trigger safety, etc.) are better than manual safeties
(thumb safety, etc.). You can forget to defeat a manual safety in a high stress
situation.
We should be thinking, "What can I do to avoid being hurt."
(As John Holschen says, you win fights by not getting shot.)
Courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.
Be prepared to aggressively disengage. (One has to get training, and practice to
be able to do this. It's the opposite of how your mother taught you to behave.)
In real life, only 1 in 30 times when you point your pistol at the bad guy will
you need to shoot. So you should train accordingly. If you train to fire every time
you present your pistol from the holster, you're going to have a hard time in the trial.
Linguistically, use "when", not "if". Use "we" instead of "I". "And", not "but".
No hedging. If you hedge, the student will think you don't believe what you're saying.
Our goal and the student's goal is the improvement of the student.
Carry 2 guns. One the bad guy will see, the other he won't.
Flashlights should be at least 500 lumens. They must be strong enough to blind
(temporarily) the bad guy. Everyone should carry a flashlight.
Driveways and parking lots are the most dangerous places. Act accordingly.
When parking, driver should be the last to exit. Get away from the car.
When getting into the car, the driver should be the first into the car. Drive off
immediately.
The FBI standard is 18" of bullet penetration. As civilian defenders, we
want 9" to 15" of bullet penetration.
[Because as Alec Baldwin demonstrated, pass throughs can seriously injure and kill.
After killing the Cinematographer, Baldwin's bullet hit the Director in the chest.
-- Jon Low]
In the event of a home invasion, get away from the house. Call 911 when you
are safely away from the house.
John teaches the military reload (AKA proactive reload / reload with retention /
tactical reload / etc.) as removing the old magazine and sticking it in a pocket,
and then acquiring a new magazine from your magazine pouch and inserting it
into the magazine well, and them reacquiring your two handed grip. On Gabe
Suarez's theory that "you should have one thing, in one hand, doing one thing at
a time". Also, many people don't have large enough hands to hold two magazines
in one hand, much less do a magazine extraction and insertion under stress.
In low light, the body aims the gun. The eye confirms the aiming.
Bring your gun up to your line of sight. Don't move your head to the sights.
Shoulders down and relaxed to be able to turn your head to see around you.
Don't port your barrel. When firing from the close contact position, the hot
gas will cut through your shirt and burn you. [Also, the burning propellant will
get into your eyes. -- Jon Low]
You must fire your pistol at night, so you have the experience of seeing your
muzzle flash. John told us of an agent who had never experienced muzzle flash
in training or practice, and mistakenly thought that her pistol had exploded on her.
So, she dropped her pistol and backed away from it. Suboptimal in combat.
Your flashlight will give you information and blind your enemy.
While there are many flashlight techniques, John only teaches the Harries and
the Good techniques. He like to keep things simple. [Hick's Law, the fewer
decisions you make the faster you go. The fewer options that you have to choose
from in each decision, the faster you go. -- Jon Low]
80% of civilian lethal force incidents occur in low light conditions. Driveways
and parking lots. Your home driveway, because the bad guys followed you home
from the mall. The Wal Mart parking lot after sunset. That's just statistics.
The secret to one handed shooting is "thumb up".
As an instructor, you should carry a pistol in a purse, so that you have experience
from which to teach your students. Saying something like, "I've never carried a
purse, but I've heard that . . . " is just lack of preparation and inconsiderate of your
students. The student may have had abdominal surgery and is physically incapable
of wearing a belt, much less carrying weight on a belt.
[Similarly for other equipment that you don't like. Just because you
don't use it, doesn't mean your students won't show up with that equipment.
You have a responsibility to teach them how to run their equipment. Yes, as a
matter of fact, you do.
He got that cheap Hi-Point because that is all he could afford.
She has that revolver because that is what her late husband gave her.
Your duty is to teach them how to run their equipment to save their lives.
-- Jon Low]
Have a deep intellectual and experiential understanding of the trigger.
1. Slack (take up), no sear movement
2. Break dawn (the wall), start of sear movement
3. Break, the sear releases the striker or hammer
4. Over travel, movement after the sear releases the striker or hammer
5. Reset, feel and hear the click that tells you the pistol is ready to fire
Because you need the understanding to be able to teach it.
When shooting, maintain contact between the trigger and your finger. If your
finger is flying off the trigger on each shot, you are WRONG!
---
*** Extremely Important *** Read Carefully ***
* Continually correct the sights while pressing the trigger. Sight alignment,
* sight picture, and trigger control are not separate operations. They are done
* simultaneously. Never give your students the impression that they are
* serial operations that are done one after another.
* --- Extremely Important --- Read Carefully ---
---
The student fails the shooting test because of misjudgment, not poor marksmanship.
Magnified vision (also known as tunnel vision) causes the student to think that the
target is closer than it really is. So the student misjudges how much accuracy is needed
for the shot. Always err on the side of accuracy / precision. Expend the time to make
the shot more accurate than you think it needs to be.
Modes:
Storage - chamber empty, no magazine or ammo in vicinity.
Transport - chamber empty, full magazine inserted.
Carry - round chambered, safety on.
Engagement - mounted, safety off.
On western rifles, the safety won't go on when the chamber is empty. Which is a feature.
On eastern rifle, the safety will on when the chamber is empty. Which is a flaw.
Modern pistols don't have manual safeties because the holster is the safety, preventing
anything from touching the trigger.
Shotguns with the safety on, are not drop safe.
Stoppage reduction means any unscheduled interruption in your firing.
Tap, rack, resume (assess / point in / etc.; NOT bang).
It will be obvious when that doesn't work. In that case,
Lock, strip, rack, load.
[On some pistols, you may be able to Strip, Rack, Load (without locking the slide to
the rear first). You'll have to experiment. Because some pistol won't let you do this.
The cartridge half-way in the magazine will jam the magazine in the pistol.
-- Jon Low]
---
Before the incident --
John gave excellent advice on family events. The advice was true, correct, and
smart. I cannot repeat it in my blog, because for me to do so would put me in a
position being a total hypocrite.
A lot of accidents are caused by unnecessary gun handling. (For instance,
remove the holster from your belt, instead of pulling the pistol out of the holster.)
Brandishing vs. defensive display. There is a difference. You must be able
to articulate.
---
After the incident --
In the aftermath, hands up, palms out. "Officer, thank God you're here."
"I'm the one who called." "Those men attacked us." "We feared for our lives."
"We will testify against them." "We'll be happy to help you when our attorney
gets here."
Police Officer: "Are you armed?"
Citizen: "I have a permit. Would you like to see it?"
You might want to:
advise the responding officers of the tactical situation, "The armed suspect went
that way.";
point out witnesses;
point out evidence.
Never go with police unless under arrest. "Am I under arrest?" "Am I free to go?"
When you ask for an attorney all questioning must stop. If you start talking, you
have waived your right to remain silent. Remain silent!
Police Officer reads your rights to you as per the Miranda warning, and then asks,
"Do you understand your rights?"
Your answer in all cases is "No."
Police Officer: "What don't you understand?"
You: "I don't understand any of it."
[If you think you understand your rights, you're a damn fool. You're not a Constitutional
scholar who has kept up on the latest case law and U.S. Supreme Court decisions. So,
you don't know shit. Never admit to understanding anything. Your admission will be
used against you.
-- Jon Low]
Never render aid to the guy you just shot.
[If you're close enough to render aid, he's close enough to kill you (he tried to kill
you a few seconds ago). Note that Emergency Medical personnel will not approach,
much less render aid, until the police have secured the scene. Which means
handcuffed everyone. So you better be able to put your tourniquet on yourself
(in 90 seconds, because you will pass out in 90 seconds. It may take you 3 minutes
to bleed to death, but the police may take half an hour to secure the scene, as in
the Pulse night club in Orlando, Florida.).
-- Jon Low]
If bystanders approach, say "Get back sir, the police are on their way."
If the responding officer asks for identification, DO NOT reach for it.
Tell the officer, "It's in my wallet." Let the officer pull your wallet out of your pocket
or purse.
Ask for an ambulance. You don't know if you're injured. You really don't.
[If you think you do, you're a damn fool. -- Jon Low]
Your statements at the scene of the self-defense incident will ensure your conviction.
Remain silent!
