“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
― George Orwell
How do you sleep? Are you secure in the knowledge that your family and your property are safe?
I have been involved with guns for many years. Guns are often associated with violence. Violence and self-defense go hand in hand. There is a lot out there being talked about concerning violence. War, terrorism, crime all have violence directly linked to them. Does this all make you think that violence is bad? Violence is horrible and scary, but is it bad?
Do you think the Jew of WWII thought that the violence of the Allies was bad? I’m pretty sure they thought the German violence was bad.
Was the violent training and practice that led to the liberation of the Jews bad violence? I’m sure the Jews did not think so. But it is complicated.
Violence is neither purely good nor purely bad and value judgments about violence are based on your perspective. Think of any active shooter situation and the murderer’s use of violence was always horrible, but in almost every case, the length of time that they were able to murder people was limited by a moral and ethical person who also used violence. Violence took lives. Violence saved lives. And in many cases, “gun violence” saved lives.
The more empathetic you are, the more disgusting, repulsive, and horrible violence seems and, ironically, the more vital it is that you become fluent in the language and art of violence.
Violent people don’t need to take a class on violence. They don’t need a course. They don’t need to learn how to do what they already do to control and manipulate people on a regular basis.
Sheep, the people who are the most repulsed by violence, are the ones who need to learn violence the most, because they’re the ones who are the easiest targets for someone who’s willing to use violence to get what they want. In the times when reason and diplomacy don’t work, if your attacker is speaking the language of violence, it’s too late to start learning the language. You’ve got to know how to dance before you get to the ball. Sheepdogs have this figured out. They live in the polite world, but are ready to flip the switch or turn the intensity knob and defend themselves and possibly others at a moment’s notice.
Here is a quote from Tim Larkin, creator of Target Focus Training.
“Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is, it’s the ONLY answer.”
Civilization is a tricky thing. Often negotiation, posturing, even mild physical contact will take care of a civilized society. Real violence is seldom the answer. Even a bar fight where a limited amount of punches are thrown is not real violence. It’s kind of a show. You ever see a fight that didn’t end up “wrestling” on the floor? Traffic faux paus like pulling in front of someone rarely escalates into real violence.
But when someone breaks in your front door with a mask and a gun they have crossed several lines that say that they are ready for real violence. You’re not going to “talk down” the home invader. They hit you fast and hard for a reason. The shock, the fear, the control, all play into something that is raw violence.
Here is another quote from my friend Chris Kyle, Navy SEAL. (Actually I never met the man, but would have liked to)
“Despite what your momma told you, violence solves problems.”
Is this the rambling of an ate up military member? No. He speaks truth from experience. He solved a bunch of problems with violence. How many troops were saved because of his violence? Hundreds if not more. Violence solves problems that are created by violence. So I guess the saying “Violence begets violence” is true. The difference is that there is good violence and bad violence. God used violence throughout scripture when nothing else worked. Violence solves problems when nothing else will…when all else has failed. The basis of military action and law enforcement is violence. Controlled, righteous violence. Hopefully righteous violence makers will use just enough violence to stop the bad violence. That gets sticky sometimes. Good people have crossed the line into the dark side of violence at times and been bit by it.
Violence only works when your ability and willingness to use force goes beyond your attacker’s. So if your attacker’s violence threshold is at a certain level to get what he wants, your violence threshold must be at least equal or higher. If not, you will lose. This where sheep and sheepdog alike should train and practice skills necessary to raise your violence threshold that can be turned on at any moment. This is especially important for people who aren’t wired for violence.
The ability to raise your threshold on command that allows an innocent, kind, and loving person to be kind and loving when there’s no threat. But effective in their response when confronted by a guy with a knife to their throat. If they want to remain kind and loving then they have to raise the violence threshold. Not just with intensity, but with effective intensity. A 130 pound woman hammer fisting a chest has a much different effect than striking a throat with the same intensity. Scratching the face leaves embarrassing marks…scratching the eyeball is life-changing.
How do you do this? How do you take someone who isn’t wired for fighting and give them the ability to “flip the switch” and take care of business if the need arises?
This is in two steps.
First is avoiding as many violent encounters as possible and that will be the best first step for many people who think they’re opposed to violence.
Regardless, the smartest and most effective way to “not lose” a fight is not to fight in the first place.
This means practicing situational awareness.
An important element of the proper mindset is to first recognize that threats exist. Ignorance or denial of a threat — or completely tuning out one's surroundings while in a public place — makes a person's chances of quickly recognizing the threat and avoiding it slim to none. This is why apathy, denial and complacency can be (and often are) deadly. Another important element is understanding the need to take responsibility for one's own security. The resources of any government are finite and the authorities simply cannot be everywhere and cannot stop every criminal action. The same principle applies to private security at businesses or other institutions, like places of worship. Therefore, people need to look out for themselves and their neighbors.
Another important facet of this mindset is learning to trust your "gut" or intuition. Members of the LDS church will recognize this as the Spirit. Many times a person's subconscious can notice subtle signs of danger that the conscious mind has difficulty recognizing. Many people who are victimized frequently experience such feelings of danger prior to an incident, but choose to ignore them. Even a potentially threatening person not making an immediate move — or even if the person wanders off quickly after a moment of eye contact — does not mean there was no threat.
People typically operate on four distinct levels of awareness. There are many ways to describe these levels ("Cooper's colors," for example, which is a system frequently used in law enforcement and military training), but perhaps the most effective way to illustrate the differences between the levels is to compare them to the different degrees of attention we practice while driving. For our purposes here we will refer to the four levels as "tuned out" (or White), "relaxed awareness" (Yellow), "focused awareness" (Orange), and "high alert" (Red).
The first level, tuned out, is like when you are driving in a very familiar environment or are engrossed in thought, a daydream, a song on the radio or even by the kids fighting in the backseat. Increasingly, cell phone calls and texting are also causing people to tune out while they drive. Have you ever gotten into the car and arrived somewhere without even really thinking about your drive there? If so, then you've experienced being tuned out.
The second level of awareness, relaxed awareness, is like defensive driving. This is a state in which you are relaxed but you are also watching the other cars on the road and are looking well ahead for potential road hazards. If another driver looks like he may not stop at the intersection ahead, you tap your brakes to slow your car in case he does not. Defensive driving does not make you weary, and you can drive this way for a long time if you have the discipline to keep yourself at this level, but it is very easy to slip into tuned-out mode. If you are practicing defensive driving you can still enjoy the trip, look at the scenery and listen to the radio, but you cannot allow yourself to get so engrossed in those distractions that they exclude everything else. You are relaxed and enjoying your drive, but you are still watching for road hazards, maintaining a safe following distance and keeping an eye on the behavior of the drivers around you.
The next level of awareness, focused awareness, is like driving in hazardous road conditions. You need to practice this level of awareness when you are driving on icy or slushy roads — or the roads infested with potholes and erratic drivers that exist in many third-world countries. When you are driving in such an environment, you need to keep two hands on the wheel at all times and have your attention totally focused on the road and the other drivers. You don't dare take your eyes off the road or let your attention wander. There is no time for cell phone calls or other distractions. The level of concentration required for this type of driving makes it extremely tiring and stressful. A drive that you normally would not think twice about will totally exhaust you under these conditions because it demands your prolonged and total concentration.
The fourth level of awareness is high alert. This is the level that induces an adrenaline rush, a prayer and a gasp for air all at the same time — "Watch out! There's a deer in the road! Hit the brakes!" This also happens when that car you are watching doesn't stop at the stop sign and pulls out right in front of you. High alert can be scary, but at this level you are still able to function. You can hit your brakes and keep your car under control. In fact, the adrenalin rush you get at this stage can sometimes even aid your reflexes. But, the human body can tolerate only short periods of high alert before becoming physically and mentally exhausted.
Now that we've discussed the different levels of awareness, let's focus on identifying what level is ideal at a given time. The body and mind both require rest, so we have to spend several hours each day at the comatose level while asleep. When we are sitting at our homes watching a movie or reading a book, it is perfectly fine to operate in the tuned-out mode. However, some people will attempt to maintain the tuned-out mode in decidedly inappropriate environments (e.g., when they are out on the street at night in a third-world barrio), or they will maintain a mindset wherein they deny that they can be victimized by criminals. "That couldn't happen to me, so there's no need to watch for it." They are tuned out.
Some people are so tuned out as they go through life that they miss even blatant signs of pending criminal activity directed specifically at them. In 1992, an American executive living in the Philippines was kidnapped by a Marxist kidnapping gang in Manila known as the "Red Scorpion Group." When the man was debriefed following his rescue, he described in detail how the kidnappers had blocked off his car in traffic and abducted him. Then, to the surprise of the debriefing team, he said that on the day before he was abducted, the same group of guys had attempted to kidnap him at the exact same location, at the very same time of day and driving the same vehicle. The attackers had failed to adequately box his car in, however, and his driver was able to pull around the blocking vehicle and proceed to the office.
Since the executive did not consider himself to be a kidnapping target, he had just assumed that the incident the day before his abduction was "just another close call in crazy Manila traffic." The executive and his driver had both been tuned out. Unfortunately, the executive paid for this lack of situational awareness by having to withstand an extremely traumatic kidnapping, which included almost being killed in the dramatic Philippine National Police operation that rescued him.
If you are tuned out while you are driving and something happens — say, a child runs out into the road or a car stops quickly in front of you — you will not see the problem coming. This usually means that you either do not see the hazard in time to avoid it and you hit it, or you totally panic and cannot react to it — neither is good. These reactions (or lack of reaction) occur because it is very difficult to change mental states quickly, especially when the adjustment requires moving several steps, say, from tuned out to high alert. It is like trying to shift your car directly from first gear into fifth and it shudders and stalls. Many times, when people are forced to make this mental jump and they panic (and stall), they go into shock and will actually freeze and be unable to take any action — they go comatose. This happens not only when driving but also when a criminal catches someone totally unaware and unprepared. While training does help people move up and down the alertness continuum, it is difficult for even highly trained individuals to transition from tuned out to high alert. This is why police officers, federal agents and military personnel receive so much training on situational awareness.
Second, is the psychological ability to flip the switch and the physical ability to follow through on it. This means knowing exactly which targets on your attacker will stop the fight fastest, what bodypart to use as your impact weapon to have the most effect, and the body mechanics necessary to cause the most damage, regardless of your age, size, strength, or speed.
There are many who can’t get through to their loved ones that they need “violent” skills to protect themselves from violence. And that having a violence threshold that has the ability to “go to red” doesn’t mean that they’ll suddenly go there and stay there any more than having a speedometer that goes to 140 will make you a speeder.
So if you’re someone who is “more sensitive than most” you must go out of your comfort zone to learn the craft of violence. What would you tell someone to convince them of the need to learn some skills that may be a little uncomfortable at first.
Being meek will help you to “..inherit the earth.” Being mild, kind, humble, and teachable are all things we should all strive for. But when you need to turn up your violence threshold, you need something to draw from. Get some training, practice, and keep learning. Be realistic and know that bad things can happen to you and good people. Be ready and prepared.
Is there “good violence”? I think there can be.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Friday, October 30, 2015
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
The Top Gun Survey Says... Baloney!
This is a short article that I feel has a sensational headline. I also feel that the article is showing “both sides” of the issue, but leaning toward anti-gun. See for yourself.
The Hill 06/17/15
“Gun owners not likely to use firearms for self-defense, study claims”
By Tim Devaney
A new study attempts to debunk the claim that gun owners rely on their firearms for self-defense.
The left-leaning Violence Policy Center released a study Wednesday that finds people are much more likely to use a gun to kill someone without cause than to protect themselves.
According to the study, gun owners committed 259 justifiable homicides compared to 8,342 criminal homicides in 2012, the most recent year data was available.
That means gun owners are 32 times more likely to kill someone without cause than to act in self-defense, the study reasoned.
“We hope legislators in every state will stop believing the self-defense myth and look at the facts,” says Julia Wyman, executive director of States United to Prevent Gun Violence. “Guns do not make our families or communities safer.”
But the National Rifle Association (NRA) called the study into question.
"This 'so-called' study, which was paid for and promoted by gun control advocates is rubbish," NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said. "VPC fails to note that only a fraction of defensive firearm homicides are reported to the FBI and the study doesn't account for the many crimes deterred by a firearm that do not result in a homicide. Recent polling shows that most Americans believe exercising their constitutional right to self-protection makes them safer and this is just another transparent attempt to push gun control.”