---
Afterwards --
At trial, you must be able to truthfully testify, "I shot with precision."
Juries like to hear that.
[Remember, self-defense is an intentional act.
If you say anything about the shooting being accidental, or you didn't mean
to shoot him, or the gun just went off, etc.
the judge won't let you make a self-defense argument.
The jury will never hear the word self-defense.
So, keep your mouth shut!
-- Jon Low]
Killing a human may bother you. You may need professional help. You may
safely talk to:
yourself (you cannot be compelled to testify against yourself, 5th Amendment),
your spouse (while your spouse cannot be compelled to testify against you,
your spouse may willingly testify against you, depending on what stage your
divorce proceedings are in),
your clergy (yes, this is privileged communication),
your lawyer (yes, this is privileged communication).
NOT your psychiatrist, NOT your psychologist, NOT your counselor. Doctor-patient
privilege is a MYTH. The court will hold your doctor in contempt of court and
put your doctor in jail until he testifies. No time limit on this imprisonment.
If you want to talk to a professional mental health care provider, ask your attorney
to hire one for you. Then the mental health care provider is working for your
attorney and the conversations are privileged.
[There are work arounds in life for everything, you just have to know about them.
That's why you take training. Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance will lead to your
destruction. -- Jon Low]
“It may seem difficult at first but everything is difficult at first.”
-- Miyamota Mushashi
From "Collected Wisdom of Tom Givens", Volume 1 --
"An often overlooked aspect of this learning process is Primacy.
Under stress, the brain tends to fall back on the first way it learned
to perform a skill, even if a better way was later learned. Thus,
starting out doing it right is critical."
-- Tom Givens
"We should not forget that the spark which ignited the American Revolution
was caused by the British attempt to confiscate the firearms of the colonists."
-- Patrick Henry
From "Collected Wisdom of Tom Givens", Volume 1 --
"Skill is the product of competent training and deliberate, purposeful practice.
I'm sorry, but there are no short-cuts. Plan accordingly."
-- Tom Givens
“Train, Practice, Compete
are the key elements in the development of humans.”
-- John M. Buol, Jr.
From "Collected Wisdom of Tom Givens", Volume 1 --
"Do not count on one shot to stop a fight, especially with a handgun!
Be prepared to fire multiple accurate shots. This is why follow through is so critical!"
---
"The cycle of firing a shot does NOT end at “Bang!”. It ends when you are back
on target, trigger is re-set, the sights are re-aligned and you are ready to fire again."
---
"Kyle Lamb once said he was more stressed in his first IDPA match than in
numerous real gunfights. Take advantage of that stress inoculation before the day
you need that gun for real."
---
"That cold vs warmed up stuff is a thing."
---
I do not advocate the revolver as a primary sidearm. I have reasons, such as:
1. Bulky for the number of rounds available;
2. Much too limited ammo capacity. In today's world 5 or 6 small or medium caliber
bullets may not be enough.
3. It is extremely difficult to reload under stress in a survivable time frame with real
concealed carry gear, not range gear.
4. Malfunctions require time and tools to fix.
---
"Shoot Your EDC Ammo Periodically"
---
-- Tom Givens
“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
"Safe gun handling and knowing how to operate the gun competently is one thing.
How to fight with the gun is a whole other plane of knowledge."
-- Tiger McKee
"Train and practice so that you can stay in your rational mind,
and force your enemy into his emotional mind. The emotional
mind makes bad judgments which will allow you to win."
-- John Hearne
“If you are reading this and can’t put your hand on your defensive firearm,
all of your training is wasted.” -- Col. Jeff Cooper
For rifle (carbine) type training (0 to 25 yards)
David Cagle says,
My go to recommendations for rifle are always:
- Paul Howe
- Chuck Pressburg
- Bill Blowers
- Kyle Defoor
- Bill Rapier
- Steve Fisher
All of them except Paul travel, and you can always find one or two
of them at Meadhall Range (Bill Armstrong) or hosted by me,
both in the Oklahoma City-ish area.
"Those motivated by a desire to improve their
gunfighting skills as opposed to a quest for trophies,
must be willing to bleed ego on the match results
to avoid shedding blood in combat."
-- Andy Stanford
------------------------------ Classes and Conferences --------------------------------
Rangemaster Certified Instructors
Map of Rangemaster Certified Instructors
"Rangemaster Combative Pistol" by Aqil Qadir
Bullets & Bibles Conference
(The registration should be at this web site after the first of the new year.)
Friday, September ?, 2025 – Sunday, September ?, 2025
(Probably the last weekend in September.)
Living Water Ranch, north of Manhattan, KS
For more information about lodging on site or
if you have any questions regarding the event,
contact our Bullets & Bibles Conference Coordinator,
Vonda Copeland
or call 785-293-2449.
Guardian Conference
September 19th - 21st, 2025 in Oklahoma City
Tactical Conference
Rangemaster Tactical Conference
Friday-Sunday, March 28-30, 2025
Dallas Pistol Club; Carrollton, TX
KR Training
Kari Grayson
Citizens Safety Academy
Carry Trainer
Paladin Training, Inc.
Training schedule --
Course descriptions --
FPF Training
Defensive Training International
2025 A. D. courses are on the schedule now,
Rangemaster
Trident Concepts
Apache Solutions
My son, Cameron, served in the infantry with Tim Kelly. Small world.
I met him at one of the Tac Cons.
Harris Combative Strategies
Harris Combative Strategies Christmas Extravaganza RSVP !
Hey guys and gals it is that time of year again where we celebrate the holiday spirit
and then battle our fellow training group attendees in a number of different shooting
drills for bragging rights, fun and prizes! Yep it is time for the Christmas Extravaganza
(and Intergalactic Championships).
Speaking of prizes , I need a head count on attendees to know exactly how many
prizes I need to have for each date ( Dec 7 in Pisgah AL and
then Dec 14 in Oliver Springs TN) .
So if you are planning to attend one or both please shoot me an email at
and let me know which date/location you will be attending. I will have prizes for
everyone attending but I need to know exactly how many that is going to be.
Looking forward to seeing you all there!!!
Randy Harris
PATRIOT TRAINING
Mead Hall Range & Tactics
Bill Armstrong at
Hi folks,
Here we are in December, hopefully the economy turns around next year and also hopefully we are less under attack all the time but we’ll see how it works out. 😊 Meanwhile this has been a bit of a rough year on my end so I don’t have all of my schedule filled out just yet. I still need to get and confirm dates with the Farnam’s (we are looking at doing Vicki’s Flex Carry Instructor course), John Holschen coming back etc but I still need to work a bunch of that out. If Guy is up for it we will look at continuing the Monthly Combatives Group sessions but we need to get students out here and realizing they should be taking it. 😊 I also need to give David Maglio a call about bringing MAG20 out here. So hopefully I will have spring finished out by the next newsletter and hopefully more about fall as well as dates for Will Andrews and DFW Defensive. Thank you everyone for being patient and I hope we all have a better training year next year.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and that your Christmas is awesome. And don’t forget to check with Lone Star Medics to see if they are doing their yearly subscription for their monthly online classes. 😊
---
2024 Schedule (including prelim)
Cougar Mountain Solutions – Erick Gelhaus – 6-8 Dec 2024
Red Dot Instructor Course
---
DFW Defensive -Guy Schnitzler – Monthly Training Group 21Dec2024
Point Based Tools Access
---
2025 Schedule (including prelim)
DFW Defensive -Guy Schnitzler – Monthly Training Group
---
Jan 18 : Capstone
---
Symtac Consulting – Rob and Matt Haught – 8-9March2025
Shotgun Skills
---
Sentinel Concepts – Steve Fisher – 22-23March2025
Practical Urban Carbine
---
Rangemaster – Tom Givens – 4-6April2025
Instructor Development Course
---
Presscheck Consulting – Chuck Pressburg – 10-13April2025
No Fail Pistol
No Fail Rifle
Note: If you register before Dec6 there is a discount on the classes
---
Tactical Anatomy Systems LLC – Dr. James Williams 17-18May2025 (prelim)
---
Agile Training and Consulting – Chuck Haggard – 24-25May2025 (prelim)
OC Instructor Course
“Pocket Rockets”-Small Pistol and Snub Revolver Skills
---
Lone Star Medics – Caleb Causey – 21Jun2025 (prelim)
---
Two Pillars Training – John Hearne – 7-9Nov2025
Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why +Cognitive Pistol
Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why (Lecture only)
‟Training is NOT an event, but a process.