This article is biased trash. It explains one side of the issue in great detail and then trails off on the other side of the issue. At least there IS another side presented, so I give the writer a little credit. But it’s pretty obvious. This is why I cannot stand surveys, studies, or polls. Especially concerning guns. The average American gets a phone call (and who has a land line anymore anyway?) asking about the guns they have? I would think most people would not want to talk about their guns on the phone with anyone but especially someone they don’t know. I try to keep a little privacy in my life and I don’t really think very many gun owners are that different. In this study, gun owners are lumped in with criminals. As I read it I was skeptical (I am usually pretty skeptical about mainstream media anyway) but when I read that the study considered “justifiable homicides” the same as criminal homicides, I knew that this study wasn’t really interested in finding hard data about self-defense. Homicide is defined as the deliberate and unlawful killing of one person by another. So how can a legal self-defense act be a homicide, even though the defense was lethal? The writer really has no intention of giving fair reporting and the study set out to prove a preconceived idea that even if it is self-defense, it is homicide. Therefore, guns…bad. The NRA falls into the same trap though by bringing up their poll. Surveys, polls, and studies can be, and it seems to me usually are, manipulated data. Seldom are these things done honestly if you ask me. The questions are formed and worded a certain way. Actual facts are changed by adding two sets of facts together, which changes them, and they are still called reports and data. I have to admit, I’ve used a study that I thought was favorable to my point of view in whatever article I was writing before. I try to not do this, but if you read through this blog you will probably see it.
Honesty is an antiquated idea. Deception seems to be the rule of the day. Hilary Clinton is a politician. But I get the impression she is, and has been for many years, very dishonest. I’m so glad that Mitt Romney was never elected President. It would have ruined him. Most politicians I think are dishonest. Sadly they are in power.
When I see someone has written a “news” story completely based on a study, I know it’s probably not worth my time. I have seen some writers actually honestly report a study on both sides of the issue. But they are few and far between. Tell me about a study and my eyes glaze over. Most of the time you know nothing about the study. The organization that did the study is mentioned if it adds credibility to the study. You don’t know how the “scientists” came to their conclusions. Stay away from these shysters, they will try to prove their opinion with someone else’s study. It is a joke. Speaking of jokes…
The latest survey shows that 3 out of 4 people make up 75% of the world's population.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
The Hill 06/17/15
“Gun owners not likely to use firearms for self-defense, study claims”
By Tim Devaney
A new study attempts to debunk the claim that gun owners rely on their firearms for self-defense.
The left-leaning Violence Policy Center released a study Wednesday that finds people are much more likely to use a gun to kill someone without cause than to protect themselves.
According to the study, gun owners committed 259 justifiable homicides compared to 8,342 criminal homicides in 2012, the most recent year data was available.
That means gun owners are 32 times more likely to kill someone without cause than to act in self-defense, the study reasoned.
“We hope legislators in every state will stop believing the self-defense myth and look at the facts,” says Julia Wyman, executive director of States United to Prevent Gun Violence. “Guns do not make our families or communities safer.”
But the National Rifle Association (NRA) called the study into question.
"This 'so-called' study, which was paid for and promoted by gun control advocates is rubbish," NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said. "VPC fails to note that only a fraction of defensive firearm homicides are reported to the FBI and the study doesn't account for the many crimes deterred by a firearm that do not result in a homicide. Recent polling shows that most Americans believe exercising their constitutional right to self-protection makes them safer and this is just another transparent attempt to push gun control.”
This article is biased trash. It explains one side of the issue in great detail and then trails off on the other side of the issue. At least there IS another side presented, so I give the writer a little credit. But it’s pretty obvious. This is why I cannot stand surveys, studies, or polls. Especially concerning guns. The average American gets a phone call (and who has a land line anymore anyway?) asking about the guns they have? I would think most people would not want to talk about their guns on the phone with anyone but especially someone they don’t know. I try to keep a little privacy in my life and I don’t really think very many gun owners are that different. In this study, gun owners are lumped in with criminals. As I read it I was skeptical (I am usually pretty skeptical about mainstream media anyway) but when I read that the study considered “justifiable homicides” the same as criminal homicides, I knew that this study wasn’t really interested in finding hard data about self-defense. Homicide is defined as the deliberate and unlawful killing of one person by another. So how can a legal self-defense act be a homicide, even though the defense was lethal? The writer really has no intention of giving fair reporting and the study set out to prove a preconceived idea that even if it is self-defense, it is homicide. Therefore, guns…bad. The NRA falls into the same trap though by bringing up their poll. Surveys, polls, and studies can be, and it seems to me usually are, manipulated data. Seldom are these things done honestly if you ask me. The questions are formed and worded a certain way. Actual facts are changed by adding two sets of facts together, which changes them, and they are still called reports and data. I have to admit, I’ve used a study that I thought was favorable to my point of view in whatever article I was writing before. I try to not do this, but if you read through this blog you will probably see it.
Honesty is an antiquated idea. Deception seems to be the rule of the day. Hilary Clinton is a politician. But I get the impression she is, and has been for many years, very dishonest. I’m so glad that Mitt Romney was never elected President. It would have ruined him. Most politicians I think are dishonest. Sadly they are in power.
When I see someone has written a “news” story completely based on a study, I know it’s probably not worth my time. I have seen some writers actually honestly report a study on both sides of the issue. But they are few and far between. Tell me about a study and my eyes glaze over. Most of the time you know nothing about the study. The organization that did the study is mentioned if it adds credibility to the study. You don’t know how the “scientists” came to their conclusions. Stay away from these shysters, they will try to prove their opinion with someone else’s study. It is a joke. Speaking of jokes…
The latest survey shows that 3 out of 4 people make up 75% of the world's population.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Concealed Carry: NPE (Non Permissive Environment)
For some reason, there is an element of American society that believes people intent on murder will follow other laws. Laws such as those that prohibit the carrying of firearms in specific areas, for example. Think about the logic of a “gun free” zone. Free citizens are specifically barred from carrying a firearm and other weapons based on an arbitrary geographic location. This makes sense to some people for reasons I can only guess. Maybe they think a criminal will start toward a school to kill children and then stop, kick the dirt and say “Aw, shucks!” at seeing a “no guns sign?” Or maybe, they think that a teacher, who they’ve entrusted their child to for five days a week, will suddenly become a crazed killer once they step onto campus? Regardless, gun free zones are partly responsible for the deaths of too many people. Unfortunately, spineless politicians are not likely to repeal these designated killing zones. There is no safety in law when dealing with the lawless.