Training is the preparation FOR practice.”
-- Claude Werner
*************************************************************************
"We study science to know the mind of God." -- Herr Doktor Professor Albert Einstein
*************************************************************************
----- Practice -----
How to get proficient at that task.
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
From "Collected Wisdom of Tom Givens", Volume 1 --
Trigger Control Drill, "The Rogers Drill"
The FBI calls this "The Rogers Drill" because they got it from Bill Rogers. It is a great
way to work on follow through, trigger reset, and staying on the trigger from shot to shot.
It requires that your pistol be capable of firing with the magazine removed. Charge the
chamber, then remove the magazine. You will fire the first shot, recover, then press off
a second shot (dry). If the sights move you committed an error after the first shot, which
may have been:
a. Came off the trigger on the shot, causing you to slap the trigger on the second (dry) shot;
b. Reset then snatched the trigger; or
c. Involved your entire hand in pressing the second shot (dry) as a reaction to the blast
of the first shot.
This is a great drill to help you identify, isolate, and fix whichever issue is causing you
to move the gun on the second shot. The blast, recoil, and slide movement of a live shot
mask a lot of issues. By having the second trigger press dry, you can actually see what
your sights are doing and diagnose your problem. Give it a try.
-- Tom Givens
"People rust faster than equipment."
-- John Hearne
‶Practice is the small deposits you make over time,
so that in an emergency, you can make that big withdrawal.″
-- Chesley Burnett Sullenberger, III
‟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.
Awareness, Avoidance, De-Escalation, Escape
Table of sections:
Strategy
Tactics
Techniques
*************************************************************************
----- Strategy -----
Deciding on the end state and how to achieve it,
which tactics to use, which always includes walking away.
“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.)
"Defensive Gun Uses By People Legally Carrying Guns: 38 Cases During August 2024"
by
JOHN R LOTT, JR.
P.O. Box 2293, 1100 W Kent Ave, Missoula, MT 59801
johnrlott@crimeresearch.org
(484) 802-5373
Donate,
Do you notice how John's list differs from the NRA monthly list?
The military intelligence community has a word for the "tension" between
the two lists. But I'm in polite company.
"Have your affairs in order."
-- John Hearne
“How do you win a gunfight?
Don't be there.”
-- John Farnam
"Having a gun is important. But knowing WHEN to use it is even more important."
-- Greg Ellifritz
"You win gunfights by not getting shot."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Tactics -----
Maneuver and fire in support of your strategy.
"Real fights are short."
-- Bruce Lee
"I’ve written extensively about the trend of criminals initiating attacks with
pepper spray. It is becoming so commonplace that you should definitely have
a plan to deal with that eventuality should you have to face it. For more info,
read When the Criminal is Armed with Pepper Spray
and Defeating Pepper Spray."
-- Greg Ellifrtiz
Clint Smith says, “People shoot you because they see you.
They see you because you let them. Don’t let them see you.”
"Situational Awareness With Children" by Melody Lauer
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"You brought a gun to the fight. That doesn’t mean it’s YOUR gun.
The gun belongs to whomever can keep it. Think about that before intervening
in other folks’ problems. When is the last time you practiced your in-hand weapon
retention skills?"
-- Greg Ellifritz
---
". . . if the assailant has a gun, it may actually be the easiest gun for you to access,
if you know how to take it from him."
-- Stephen P. Wenger
"Thieves shot by victim after robbery near Memphis motel, police say"
by (no author listed)
The armed robbery victim took the pistol from the bad guy and shot the bad guy
and the bad gal.
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
---
When was last time you practiced your in-holster weapon retention skills?
Have you taken a class to know such techniques?
"Managing Unknown Subjects
An Interview with John FarnamFarnam" by Gila Hayes
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
"I remember 50 years ago, if you wanted to be a chief of police of a major metro area,
you had to have been involved in several fatal shootings to be considered for that job.
They wanted to know you weren’t afraid to pull the trigger. Today, a fatal shooting is a
career ender. You’re gone! It’s really a shame. It’s not anybody’s fault; we’re not doing
anything any different. It’s just the way society has looked upon this, for better for worse."
“Fortuitous outcomes reinforce poor tactics.”
-- Chuck Haggard
“What’s the number one reason for reloading? Missing the target!”
-- Claude Werner
"You often don't know where the bad guy is who is shooting at you."
-- Phillip Groff
“When you’re in the dark, stay in the dark;
when you’re in the light, light up the dark.”
-- Stephen P. Wenger
"The shorter the fight, the less hurt you get."
-- John Holschen
*************************************************************************
----- Techniques -----
Ways to execute a given task in support of your tactics,
especially when disabled or under stress.
"SHOOTING 101: Gaining Accuracy Through A Good Trigger Pull"
by Mark Chesnut
Excerpt:
"The best method I’ve found is to inhale deeply, exhale about half of it, hold there
and slowly squeeze the trigger."
[I think it is better to release the shot at the respiratory pause between the exhale
and the inhale. Muscle tension is necessary to inhale. When you relax the diaphram
muslces, you will exhale. So, the respiratory pause between exhale and inhale is the
most relaxed state. -- Jon Low]
"Use only that which works,
and take it from any place you can find it."
-- Bruce Lee
Yes, it is completely possible to draw your pistol and shoot the bad guy without the
bad guy knowing that you drew your weapon and pointed it at him.
Even when the bad guy has the drop on you. Of course, you have to practice.
"The foundations of your grip are established
before you even draw the pistol from the holster."
-- Tanner Denton
"When You Can’t Pull the Trigger" by Richard Nance
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Greg's comment --
"I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard ignorant gun owners make the
statement “I’ll just shoot him if he grabs my gun.” It isn’t quite that simple.
When the out of battery safety is engaged, you won’t be firing that gun.
If you want to be competent in close range shooting techniques, you need
to take a class from an expert. Preferably, that expert will instruct you to
avoid “floating” the gun and drill you until a good thumb/pectoral shooting
stance becomes an automatic default when you are within reach of your
opponent.
If you can’t take a class and want to learn more about the topic, read the
author’s book gunFight."
https://www.amazon.com/Gunfight-Integrated-Approach-Shooting-Fighting/dp/1608851400/ref=as_li_ss_tl
"Grip first, then press."
-- Mike Seeklander
"Cold Weather Concealment" by Jeff Gonzales
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
Excerpt:
"You might not recognize the challenge or you got complacent because all you
practiced was wearing a T-shirt."
---
Greg Ellifritz' comment --
Jeff Gonzales discusses some concerns about drawing your gun when it is
covered up by multiple layers of cold weather clothing. Personally, if I am
operating in any environment where it’s necessary to keep my winter coat
zipped up, I have a J-frame snub revolver in an outside coat pocket for faster
access.
"Let There Be Light
More thoughts on low light firearms training….." by William G.
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"Knowing What You Need to Know" by Gabe White
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that deals with the study of mechanisms
of knowing, and ascertaining the validity of those methods. Epistemology seeks to
differentiate between poorly-founded belief and actual knowledge (or as close to actual
knowledge as we can get.) If you've been in the shooting world for very long, you may
have heard the phrase 'see what you need to see to make the hit.' That statement refers
to the fact that a shooter can use various different visual or other references in order to
align the gun with the target. But aiming is about more than just getting the gun aligned
with the target - it is also about the shooter's certainty of that gun-target alignment.
Aiming is epistemology in shooting. The different ways we aim are different
epistemological answers to the question, "How do we know the gun is aligned with the
target?" Knowing by seeing is generally better than knowing by feeling because it is
more precise and certain. The gun gets more closely aligned with the target using vision
rather than feel [Kinesthetic awareness -- Jon Low]. Also of critical importance is that
the shooter will be far more certain that the gun is sufficiently aligned with the target.
Point shooting is the primary or complete use of kinesthetic awareness to establish
gun-target alignment (aiming by feel and general awareness of body positioning, rather
than by the use of vision.) Point shooting has a bad reputation, and overall, it should.