Thus enters the NPE. What is NPE you say? It is a non-permissive environment. A place where vetted, trained and licensed people cannot bring a gun. Think again of the logic. By law to carry a gun (in most states) you must Give up information, fingerprints, and have a background check performed on you to make sure you are not a felon, or someone who should not have a gun. Once you pass that you must also have gone to a licensed gun instructor who will train you and test you on that training. Once you pass that, you must apply to your state government, giving them a fee, to receive a license. This license must be renewed every few years, depending on the state you live in. After going through all of that, to make sure you qualify by the governments standards to carry a gun, you are then barred from carrying that gun in certain places. Does that make any sense? By issuing that license the state is saying you have fulfilled our standards for someone to competently carry a gun…. But not over there.
And so we create a NPE. There are 3 kinds of NPE’s. I categorize these into what I call, Level 1, 2, and 3.
Level 1 is Policy
This would be a place that does not want anyone to carry. Perhaps it’s the employees of a business or a residence. They have made it clear they do not want anyone to carry a gun in their business or residence. In most states, if you are caught armed in a place like this, you can be asked to leave. You may return unarmed.
Level 2 is Policy and Law
This where the law backs up policy but is usually enforced by law through signage. In some states, Texas for instance, the sign must be a certain size, worded correctly, and displayed conspicuously. Level 2 is the same as 1 but has law behind it.
Category 3 is Law. This is usually Federal property and schools. They do not need signs or anything else, guns are banned in these locations.
I need to insert a disclaimer here. I am not a lawyer, and this article does not constitute legal advice. I also do not advocate breaking any laws. I do encourage you to know the laws wherever you live and where you visit.
Do I carry in NPE’s? Yes. But only where it is legal for me to do so. If signage is incorrect I carry and smile at their lack of knowledge of the law. I also carry in church, even though I know church policy says it is “not appropriate.” If I lived in Utah, I could not do so without breaking Utah’s state law. I carry in theaters that do not have proper signage. I carry everywhere I can legally and have never been “made” and asked to leave. If I were, I would comply. Many years ago I would not have been able to say that. I’ve carried since the 80’s and many times it was illegal. But I also have pulled my weapon twice and stopped, what would have been an attack. I know those incidents are not in any survey or study. Neither time did I have to fire. I also did one time what is called “brandish” a gun. That is, I showed it to two thugs who were thinking about, and moving to rob me. Actually all I did was talk and pat the bump at my side. I’m not sure that is brandishing. Anyway, it worked. The point is, I have defended with a gun. I know that it works, but I also feel different about laws than I used to. I used to not care about laws. I carried everywhere. I carried in a courtroom one time. I did not realize until after the fact and it was not intentional. I would not make that mistake these days.
You have to decide where you will carry and where you won’t. If you decide you won’t carry a gun in certain places, I would suggest a different weapon such as a less than lethal pepper spray or knife. Be sure these are legal in the NPE you want to go. Also, make sure you are trained and competent with your weapon of choice.
Part of the responsibility o carrying a gun is knowing the local laws and being aware of policies and preference for being armed at the location you wish to carry. Then you have to make the decision whether you can carry legally. If you can legally you must decide if you are going to in spite of policy and preference.
In my opinion if someone is licensed, seeks more training, practices, and is competent with a firearm they should carry always, everywhere.
I carry everywhere I legally can. Should I ignore policy and wishes? I had to decide and I say that my security supersedes someone’s politically correct ideas. The Constitution says that I can defend myself, so I will. Level 2 is a little different. One thing I’ve noticed is that in states where a proper sign is required many places do not put up the right sign. They have not bothered to find out what is required and just put up a sign they think will be sufficient. I carry in these places. If they do not have the proper sign that is required by law and have not bothered to find out what is required, I feel no obligation to follow their policy.
You must choose, but choose wisely. Don’t be caught in a position where you wish you had brought your gun. Life is full of enough guilt than to have to live with what might have been if I had my gun.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Thus enters the NPE. What is NPE you say? It is a non-permissive environment. A place where vetted, trained and licensed people cannot bring a gun. Think again of the logic. By law to carry a gun (in most states) you must Give up information, fingerprints, and have a background check performed on you to make sure you are not a felon, or someone who should not have a gun. Once you pass that you must also have gone to a licensed gun instructor who will train you and test you on that training. Once you pass that, you must apply to your state government, giving them a fee, to receive a license. This license must be renewed every few years, depending on the state you live in. After going through all of that, to make sure you qualify by the governments standards to carry a gun, you are then barred from carrying that gun in certain places. Does that make any sense? By issuing that license the state is saying you have fulfilled our standards for someone to competently carry a gun…. But not over there.
And so we create a NPE. There are 3 kinds of NPE’s. I categorize these into what I call, Level 1, 2, and 3.
Level 1 is Policy
This would be a place that does not want anyone to carry. Perhaps it’s the employees of a business or a residence. They have made it clear they do not want anyone to carry a gun in their business or residence. In most states, if you are caught armed in a place like this, you can be asked to leave. You may return unarmed.
Level 2 is Policy and Law
This where the law backs up policy but is usually enforced by law through signage. In some states, Texas for instance, the sign must be a certain size, worded correctly, and displayed conspicuously. Level 2 is the same as 1 but has law behind it.
Category 3 is Law. This is usually Federal property and schools. They do not need signs or anything else, guns are banned in these locations.
I need to insert a disclaimer here. I am not a lawyer, and this article does not constitute legal advice. I also do not advocate breaking any laws. I do encourage you to know the laws wherever you live and where you visit.
Do I carry in NPE’s? Yes. But only where it is legal for me to do so. If signage is incorrect I carry and smile at their lack of knowledge of the law. I also carry in church, even though I know church policy says it is “not appropriate.” If I lived in Utah, I could not do so without breaking Utah’s state law. I carry in theaters that do not have proper signage. I carry everywhere I can legally and have never been “made” and asked to leave. If I were, I would comply. Many years ago I would not have been able to say that. I’ve carried since the 80’s and many times it was illegal. But I also have pulled my weapon twice and stopped, what would have been an attack. I know those incidents are not in any survey or study. Neither time did I have to fire. I also did one time what is called “brandish” a gun. That is, I showed it to two thugs who were thinking about, and moving to rob me. Actually all I did was talk and pat the bump at my side. I’m not sure that is brandishing. Anyway, it worked. The point is, I have defended with a gun. I know that it works, but I also feel different about laws than I used to. I used to not care about laws. I carried everywhere. I carried in a courtroom one time. I did not realize until after the fact and it was not intentional. I would not make that mistake these days.
You have to decide where you will carry and where you won’t. If you decide you won’t carry a gun in certain places, I would suggest a different weapon such as a less than lethal pepper spray or knife. Be sure these are legal in the NPE you want to go. Also, make sure you are trained and competent with your weapon of choice.
Part of the responsibility o carrying a gun is knowing the local laws and being aware of policies and preference for being armed at the location you wish to carry. Then you have to make the decision whether you can carry legally. If you can legally you must decide if you are going to in spite of policy and preference.
In my opinion if someone is licensed, seeks more training, practices, and is competent with a firearm they should carry always, everywhere.
I carry everywhere I legally can. Should I ignore policy and wishes? I had to decide and I say that my security supersedes someone’s politically correct ideas. The Constitution says that I can defend myself, so I will. Level 2 is a little different. One thing I’ve noticed is that in states where a proper sign is required many places do not put up the right sign. They have not bothered to find out what is required and just put up a sign they think will be sufficient. I carry in these places. If they do not have the proper sign that is required by law and have not bothered to find out what is required, I feel no obligation to follow their policy.
You must choose, but choose wisely. Don’t be caught in a position where you wish you had brought your gun. Life is full of enough guilt than to have to live with what might have been if I had my gun.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Practicing Situation Awareness With Drills
I talk a lot about situational awareness (SA). I was in Walmart the other day with my wife. (Why? I don’t know…) Anyway we split up and I went to look at their ammo selection and she went to the sewing area. I finished quick, they never have what I want, and so I went to find my wife. She had moved across from the sewing area to electronics and was looking at some DVD’s. I walked up to her from the side and touched her arm. She jumped out of her skin! I didn’t even sneak up but I guess her focus was all on the movies she was looking at. I said to her “Great situational awareness babe.” A guy further down the row who was watching just smiled.
Paying attention and being aware of your surroundings is extremely important to self-defense. Practicing situational awareness requires discipline and a conscious effort. Pay attention to your surroundings and gut feelings to events even while you are busy and distracted. When you are distracted even obvious eminent danger or hostility can go unnoticed. Individuals need to learn to be observant even while doing other things.
Here are a few drills that you can do to improve your situational awareness skills.
Use Reflective Surfaces. When you are walking in an area where there are windows along the side (e.g. walking downtown, etc..) practice glancing at these reflective surfaces to see what’s going on behind you and areas which you cannot see while walking forward.
Identify all the exits when you enter a building.
Use Your Peripheral Vision. We all have peripheral vision, but what we see there is often ignored while we ‘tunnel vision’ what’s directly in front of us. When you are out in public it is especially important to ‘see’ with your peripheral vision. Practice looking ahead (as you normally would) but while doing so – mentally notice what’s in your peripheral. You can do this even while talking with someone. Monitoring a wider field of vision will enable you to see (or be more aware) of anything which may be out of the ordinary.
Count the number of people in a restaurant, subway or train car.
Note which cars take the same turns behind you in traffic.
Take a look at the people around you and attempt to figure out their stories. Imagine what they do for a living, their mood, what they are focused on and what it appears they are preparing to do, based merely on observation.
Next time you’re in a parking lot, look for – and count – the number of cars with people sitting in them, whether you’re walking to the storefront, or coming back to your car, or even driving through.
Visualize. No matter where you are, it’s good practice to visualize a threat or emergency, and figure out what you would do – right then. The more scenarios you practice, the more mentally prepared you will be for the ‘real deal’.
I have a friend I used to work with many years ago who was a Marine Sniper.
Since most of a sniper's time is spent on reconnaissance missions observing the enemy, his observational skills have to be flawless. USMC Scout Sniper School has developed some unique "games" to hone student snipers' ability to look at things critically.
One training exercise is called Kims game:
They would put different objects on the table: a bullet, a paper clip, a bottle top, a pen, a piece of paper with something written on it -- 10 to 20 items. You'd gather around and they'd give you, say, a minute to look at everything. Then you'd have to go back to your table and describe what you saw. You weren't allowed to say "paper clip" or "bullet," you'd have to say, like, "silver, metal wire, bent in two oval shapes." They want the Intel guys making the decision about what you actually saw.
The game is played repeatedly throughout the two-month course. As time goes by, students are given more objects to look at and less time to look at them. To add to the challenge, the time between seeing the objects and reporting what they saw gets longer as the course goes on. By the end, they may see 25 objects in the morning, train all day, and then at night be asked to write down descriptions of all the things they saw.
I play Kims game with my family all the time. This is something you can use as practice.
Next time that you get into an elevator with others, pay attention to what happens. Everyone mostly re-shuffles themselves to be furthest away from each-other or to ‘balance out’ the invisible circles between everyone so they are somewhat evenly distributed. It’s a natural thing.
Here’s the thing – what if you were the only one in the elevator when another person steps in and proceeds to ‘invade’ your personal space while standing awkwardly close to you? Even though this person is doing nothing wrong, it would ‘feel’ weird and uncomfortable to you. Your natural reaction will probably be to move further away to a more comfortable distance – whatever that is for you.
This is true anywhere. Whether you’re walking along or simply standing somewhere. If someone gets ‘too close’ and comes into your invisible circle, it suddenly gets uncomfortable.
When this happens (someone invading your personal space), there are a few additional things you might consider getting into the habit of doing.
Observe if that person is projecting aggressive body language. Do they seem ‘normal’?
Is the person talking (to you, someone else, or them-self) in any verbally aggressive tone?