However, there is at least one context where it is entirely appropriate. Shooting from
retention, and thus aiming by feel, is a necessity if the threat is physically proximate
enough that the gun can easily be grabbed. Training, practice, and the appropriate
circumstance - an extremely close threat - is why this very coarse method of aiming
has a place. It is a necessity for a well-rounded practitioner of defensive shooting.
As the gun enters the shooter's cone of vision, alignment by seeing becomes possible.
The less extended the gun is, the more awareness of gun-target alignment will be driven
by feel / kinesthetic awareness. The more extended the gun is, the more awareness of
gun-target alignment will be possible by use of vision. At or very near full extension
at eye level, the most precise and certain awareness of gun-target alignment becomes
available by using the sights or red dot.
There are lesser levels of visual awareness that can be used for aiming from full
extension, such as seeing the back of the slide / hands superimposed over the target
area. Those are worth some familiarization, at least so that the shooter has an
understanding of what kind of problem they can and cannot reliably address that way,
and may be appropriate if the shooter is in an intermediary position where the gun is
further out than a pure retention position, but not yet at / near full extension where the
sights or dot can be seen, or equipment fails at the worst time and the front sight comes
off the gun and isn't available to be seen.
However, in general, if there is enough distance from the threat that the gun can
safely be brought to full extension at eye level, it is best to use the sights or dot.
Precision and certainty in aiming will thus be maximized.
One of the arguments against sighted fire is that it can take longer. It may well
require a lot of work to reach this point, but it doesn't have to take longer to aim well
using the sights or dot, than to just stick the gun out there and shoot without aiming
at all. Extensive practice at sighted fire can cultivate great speed at seeing and being
aware of the sights or dot. Aiming with iron sights can further subdivide into
sight-focused (front sight sharp and clear, rear sight and target blurry), and target-focused
(front and rear sights blurry, target sharp and clear) shooting.
Both of those methods are in the category of visually verified sighted fire.
Equipment can be a consideration as well. A person who experiences difficulty in
seeing the front sight clearly may especially benefit from a brightly colored front sight
that is highly visible even when blurry, or a red dot. The greater the visual awareness
of the aiming process, the more precisely the gun will be aligned with the target, and
the more certain the shooter will be about that alignment. This is a truly critical point
to translate shooting in training and practice on the range, into real world application.
A sufficient level of certainty facilitates ongoing decision making and thus is key to
unhesitating and correct action. The importance of managing certainty is crucial.
The consequences of using deadly force, as well as the limited time available in
emergencies, both demand it.
It pays to practice with a handful of aiming methods. Retention shooting and sighted
fire are both necessities. Intermediate levels of extension and awareness should also
be addressed. Amazing levels of speed can be cultivated with sighted-focused shooting.
Amazing levels of precision can be cultivated with target-focused shooting. What both
have in common is that the gun is brought to full extension at eye level, and vision is
used to establish the finest level of gun-target alignment that is practical under the
circumstances, and create sufficient and well-founded confidence, enabling the
responsible application of force when it's necessary.
Excerpted from "The Collected Wisdom of Tom Givens", Volume II
"It's not daily increase but daily decrease - hack away at the inessentials!"
-- Bruce Lee
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Postvention ***** ***** *****
Suggestions on how to treat your wounds or the wounds of your loved ones.
Suggestions on how to avoid prosecution, conviction, and prison time.
Suggestions on how to avoid the civil law suit and judgment.
Table of contents:
Aftermath
Medical
Survival
*************************************************************************
----- Aftermath -----
You must be alive to have these problems: criminal and civil liability.
“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
In the right hand column of this web page, click on "Never Talk To The Police"
or use the address,
“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 the right hand column, click on the link labeled "Self Defense Insurance".
Or, the link is,
Read this before you buy insurance. You need to make an informed decision.
The various policies are drastically different.
"You need to read the fine print." -- Massad Ayoob
*************************************************************************
----- Medical -----
Tactical Emergency Casualty Care Course - NAEMT Certified, $495.00
"If you prepare for the emergency,
the emergency ceases to exist!"
-- Sherman House
*************************************************************************
----- Survival -----
"If you stay fit, you do not have to get fit.
If you stay trained, you do not have to get trained.
If you stay prepared, you do not have to get prepared."
-- Robert Margulies
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Education ***** ***** *****
Table of contents:
Legal
Instruction
Gear
*************************************************************************
"You will never get smarter or broaden your horizons
if you're unwilling to learn from others and read."
-- Becca Martin
"History" by John Farnam
"Gun fights: is the 'three threes' rule accurate?" by Mike McDaniel
Hat tip to Stephen P. Wenger.
---
Stephen P. Wenger's comments --
". . .
In my teaching years I often emphasized that the technique that I taught that would
likely prove to be the most valuable in a fight was the arm's-length, protected-gun
position that I now consider to be an enhancement of the Fairbairn-Sykes quarter-hip
position. What amazed me from the Givens data – seen only in the graph – was that
87% of the graduates had the time to draw and fire from a conventional two-handed
shooting position at three to five yards [most closer to five yards, as I recall from the
initial report]. This left me with the impression that Memphis thugs are foolish enough
to make their intentions known beyond bad-breath range rather than use some sort of
subterfuge to close the gap. I believe that it was Givens who emphasized that FBI
[Federal Bureau of Investigation] and DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency] OIS's
[Officer Involved Shooting] typically provide more meaningful parallels to armed
citizens than those involving uniformed officers. Also note that the UCR figures are
for officers killed. Those figures suggest that officers are more likely to lose
gunfights that erupt suddenly, at close distances rather than in those that give them
the time to draw and fire as they trained on the range. “Three threes,” as indicated
by my underlining, may not be the best context for a discussion that focuses on
distance. I recently read a USCCA article that emphasized that those who carry
five-shot revolvers need to carry reloads for them. Personally, I carry two five-shot
revolvers, two speedloaders in a pocket carrier and six rounds in a 2/2/2 pouch on
the belt but, beyond the possibility of “New York reload” by going to the second
gun, I consider the likelihood of having the time to reload during a fight to be very
small. Of course, statistics are about averages and I've never been an average guy.
-- Stephen P. Wenger
---
Jon Low's comment --
Or, it might be that Tom's students had situational awareness that allowed them
to recognize the assault before it occurred, allowing them to present their weapon
to the target before the bad guy got to within touching distance.
"Women for Gun Rights Newsletter - November 2024"
From "The Collected Wisdom of Tom Givens", Volume II --
"The common notion that most murders are gang members killing each other is nonsense."
"Don't assume that if it hits where you aim at 5,7 or 10 yards, that it will at 25 or 30 yards."
"It is a lot smarter to leave your carry pistol loaded."
"High probability of more than one assailant."
"Most occur in public areas, parking lots, malls, NOT at home. WEAR YOUR GUN!"
"Certainly John Farnam . . . in the 70s John was the first of us to become what he calls
an itinerate instructor. And for all the people that couldn't save up the money for the trip
to Gunsite, he used to say here's the way for the 24 of you to get the money to come to us,
how about one of us pays the money to comes to you. A couple of us ought to be trained
by then. And that has been huge in the training industry. It's simply gotten the knowledge
flowing into the capillaries as well as the main arteries. And we really owe that to Farnam.
He was the first of the traveling instructors." -- Massad Ayoob
Quips
Active Response Training
Weekend Knowledge Dump
The Tactical Professor
Rangemaster Newsletter
ConcealedCarry.com articles
Concealed Carry Corner
"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
"Tennessee Firearms Association submits amicus brief to
United States Supreme Court supporting Smith and Wesson appeal."
by John Harris
In case you didn't notice, Smith & Wesson is based in Maryville, Tennessee.
"Biden faces bipartisan backlash for reversal on pardon for son Hunter: ‘Got this wrong’ "
by Jeff Mordock
Hunter Biden was prosecuted by a U.S. Department of Justice that was completely
controlled by the Biden administration. Hunter was convicted by a Delaware jury (stop
and think about that) for lying on his ATF Form 4473 (claiming that he was not a drug
addict) to purchase a gun. But, the prosecution was politically motivated? Yes, it was.
President Biden sacrificed his son on the altar of politics to show that Donald Trump's
prosecutions were not lawfare. Now President Biden has to clean up the mess that he made.
But it's not over. Biden is President until January 20th of 2024. Biden's revenge
has yet to come. Before he leaves office, he will have his revenge on all of those who
forced him out of the 2024 Presidential election. Fireworks as you have never seen.
Why? Because he is a mean petty vindictive person at heart.
---
"Hunter to Suckers: Pardon My Tax Evasion" by Douglas Andrews
"Gun Law Database" by U.S. Law Shield
"Defensive Gun Uses By People Legally Carrying Guns: 17 Cases During September 2024"
by John Lott
"Build A Reciprocity Map:" by Concealed Carry Inc.
"Concealed Carry Permit Holders Across the United States: 2024" by
John R. Lott, Crime Prevention Research Center
Carlisle E. Moody, College of William and Mary - Department of Economics
Rujun Wang
"Concealed Carry Laws in America" by CCW Safe
"Law of Self Defense" by Andrew Branca
(free book, just pay for shipping so you don't have to go to Colorado to pick it up)
“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."
"The limited time you spend with students may be the only training they ever receive!"
-- John Farnam
----- Instructors -----
"Every time I teach a class,
I discover I don't know something."
-- Clint Smith, Director of Thunder Ranch
“The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other.
Without collaboration, our growth is limited to our own perspectives.”
-- Robert John Meehan
“He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”
-- Richard Henry Dana
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
"Remember,
the students who require the extra effort
are the ones who need us the most!"
-- John Farnam
"You must teach skill sustainment as part of training."
-- John Hearne
----- Students -----
I know training can be difficult. Let me share some words of encouragement that
my teacher told me, that I believe apply to all training regimens.
"Keep in mind that this is some seriously next level material. It is totally normal
that the first time you see this stuff, you find it confusing. You find it difficult to
understand. So, confusion should not discourage you. It does not represent any
intellectual failing on your part. Rather, keep in mind that it represents an opportunity
to get even smarter."
– Tim Roughgarden, Professor of Computer Science
and other stuff at Stanford University
A student was having difficulty hitting the charging dog. [Plastic gallon water jug
filled with water. Cord tied to jug handle. Cord run through support side belt loop
at 3 o'clock or 9 o'clock on the student. Instructor tells the student to visulize the
dog growling at the student. At this distance the student makes a decision to shoot
or not shoot the dog. The instructor, behind the student, reels in the cord to simulate
the dog charging.] The student was hitting the dirt in front of the dog. When
questioned about this, the student said that she was trying to lead the moving target,
as she would when shooting clay birds with a shotgun. I explained to her that at
pistol ranges, no lead is necessary.
The test of whether or not you understand a thing is whether or you can explain it
to someone else familiar with the field. The test of whether or not you have a deep
understanding of a thing is your ability or inability to explain it to a layman.
-- Norman Christ, Professor of Physics, Columbia University
Fatigue is a real thing. Have the maturity and self awareness to holster and step off
the line when feeling fatigued. No shame in that. Rest, get a drink, eat a snack, use
the bathroom. Don't push yourself beyond your limits. This ain't a selection process.
This is civilian training for self-defense. Slow and steady wins the race.
When you are fatigued, you are a danger to yourself and others on the line.
"It's better to be wrong than to be vague." -- Freeman Dyson
From a lecture at the University of California, Berkeley.
If you are wrong, the instructor can correct you.
If you are vague, no one can help you.
---
At that same lecture, Prof. Dyson also said, "I have often found my skills to be
orthoganol to my interests."
You may think of yourself as a right-handed shooter because you are a right-handed
person. But that is not necessarily true. Shooting is not as writing or using a tool or
throwing a ball. It is psychologically and physiologically different from other things
you do, other skills you practice. Shooting is a learned skill. It is not natural.
It is not instinctive. It is not like any other skill.
If you have practiced recurve archery with finger release, you may have a better
understanding of the surprise trigger break, which is necessary for accurate shooting.
[You cannot throw your fingers open fast enough to cleanly release the bow string.
All you can do is relax completely and allow the follow through to pull your hand
behind your ear. When shooting pistols, we generally don't have a clicker. We must
mentally induce one with our mantra.]
If you have been in a lot of fights (real fights, not sport fights), you may have a
better understanding of the self-defense mindset, which is necessary for avoiding
or winning fights. The fight really is won or lost before any physical action takes
place. It's won in the years of preparation before the fight. Or, it's lost in the years
of neglect before the fight. [Lying on the couch, drinking beer, and watching TV
is neglect. It will catch up with you and it will kill you.]
If you have practiced theatrical magic, you may have a better understanding of
how to achieve a surruptious draw. Being able to deploy your weapon from
concealment without your enemy being aware of what you're doing is necessary
for preventing fights, and useful for winning fights.
----- Andragogy -----
‟An instructor should not expect any learning to take
place the first time new information is presented.”
-- ‶Building Shooters″ by Dustin Salomon
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
----- Gear -----
And the safe storage thereof.
“Mission drives the gear train.”
-- Pat Rogers
Mike Tobin, whose son's (Trevor) optic plate fell off of his pistol, explained
"thread classes" to me.
"Thread Classes" by Lesley Lang
So it's not just that you have to have the "right" screws, you have to have the right
thread class, and of course you have to have the right length of screw. And you have
to use the correct torque on the screw. And the correct type of Loctite glue to hold
the screw in place. Because every time the pistol cycles the shock on the components
is large.
"These things make your gun TERRIBLE for concealed carry" by Tenicor (Jeff Ma)
If you can't rack your slide on your belt, get yourself a proper gun belt.
If you still can't rack your slide on your belt, get yourself a proper rear sight.
If you're cutting you hand when racking your slide, file off the sharp edges and polish.
I don't mind telling you these things. Nothing is obvious. Things just appear to
be obvious in retrospect. Experience makes all things obvious. That is a real danger
when teaching. What's obvious to you is not to your students. It's a blind spot for
many instructors.
"How to Check Handgun Ergonomics for a Great Fit" by Dave Luu
---
When gripping the pistol correctly, . . .
The grip should allow you to point the tip of your middle finger back toward you.
If you can't do this, the grip is too large in girth. If your finger tips touch the base of
your thumb, the grip is too small in girth. [If you like the pistol, but the grip girth
is too large, remove all of the back straps and side plates and palm swells; and shoot
the pistol. Too slippery? Wrap the grip in tape. Tennis racket tape. Bicycle handle
bar tape. Still to big? Take your Dremel tool and grind it down or have a gunsmith
do it. Lots of manufacturers have after market replacement frames.]
The grip should be long enough to allow you to get all of your fingers on the grip.
If your pinky finger is not on the grip, the grip is too short for you. The pinky fingers
have the longest lever arm from the fulcrum (at the deepest part of the tang), so the
pinky fingers are what allow you to control muzzle flip.
The trigger position should allow you to press the trigger straight to the rear,
without any lateral force vector, when the slack is out of the trigger. Yes, as a matter
of fact, any trigger can be moved by a competent gunsmith. The trigger may need
to be replaced with an after market trigger. It's real easy to change trigger length of
pull on 1911's.
If the pistol allows you to activate the magazine release or the slide stop without
shifting your grip, don't use this pistol in combat. Because you will accidentally lock
the slide or eject the magazine in combat. All kinds of strange things happen in
combat. Never install extended or enlarged, magazine releases or slide stop levers.
"Casually Concealed
Just because you're armed to the teeth doesn't mean you should look like a slob."
by Alex Sansone
"Round Up: Red-Dot Optics Footprint Types
A handy guide to matching a red-dot optic to your choice of pistol."
by P. E. Fitch
"THE MISUNDERSTOOD MATTER OF BULLET OVERPENETRATION"
by Massad Ayoob
Hat tip to Greg Ellifritz.
"Massad Ayoob: The Dangers of Over-Penetrating Bullets"
Alien Gear
Save 20% Sitewide! Use Code: BFCMBLOWOUT
I like their stuff. I use their stuff.
Etching on the cheap.
Galco holsters
“Your car is not a holster.”
-- Pat Rogers
*************************************************************************
Email exchange with Dustin Salomon concerning the Neuro training system --
> Hi Dustin,
> I didn't find the live fire useful, because we were trained in the
> Marine Corps Military Police to watch the hands and waist section
> of the body. So it makes sense for the lights to be above the shoulders
> of the target if that is simulating where the hands would be, but
> the surrender position is a particular scenario. In other, lower threat
> level scenarios the hands would be down or in front of the body.