Look at the person’s hands. Is there a weapon (hidden or otherwise)?
‘Sizing up’ the person can be accomplished nearly instantly. Quick observation while listening to your own ‘Spidey-senses’ may provide enough warning regarding a potential issue or threat – enabling you to take preemptive action, be it moving further away or preparing for an incident.
Situational awareness is not usually something that is natural, but it needs to be learned and practiced. As you do so, your SA will improve and become part of you.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Paying attention and being aware of your surroundings is extremely important to self-defense. Practicing situational awareness requires discipline and a conscious effort. Pay attention to your surroundings and gut feelings to events even while you are busy and distracted. When you are distracted even obvious eminent danger or hostility can go unnoticed. Individuals need to learn to be observant even while doing other things.
Here are a few drills that you can do to improve your situational awareness skills.
Use Reflective Surfaces. When you are walking in an area where there are windows along the side (e.g. walking downtown, etc..) practice glancing at these reflective surfaces to see what’s going on behind you and areas which you cannot see while walking forward.
Identify all the exits when you enter a building.
Use Your Peripheral Vision. We all have peripheral vision, but what we see there is often ignored while we ‘tunnel vision’ what’s directly in front of us. When you are out in public it is especially important to ‘see’ with your peripheral vision. Practice looking ahead (as you normally would) but while doing so – mentally notice what’s in your peripheral. You can do this even while talking with someone. Monitoring a wider field of vision will enable you to see (or be more aware) of anything which may be out of the ordinary.
Count the number of people in a restaurant, subway or train car.
Note which cars take the same turns behind you in traffic.
Take a look at the people around you and attempt to figure out their stories. Imagine what they do for a living, their mood, what they are focused on and what it appears they are preparing to do, based merely on observation.
Next time you’re in a parking lot, look for – and count – the number of cars with people sitting in them, whether you’re walking to the storefront, or coming back to your car, or even driving through.
Visualize. No matter where you are, it’s good practice to visualize a threat or emergency, and figure out what you would do – right then. The more scenarios you practice, the more mentally prepared you will be for the ‘real deal’.
I have a friend I used to work with many years ago who was a Marine Sniper.
Since most of a sniper's time is spent on reconnaissance missions observing the enemy, his observational skills have to be flawless. USMC Scout Sniper School has developed some unique "games" to hone student snipers' ability to look at things critically.
One training exercise is called Kims game:
They would put different objects on the table: a bullet, a paper clip, a bottle top, a pen, a piece of paper with something written on it -- 10 to 20 items. You'd gather around and they'd give you, say, a minute to look at everything. Then you'd have to go back to your table and describe what you saw. You weren't allowed to say "paper clip" or "bullet," you'd have to say, like, "silver, metal wire, bent in two oval shapes." They want the Intel guys making the decision about what you actually saw.
The game is played repeatedly throughout the two-month course. As time goes by, students are given more objects to look at and less time to look at them. To add to the challenge, the time between seeing the objects and reporting what they saw gets longer as the course goes on. By the end, they may see 25 objects in the morning, train all day, and then at night be asked to write down descriptions of all the things they saw.
I play Kims game with my family all the time. This is something you can use as practice.
Next time that you get into an elevator with others, pay attention to what happens. Everyone mostly re-shuffles themselves to be furthest away from each-other or to ‘balance out’ the invisible circles between everyone so they are somewhat evenly distributed. It’s a natural thing.
Here’s the thing – what if you were the only one in the elevator when another person steps in and proceeds to ‘invade’ your personal space while standing awkwardly close to you? Even though this person is doing nothing wrong, it would ‘feel’ weird and uncomfortable to you. Your natural reaction will probably be to move further away to a more comfortable distance – whatever that is for you.
This is true anywhere. Whether you’re walking along or simply standing somewhere. If someone gets ‘too close’ and comes into your invisible circle, it suddenly gets uncomfortable.
When this happens (someone invading your personal space), there are a few additional things you might consider getting into the habit of doing.
Observe if that person is projecting aggressive body language. Do they seem ‘normal’?
Is the person talking (to you, someone else, or them-self) in any verbally aggressive tone?
Look at the person’s hands. Is there a weapon (hidden or otherwise)?
‘Sizing up’ the person can be accomplished nearly instantly. Quick observation while listening to your own ‘Spidey-senses’ may provide enough warning regarding a potential issue or threat – enabling you to take preemptive action, be it moving further away or preparing for an incident.
Situational awareness is not usually something that is natural, but it needs to be learned and practiced. As you do so, your SA will improve and become part of you.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Monday, October 19, 2015
Skills: Clearing Your Home
I had a request the other day from someone in my ward. He asked if I could teach him to clear his house. “First of all,” I said, “Why would you want to clear your house?” He told me that he has a two story house. There is a bed room on the ground floor, and the master bedroom and two other bed rooms upstairs. The good brother was taking care of his elderly Mother in law and she was in that ground floor bedroom. At 4 in the morning the dog was going nuts downstairs and I was concerned about my Mother in law so I went down the stairs and checked everything out with my Glock. It turned out to be a raccoon on our patio and the dog saw through the glass door. My wife and were talking about that the next morning and she asked what I would do if someone had broken in? I started looking on the internet and found some articles about clearing rooms and buildings.
I would have advised him to get the kids and his wife into a fairly “secure” room, call the police, and let them take care of things. But with his Mother in law downstairs that change things. I went to his house and we talked through the mechanics of clearing his house with a written diagram first. We then went through his house with a blue gun and we actually cleared the house. We went through it a couple of times and talked about some more. I told him to get a practice weapon, or an airsoft, and practice clearing at night with, and without, a flashlight.
Maybe you’re in a similar situation. Maybe you have family members in the finished basement. Maybe you converted a garage into a bedroom or have a room over the garage. If this is the case you have no choice but to leave your bedroom; therefore it’s necessary for you to know how to safely clear your house.
If you’ve ever seen videos of police or military clearing a house, you know they always go in with a minimum of two people. But you won’t be able to do that so here’s how you properly clear a house by yourself, even though it’s a dangerous situation you want to avoid.
This description is by Jason Hanson from Concealed Carry Academy
www.ConcealedCarryAcademy.com
“First off, if you hear a noise in the middle of the night and you need to clear your house, you had better be able to take one or two steps from your bed and have access to your gun, which should be “cocked and locked.” In other words, the gun should have a round in the chamber so all you have to do is pull the trigger to shoot. Right next to your gun should be your flashlight. Use a good tactical light.
Many houses have enough ambient light for you to maneuver around without the need to have the flashlight on all of the time, so just use it for target identification purposes so you don’t accidentally shoot the wrong person. (See LDS Gunsite Blog “Target Recognition: Flashlights”, 9/28/2015)
Once you’ve got your gun and light, it’s time to leave the bedroom. If you’ve got a traditional house, you’ll likely end up entering a hallway. Stay close to the wall on the one side of the hallway and avoid walking down the middle, so you minimize your outline and make yourself less of a target.
Try and expose as little of your body as possible. If the intruder happens to have a gun, you don’t want to be an easy target!
As you slowly move down the hallway you’ll probably come across a bedroom or bathroom door. What should you do? If you’ve got a family member living in the basement and time is important, and you’re pretty sure nobody made it upstairs, then just move on past the door. I know this isn’t tactically correct, but we’re talking about a real life scenario here. If you’ve got your daughter sleeping in the basement, then no parent is going to take the time to clear every upstairs bedroom when they hear an intruder on the first floor or proceeding down the basement stairs.
However, if you don’t have to rush downstairs, you’ll certainly want to check the room ahead. But before you attempt to open the door (or any door in your house for that matter) you need to pull the gun close to your body so the inside of your wrist is practically touching your rib cage. In other words, instead of having your arm fully extended, your elbow should be bent about 90 degrees. This position gives you more control over the firearm in case someone was to try and reach for it. Another reason you bring the gun in close is so that you don’t accidentally point the gun at your other hand while it’s opening the door.
Assuming the door you’ve approached is on your right, you’ll want to stand against the right side wall, with your gun close to your body, while reaching for the doorknob with your other hand. (Do not stand in the doorway. You should be reaching across while remaining against the wall.) If the door opens away from you then turn the doorknob and give the door a solid push and immediately take a step backward against the right side wall again. If the door opens towards you, pull the door swiftly towards you and again take a step backward.
Once you’ve opened the door it’s time to “slice the pie.” This is a method used to clear corners and doorway entrances where you clear each area in small slices. For instance, if you had just pushed your door open and stepped back you would be standing against the right side wall. Obviously, from this position you can’t see into the entire room and you certainly don’t want to take a step into the doorway and fully expose yourself.
So, you would begin to take small side-steps in a semi-circular motion. In other words, if you’re on the right side of the door, you’ll end up on the left side by going in a wide semi-circle around the doorway entrance. Each time you take a side-step, have your body slightly lean in the direction you’re headed so that if an intruder is in the room they will see the muzzle of your gun first and the rest of your body won’t be exposed.
Each time you take a step, give a brief pause so that you can scan as much of the room as possible and you can determine if that part of the room is clear. Once you end up on the left side of the door, you’ve done as much as you can to clear the room from the outside.
Don’t forget to have patience while clearing a corner. This is not a time to rush unless a family member is on a lower level and you must immediately reach them.
Now that it’s time to enter the room, you’ll want to quickly step through the doorway and move to the opposite corner. For instance, if you’re entering the doorway from the left side, move to the right corner and give a quick look over your shoulder to make sure nobody’s hiding in the left corner. Don’t forget to check all places an intruder could be hiding such as under a bed, in a closet, under a desk or under any other large object.
Once you’re satisfied the room is clear it’s time to continue moving through your house. The next obstacle you’ll run into is the stairs. But before you just stand at the top of the stairs and make yourself an easy target, you’ll want to slice the pie just as you did with the doorway so you can make sure nobody is waiting at the bottom of the stairs to attack you. Again, start on one side of the wall and take small steps in a semicircle so you can see a little bit more of the stairs each time.
Once you do a full scan of the stairs, make your way down, while at the same time scanning everything you can see. The stairs are a nightmare because you’ve likely got a room entrance at the bottom of the stairs to your left and then you’ve got a large hallway to your right with a number of openings too.
Since there is no way to see into the room on the left while going down the stairs, try and scan as much of the hallway to your right as possible. Once you get to the bottom, slice the pie for the room on your left while constantly glancing over your shoulder to see if anyone is approaching on your right. As you can see, it would be very easy to get ambushed while going down the stairs (which is just one of the many reasons police officers always go in teams of at least two while clearing a house).
You’ll clear the rest of your main floor just as you cleared your top floor when first leaving your bedroom. Every time you come to a corner or a door, you’ll want to slice the pie so you’ll hopefully see the bad guy before he sees you. If you have a basement, you’ll systematically clear it the same way too. Also, remember to have patience throughout this entire process. Each time you take a semi-circular step around a corner or doorway entrance, pause and scan the area from the floor to the ceiling.
Perhaps most importantly, since clearing a house is such a dangerous activity, you need to practice it as often as you can. For example, last month I got back from a ten day vacation in Utah. I knew my house was secure and no alarms had gone off, however, when I got back to my house from the airport I didn’t just rush in and plop myself down on the couch.
Instead, I opened my front door and took a step back and sliced the pie. Next, I cleared my entire house to make sure it was empty. Not only is this good practice, but I had been gone for ten days, so there’s always a possibility someone could have been hiding in my house.
Another good activity is to practice clearing the house with your spouse or kids. Tell them to go hide somewhere and play a fun game of hide and seek. When you’re searching for them you’ll want to pay attention to see if they see you first or you see them first. Also, if you’re slicing the pie, have them point out the moment they see you or what body part they see first. This will help determine if you’re doing it correctly—the muzzle of the gun is the first thing they should see, not your legs. Obviously, if you do play this game, don’t go around with a real gun. Use your finger or use a plastic training gun instead.
Again, I can’t emphasize enough that clearing a house by yourself is the last thing you want to do. If you still don’t believe me, and you’re the macho type with a huge ego, then play the hide and seek game I mentioned above. After your spouse has surprised and “killed” you for the tenth time, you’ll fully realize that if possible, waiting in your safe room while the police clear the house is the much smarter option.”
Remember to keep your head on a swivel and always check your 6 (look behind you).
Thanks you Jason for that description.