> When the lights are placed in those locations, the shooter's pistol,
> hands, and arms block view of the hands and waist, forcing the
> shooter to bring the pistol back to a low-ready or compressed-ready
> position to regain view of the hands and waist. So the player of the
> game can't keep up with the timing of the lights. Which is a little
> frustrating for the student (me).
This is interesting - sure you're watching the hands and waist for a non-deadly threat,
> I didn't find the live fire useful, because we were trained in the
> Marine Corps Military Police to watch the hands and waist section
> of the body. So it makes sense for the lights to be above the shoulders
> of the target if that is simulating where the hands would be, but
> the surrender position is a particular scenario. In other, lower threat
> level scenarios the hands would be down or in front of the body.
> When the lights are placed in those locations, the shooter's pistol,
> hands, and arms block view of the hands and waist, forcing the
> shooter to bring the pistol back to a low-ready or compressed-ready
> position to regain view of the hands and waist. So the player of the
> game can't keep up with the timing of the lights. Which is a little
> frustrating for the student (me).
This is interesting - sure you're watching the hands and waist for a non-deadly threat,
but if that's the case then your weapon typically is not out and pointed in. If you're
justified in engaging a threat, then I would think there's probably not a requirement
to keep looking at the waist unless somebody is hip shooting at you from a distance.
We should all be so lucky...
The point of the visual range control IS partly about visual skills (as you note,
The point of the visual range control IS partly about visual skills (as you note,
if you assume you can see something - but never actually have to see anything - then
your assumptions might be wrong.
It's also largely about getting feedback loop-based processing and visually-based
It's also largely about getting feedback loop-based processing and visually-based
agility into the skill performance circuitry.
> I think the pictures of the hand and the pistol is much more useful
> than the dots. Forcing the student to figure out what the colored dot
> means is another level of indirection you're forcing on the student,
> which is taught against in the coaching courses that I have taken at
> the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. For instance,
> the instructor should say,
> "lunge", "advance", "retreat", "ballestra", etc.
> instead of "1", "2", "3", etc. expecting the fencer to decode the
> numbers to the action, and then executing the action. The instructor
> is not "forcing the student to think", he is just adding indirection and
> confusion to the exercise. Which is counter productive.
Yes and no. During initial physical skill acquisition I agree with you.
> I think the pictures of the hand and the pistol is much more useful
> than the dots. Forcing the student to figure out what the colored dot
> means is another level of indirection you're forcing on the student,
> which is taught against in the coaching courses that I have taken at
> the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. For instance,
> the instructor should say,
> "lunge", "advance", "retreat", "ballestra", etc.
> instead of "1", "2", "3", etc. expecting the fencer to decode the
> numbers to the action, and then executing the action. The instructor
> is not "forcing the student to think", he is just adding indirection and
> confusion to the exercise. Which is counter productive.
Yes and no. During initial physical skill acquisition I agree with you.
However, once skills are developed in long-term memory, integrating
"cognitive chaos" biases the consolidation to the procedural memory system.
I agree that this can be done in ways that are not helpful or even
counterproductive during training. However, part of what we need especially
armed professionals to be able to do is evaluate, think, process information,
interpret data, and apply context. This may or may not apply in most civilian
defensive situations, but if we're using the bulk of (if not all of) the same brain
circuitry in training that we need to use for real then we'll build that circuitry
so it exists when we need it for real.
Projectile fighting is somewhat unique in combative arts because it matters
Projectile fighting is somewhat unique in combative arts because it matters
a lot less WHAT the person is doing in terms of their detailed body motion
(e.g., where the arms are and how they are moving etc.). You basically need
to know center of mass, vector, and whether or not you should be
engaging - most of which will be continuously gathered and processed visually.
Incidentally, we have some new stuff we just finished safety testing that
really improve the ability to use shape projections as well as eliminate distance
restrictions with NURO in outdoors settings. See picture attached.
Dusty
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Cryptology ***** ***** *****
Cryptosystems are considered "arms" by federal law, ITAR,
International Traffic in Arms Regulations. That means cryptosystems are
protected by the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Never let the
government infringe on your right to keep and bear cryptosystems, to
include home made cryptosystems, to include sharing cryptosystems with
others.
"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
Scientific papers that are hard to read are bad.
The purpose is to communicate. As the instructions for the IEEE Jounal on Information
Theory states, "your prose must be crystal clear." (Otherwise, your paper gets rejected.)
"Never memorize anything. Rather, study it until it becomes obvious."
-- Norman Christ
An important concept. (Measure Theory)
"The Rational Numbers Are Not So "Rational" | Everywhere but Nowhere, Part 1"
by Kelsey Houston-Edwards
Zero probability does not mean the event never happens. It means the measure
of the probability space of the event is zero. Zero probability events happen all the time.
Chalk Talk
Now you see why this is in the crypto section.
Kelsey Houston-Edwards
[Ya, there are some errors, but she's a Graph Theorist, not a cryptologists,
not a number theorist. That's why she does everything in terms of graphs, trees, etc.
Her doctoral dissertation,
https://ecommons.cornell.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/acc9e3b0-60f2-4d02-9312-01c29350558a/content
Abstract
Though it's nice to see people learning cryptology.
Her literature search is good.
-- Jon Low]
"Computer science has nothing to do with computers or science."
-- Donald Knuth
Crypto-Gram
December 15, 2024
by Bruce Schneier
"Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood. Life is not easy for any of us.
But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.
We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing must be attained."
-- Marie Curie
"Premature optimization is the root of all evil."
-- Donald Knuth
"You don't need to memorize theorems,
because you can always derive them from first principles."
-- Sven Hartman
***** Signals Intelligence and Ground Electronic Warfare, Cyber Security,
(sometimes Air Electronic Warfare too) *****
“Your character is what you do when no one is looking.”
-- Thomas Jefferson
🔷 The GPS Mess
"A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined,
but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain
a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them,
which would include their own government."
--George Washington
Breaking Defense has a weekly newsletter, "Networks & Digital Warfare" at
Crypto-Gram by Bruce Schneier
2600
‟If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it.
The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury.
Therefore what he must fear is his victim.”
-- Col. Jeff Cooper, "Principles of Personal Defense"
*************************************************************************
*************************************************************************
***** ***** ***** Intelligence ***** ***** *****
Gathering, Analyzing, Disseminating
"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
"Military Expert (Nick Freitas) Notices Something UNIQUE
About Israel-Hamas War That NO ONE Noticed"
by Rabbi Pinchas Taylor
🔷 Musk vs. Manned Fighters
Beyond the scope of one's authority. Perhaps treason.
Prepare for the abolishment of government agencies.
“You’re going to have to protect yourself against drones.
Everybody’s going to have to figure this out.”
—Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George,
on how the Army—the service responsible for base defense writ large—isn’t going
to work in a modern era filled with a variety of threats.
This comes on the heels of Air Force secretary Frank Kendall suggesting
the Air Force assume this mission for its airbases—if funding accompanied
the mission move.
Expect to see some interesting DC politicking on this in 2025.
Hat tip to The Merge.
Global Recap
"Space: Rotten Roscosmos" by James Dunnigan
December 13, 2024: President Vladimir Putin’s disdain for the Russian space program
has doomed the Russian space agency Roscosmos. Escalating incompetence among
Roscosmos managers and staff crimped efforts to make Roscosmos effective and relevant
again.
In 2024, the escalating costs of the war in Ukraine forced Russia to cut spending on
many non-military programs. The severe economic sanctions imposed on Russia continue
causing problems, especially with the Russian space program and the Russian space
agency Roscosmos. Roscosmos was usually exempt from budget cuts, but not this time.
By mid-2024 the war in Ukraine had left Russia broke and Roscosmos virtually
abandoned by a bankrupt Russia. Russian military spending took priority, but that did
not extend to the Russian space program. In theory Roscosmos could assist in the military
effort but in practice Roscosmos had little to offer. This became evident six months after
the invasion when Russia confirmed that it was not withdrawing from the
ISS/International Space Station program by 2024 and would scale back its ISS support
because of the Ukraine-related Western economic sanctions. That meant other members
of the ISS consortium had to provide the transportation services to and from the space
station. The Americans were already using the SpaceX passenger and cargo capsules.
Other American and European firms had developed similar capabilities. Currently the
ISS is supposed to remain operational until 2030. As of early 2024 the ISS has been
occupied 23 years. Russia played a major role in ISS design and construction early in
the program, but the Russian contributions have been steadily declining over the last
few years.
Even without the Ukraine War related economic sanctions, the Russian space
program was in financial trouble and sanctions only made it worse. The Russian
space program suffered from a growing number of problems in the last decade.
Russian support for the ISS suffers because Roscosmos is also responsible for
maintaining the more important Russian GPS GLONASS satellites as well as all
other military communications and surveillance satellites. These activities took
priority over projects involving international cooperation.
Roscosmos was receiving between $3.4 billion and $3.9 a year until a few years
ago. Then the annual budget began to shrink. The 2024 budget is $2.8 billion,
which is 70 percent of the peak budget. This spending also has to cover the cost of
maintaining the Plesetsk military launch site and other military related facilities.
Roscosmos also handles commercial launches at the old Soviet Baikonur launch
center in Kazakhstan. Russia rents this site from Kazakhstan and has fallen behind
in rent payments. In response Kazakhstan seized Roscosmos assets at Baikonur.
Russia is not getting foreign commercial launch business because of Ukraine War
sanctions. Currently Russia can’t even muster enough troops to threaten Kazakhstan.
That is a problem because Russian leader Vladimir Putin recently mentioned
Kazakhstan as one of many areas, like Ukraine, that should be absorbed back into
Russia. Kazakhstan agrees with Ukraine on the need to oppose Russia on this issue.
Currently Russia wants to eliminate all cooperation with Western nations,
especially the United States and Europe. Despite this government goal, Roscosmos
officials point out that it is not economically possible or technically preferable.
Cooperation with the West has increased the capabilities of the Russian space
program and provided economic opportunities for Russia. A much larger space
program budget would be required and the loss of Western tech and markets for
satellite launch services and satellite manufacturing hurts Russia more than the West.
There are other problems, some needing immediate attention.
For example, GLONASS GPS navigation satellites regularly exceed their expected
useful life and have to be replaced before they fail. To keep the GLONASS network
operational you need at least 18 operational satellites. Currently Russia has 25
operational with replacement satellites standing by. Until 2023 Russia was using
GLONASS -K satellites to replace the older GLONASS-Ms that were past their
replacement date. As of 2024 all the replacements are the new K2 models. Before
the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, sanctions were imposed, Russia had been producing
15 to 17 new satellites a year and many were GLONASS replacement models.
Russia cannot afford to replace the aging GLONASS birds quickly enough to prevent
shrinkage in the number of satellites required for global coverage. The sanctions
mean Russia losing sales of satellites and launch services, including foreign satellites
put into orbit. The Russian government insists that Roscosmos can survive without
Western nations as partners and customers. Roscosmos officials know better and
quietly dismiss government plans to put a Russian space station into orbit after 2030.
One reason for this goal being out of reach is that about 90 percent of the satellite
components come from Western nations. Seeking substitute components from
nations willing to break the sanctions, or smugglers who do it for a living, increases
the coast of components. Even then, not all the needed components can be obtained.
All these problems mean the end of a long Russian history with space stations.
The Mir space station was the last of eight Russian built space stations and the one
that remained occupied the longest at 4,594 days. This 130-ton Mir was brought
down in 2001 after Russia joined the ISS consortium. The 420-ton ISS has been
in orbit since 1998, when the first of 17 modules was operational. Other nations
have built similar, but temporary space stations. That effort began in the 1970s with
the Russian Salyut 1 but since the 1990s most nations with space programs have put
their resources into supporting the ISS. Now the development of commercial space
stations will dominate simply because it’s cheaper and more efficient than
government-run operations. This has already happened, again without much media
fanfare, in the design, launch and operation of space satellites.
While Roscosmos fades away, it is being replaced by the expanding Chinese space
program, which is expected to become the dominant national government one by the
2030s. The most obvious aspect of this is space stations. There are only two in orbit.
The 419 ton ISS is the largest occupied, usually by a crew of six, the longest in orbit
at more than 24 years and the longest occupied at 23 years. The ISS was initially
expected to have a useful occupied life of fifteen years. The ISS was completed in
2011. The longer it was up there the more space station tech was developed. That led
to extensions to the useful life of space stations. Until recently the ISS was to be used
until 2028 but it is proposed to extend that to 2030.
Without any new government proposals for a new ISS replacement space station,
the only one up there after 2030 would be the Chinese Tiangong 3. This 66-ton space
station has been occupied since 2021 and was completed in 2022. Tiangong 3 is
supposed to last until 2037 and can be upgraded to last into the 2050s and be doubled
in size.
China's new space station can be built quickly because space tech has advanced
over the years. This new tech has made it practical for commercial firms to consider
building and operating space stations. Over the last few years, commercial firm
SpaceX has been demonstrating the ability of a non-government operation to operate
more efficiently and at much less cost than government run programs.
Commercial firm SpaceX developed and used a revolutionary SLV (Satellite
Launch Vehicle) tech which greatly reduced the cost of putting anything into orbit.
The Chinese didn’t use SpaceX tech to build their new space station but are trying
to duplicate the SpaceX tech.
So far, the ISS has cost about $150 billion to build and operate. The Tiangong 3
cost much less because it's now cheaper to build and launch satellite components
and China plans to include lots of space for profitable science experiments. The large
number of such experiments carried out in the ISS demonstrated that there is a
market for this and that’s the motivation behind commercial space stations, especially
those using SpaceX SLV tech and similar new tech developed by SpaceX and a
number of other firms. Space stations no longer have to be limited to
government-funded science experiments. Few noticed how much the costs were
coming down at the same time income sources increased. Current plans are to have
the first commercial space station operational before ISS retires in 2030. More
commercial stations will follow.
China seemed to sense this trend when, without much fanfare, they put their first
space station into orbit in 2011. This was the eight-ton Tiangong 1. It lasted two years
and provided practical experience for the construction and launch of the 8.6-ton
Tiangong 2 in late 2016. This one was built to last longer and in early 2017 a Chinese
cargo vehicle made an automated docking with the Tiangong 2. This was a major step
for the Chinese, who could now maintain two or three people in the Tiangong 2 for up
to 30 days with the supplies from one cargo vehicle. China put the first 22 ton module
of the Tiangong 3 in orbit during April 2021 and it has been occupied since September
2021. Two laboratory modules, each weighing the same as the first, are planned for 2022.
The first of these was launched on schedule and by the end of 2022 second one went
into orbit. This made the initial Tiangong 3 complete. After that three more modules
were added to double the crew size to six.
China wanted to join the consortium of the United States, Russia, European Union,
Japan, and Canada that built and managed the ISS. There was opposition within the
U.S. government from Chinese espionage efforts that had obtained data from the
United States for peaceful use of space but then used that information for military
purposes. The U.S. passed the Wolf Act in early 2011 prohibiting the American space
agency NASA from cooperating with China on the ISS. That ended Chinese efforts
to participate in the ISS. Later in 2011 China launched, on schedule, Tiangong 1, its
first space station. China was in the space station business while Russia desperately
sought ways to regain a place in orbital space and once more be competitive.
-- James Dunnigan
"Information Warfare: Russian Blog Recriminates" by James Dunnigan
December 13, 2024: In 2022, for the second time since 2014, the United States
actively supported efforts by Russians in general to bypass government censorship
and freely communicate with the outside world. This enabled Russians to search for
information that clarifies what is going on in Ukraine. The official Russian version
about what is going on in Ukraine is contradicted by what surviving Russian veterans
of the fighting are reporting. These soldiers are paid large bonuses to keep quiet or
restrict their comments to how generous the government is to wounded soldiers.
This has proved to be insufficient.
The information provided by soldiers who have been there, or parents seeking
to find out what happened to their sons in the army, has caused growing reluctance
to support the Russian operations in Ukraine. More Russians are refusing to report
when they receive a conscription notice. Calls for volunteers to serve in Ukraine
are being ignored, even at higher pay, as in three to ten times the average monthly
income of civilians. The government refuses to provide any clarification, pointing
out that such information is a state secret.
The United States is now financing efforts to provide Russian citizens with free
access to VPN/Virtual Private Networks that the Russian government cannot
eavesdrop on or shut down. This effort, which began before the invasion began in
February 2022, rose from 48,000 Russian users a day before February 2022 to a million
a day a month later. Currently the problem is dealing with the Russian government’s
efforts to shut down VPNs used by Russians to access foreign websites and
communicate with anyone they know living outside Russia. So far in 2024, Russia
has shut down 200 local VPNs and passed laws making it a criminal offense for any
Russian to distribute or use VPN software.
Several million Russians have left Russia since 2022 the invasion began, and
millions left between then and the earlier 2014 Russian operation that seized Crimea
and the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. When using a VPN most Russians seek
out news on the Ukraine fighting at a variety of foreign news sites, including those
that provide the news in Russian. This includes Ukrainian news sites. Even the news
sites in countries that back Russia like Iran, and China offer more information about
the war than the Russian government does. North Korea, another Russian ally, has
banned internet use by most North Koreans and restricts use to a few locations that
have PCs equipped with VPNs designed to monitor and report on whatever someone
on the PC does. North Korea is one of the few nations to use an intranet, an internet
that does not allow users to connect to the worldwide web. Only a few government
specialists are allowed to use an internet connection to the outside world.
The first time the U.S. offered Russians uncensored access to the Internet was in
2014 when the Americans financed efforts to provide access to the Onion Router that
made it nearly impossible for Russian internet censors to block users form
communication with other Russians as well as others worldwide. This worked and
the Russian government was so alarmed that in mid-2014 it offered a prize of
$111,000 for whoever could deliver, by August 20th, 2014, software that would allow
Russian security services to identify people on the Internet who were using this open
connection to the world. On August 22nd Russia announced that an unnamed Russian
contractor, with a top security clearance, had received the $111,000 prize. No other
details were provided at the time.
A year later it was revealed that the winner of the Tor prize was now spending
even more on lawyers to try and get out of the contract to crack Tor’s security.
It seems the winner found that his theoretical solution was too difficult to implement
effectively. In part this was because the worldwide community of programmers and
software engineers that developed Tor were constantly upgrading it. Cracking Tor
security is like firing at a moving target and one that constantly changes shape and is
quite resistant to damage. Tor is not perfect but it has proved very resistant to attack.
A lot of people are trying to crack Tor, which is also used by criminals and Islamic
terrorists as well as people trying to avoid government surveillance. This is a matter
of life and death in many countries, including Russia.
Similar to other anonymizer software, Tor was even more untraceable. Unlike
earlier anonymizer software, Tor relies on thousands of people running the Tor
software, and acting as nodes for email and attachments to be sent through so many
Tor nodes that it was believed virtually impossible to track down the identity of the
sender. Tor was developed as part of an American government program to create
software that people living in dictatorships could use to avoid arrest for saying or
reading things on the Internet that their government did not like. Tor also enabled
Internet users in dictatorships to communicate safely with the outside world. Tor first
appeared in 2002 and has since then defied most attempts to defeat it. Tor’s developers
were also quick to modify their software when a vulnerability was detected.
By 2014 it was believed that NSA had cracked Tor and others may have done so
as well but were keeping quiet about it so that the Tor support community did not fix
whatever aspect of the software made it vulnerable. At the same time there were
alternatives to Tor, as well as supplemental software that were apparently uncracked
by anyone.
Russia may have been encouraged by an Iranian effort in 2011 that came up with
a way to detect Tor users and cut them off from the Internet. For the Iranian censors,
that was good enough. This was a blow to American efforts to support the hacker
community in keeping the Internet accessible for all users in countries like Iran, Cuba
and North Korea. In Iran the government managed to shut down over 90 percent of
Iranian user accounts that were using Tor. The Tor developers quickly issued a
software update that got around the government detection system. Since Iran had
developed the detection software internally, rather than buying them from Western
suppliers, it kept modifying its anti-Tor software to regain the ability to detect Tor.
But the Tor developers have been able to respond each time, including another round
in this battle in 2014. The Russians appear to believe they could help the Iranian
effort with a prize completion.
The U.S. government, despite a long, combative and acrimonious relationship
with the hacker and Internet freedom communities, has been funding work on
Internet freedom programs that seek to bypass Internet censorship in dictatorships.
The American government provided over $30 million dollars for hackers seeking
to create software that will enable people to evade Internet surveillance and censorship.
While this anti-censorship software can also be used by criminals, terrorists and
spies, the U.S. government believes that these groups already have access to software
that can hide them, and that it's more important that police states have reasons to pay
attention to what their citizens want.
Meanwhile, the American money has funded development of software that makes
smart phones safer for users who want to say things to others that their governments
disapprove of. All this activity is directed at countries with heavy Internet censorship
programs, like China, Burma, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and several African countries.
Russia responded by placing more restrictions on Russian Internet users and outlawing
a lot of anti-government activity.
Some dictatorships have created virtually impregnable Internet controls. This is
the case in Cuba and North Korea, where the local Internet is cut off from the global
Internet. In effect, the Cuban and North Korean Internet are each restricted to one
country, and heavily monitored by the security services. Iran considered that but
decided not to implement an Iranian Islamic Internet because the Iranian economy,
fueled by huge oil income, has too many useful external contacts. Cutting Iran off
from the worldwide web would hurt the economy and cause more unrest.
But the clerical dictatorship that runs Iran has managed to recruit some good
software development and Internet talent, and, like China, is using a combination
of imported technology including Chinese censoring systems and locally developed
software to keep most anti-government individuals off the Internet.
-- James Dunnigan
🔷 Wrapped
December 15, 2024
"Good habits and skill beat luck every time."
-- Sheriff Jim Wilson
"The Merge"
Breaking Defense
Intrigue
1440
29155
Global Recap
*************************************************************************
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***** ***** ***** After Thoughts, Politics, and such ***** ***** *****
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of people always
possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Richard Henry Lee
Signer of the Declaration of Independence
"Sincere Ignorance!" by John Farnam
Excerpt:
“Nothing in this world is more dangerous than
sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
" ‘Serious issue’: NPR CEO claims truth is a ‘distraction’ " by Sky News Australia
Very disturbing. This is what liberals believe.
If you believe that government is the answer to anything, you are a fool.
This is not an isolated example. This is not an anomaly.
" Why we say “OK” "
Hat tip to Sidney Ontai.
Sometimes good guys and bad guys aren't that easy to distinguish.
"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it."
-- (Mary) Flannery O'Connor
In case you're wondering why the United Health Care CEO got whacked.
Ya, the video is Blue Cross Blue Shield, but same idea.
If you're wondering why the CEO of United Healthcare was assassinated.
It would be funny, if it weren't true.
On her radio show on 7 December 2024, Kim Komando said that United Healthcare
uses artificial intelligence to screen claims and automatically rejects ⅓ of all claims
for medical procedures, forcing those who have paid their insurance premiums to appeal
the decision. United Healthcare calculates that the patient will die before United
Healthcare is forced to pay anything.
While murder is illegal, what else can a person do when the insurance company
kills grandma by denying her doctor-requested medicine and surgery? That's not a
rhetorical question. What else can anyone do? Change insurance companies?
But by then, it's too late. Do you think United Healthcare will learn anything
from this assassination? Now that's a rhetorical question.
The late CEO had received death threats and had requested body guards.
The board of directors denied the request. You see how it works?
The late CEO earned a salary of ~$10,000,000 per year. Why didn't the late CEO
hire his own body guards? Why didn't the late CEO get any training to protect himself?
Because he thought that he was untouchable. But as Michael Corleone said, anyone
can be killed. Have the U.S. Presidential administrations not proved that? They have
been assassinating persons since George Washington.
Because you don't understand the addict.
"The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword;
because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force
superior to any bands of regular troops that can be, on any pretense,
raised in the United States."
-- Noah Webster
"Test her: how to screen women" by Orion Taraban
Trump comments on men in women's sports.
“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
"Mother love vs. father love: understanding their strengths and liabilities"
by Orion Taraban
Do you notice when she reverses the direction of her rope?
Semper Fidelis,
Jonathan D. Low
Email: Jon_Low@yahoo.com
Radio: KI4SDN
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