It’s nice to know that my training and Jason’s are the same. It confirms to me that we are correct and that we ourselves have been taught correctly.
Clearing a building is a dangerous thing. On TV and in the movies they do it completely wrong. I have to laugh when they clear several rooms in about 20 seconds. They would be dead if there was someone ambushing them.
Practice and you will see things you hadn’t seen before.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
I would have advised him to get the kids and his wife into a fairly “secure” room, call the police, and let them take care of things. But with his Mother in law downstairs that change things. I went to his house and we talked through the mechanics of clearing his house with a written diagram first. We then went through his house with a blue gun and we actually cleared the house. We went through it a couple of times and talked about some more. I told him to get a practice weapon, or an airsoft, and practice clearing at night with, and without, a flashlight.
Maybe you’re in a similar situation. Maybe you have family members in the finished basement. Maybe you converted a garage into a bedroom or have a room over the garage. If this is the case you have no choice but to leave your bedroom; therefore it’s necessary for you to know how to safely clear your house.
If you’ve ever seen videos of police or military clearing a house, you know they always go in with a minimum of two people. But you won’t be able to do that so here’s how you properly clear a house by yourself, even though it’s a dangerous situation you want to avoid.
This description is by Jason Hanson from Concealed Carry Academy
www.ConcealedCarryAcademy.com
“First off, if you hear a noise in the middle of the night and you need to clear your house, you had better be able to take one or two steps from your bed and have access to your gun, which should be “cocked and locked.” In other words, the gun should have a round in the chamber so all you have to do is pull the trigger to shoot. Right next to your gun should be your flashlight. Use a good tactical light.
Many houses have enough ambient light for you to maneuver around without the need to have the flashlight on all of the time, so just use it for target identification purposes so you don’t accidentally shoot the wrong person. (See LDS Gunsite Blog “Target Recognition: Flashlights”, 9/28/2015)
Once you’ve got your gun and light, it’s time to leave the bedroom. If you’ve got a traditional house, you’ll likely end up entering a hallway. Stay close to the wall on the one side of the hallway and avoid walking down the middle, so you minimize your outline and make yourself less of a target.
Try and expose as little of your body as possible. If the intruder happens to have a gun, you don’t want to be an easy target!
As you slowly move down the hallway you’ll probably come across a bedroom or bathroom door. What should you do? If you’ve got a family member living in the basement and time is important, and you’re pretty sure nobody made it upstairs, then just move on past the door. I know this isn’t tactically correct, but we’re talking about a real life scenario here. If you’ve got your daughter sleeping in the basement, then no parent is going to take the time to clear every upstairs bedroom when they hear an intruder on the first floor or proceeding down the basement stairs.
However, if you don’t have to rush downstairs, you’ll certainly want to check the room ahead. But before you attempt to open the door (or any door in your house for that matter) you need to pull the gun close to your body so the inside of your wrist is practically touching your rib cage. In other words, instead of having your arm fully extended, your elbow should be bent about 90 degrees. This position gives you more control over the firearm in case someone was to try and reach for it. Another reason you bring the gun in close is so that you don’t accidentally point the gun at your other hand while it’s opening the door.
Assuming the door you’ve approached is on your right, you’ll want to stand against the right side wall, with your gun close to your body, while reaching for the doorknob with your other hand. (Do not stand in the doorway. You should be reaching across while remaining against the wall.) If the door opens away from you then turn the doorknob and give the door a solid push and immediately take a step backward against the right side wall again. If the door opens towards you, pull the door swiftly towards you and again take a step backward.
Once you’ve opened the door it’s time to “slice the pie.” This is a method used to clear corners and doorway entrances where you clear each area in small slices. For instance, if you had just pushed your door open and stepped back you would be standing against the right side wall. Obviously, from this position you can’t see into the entire room and you certainly don’t want to take a step into the doorway and fully expose yourself.
So, you would begin to take small side-steps in a semi-circular motion. In other words, if you’re on the right side of the door, you’ll end up on the left side by going in a wide semi-circle around the doorway entrance. Each time you take a side-step, have your body slightly lean in the direction you’re headed so that if an intruder is in the room they will see the muzzle of your gun first and the rest of your body won’t be exposed.
Each time you take a step, give a brief pause so that you can scan as much of the room as possible and you can determine if that part of the room is clear. Once you end up on the left side of the door, you’ve done as much as you can to clear the room from the outside.
Don’t forget to have patience while clearing a corner. This is not a time to rush unless a family member is on a lower level and you must immediately reach them.
Now that it’s time to enter the room, you’ll want to quickly step through the doorway and move to the opposite corner. For instance, if you’re entering the doorway from the left side, move to the right corner and give a quick look over your shoulder to make sure nobody’s hiding in the left corner. Don’t forget to check all places an intruder could be hiding such as under a bed, in a closet, under a desk or under any other large object.
Once you’re satisfied the room is clear it’s time to continue moving through your house. The next obstacle you’ll run into is the stairs. But before you just stand at the top of the stairs and make yourself an easy target, you’ll want to slice the pie just as you did with the doorway so you can make sure nobody is waiting at the bottom of the stairs to attack you. Again, start on one side of the wall and take small steps in a semicircle so you can see a little bit more of the stairs each time.
Once you do a full scan of the stairs, make your way down, while at the same time scanning everything you can see. The stairs are a nightmare because you’ve likely got a room entrance at the bottom of the stairs to your left and then you’ve got a large hallway to your right with a number of openings too.
Since there is no way to see into the room on the left while going down the stairs, try and scan as much of the hallway to your right as possible. Once you get to the bottom, slice the pie for the room on your left while constantly glancing over your shoulder to see if anyone is approaching on your right. As you can see, it would be very easy to get ambushed while going down the stairs (which is just one of the many reasons police officers always go in teams of at least two while clearing a house).
You’ll clear the rest of your main floor just as you cleared your top floor when first leaving your bedroom. Every time you come to a corner or a door, you’ll want to slice the pie so you’ll hopefully see the bad guy before he sees you. If you have a basement, you’ll systematically clear it the same way too. Also, remember to have patience throughout this entire process. Each time you take a semi-circular step around a corner or doorway entrance, pause and scan the area from the floor to the ceiling.
Perhaps most importantly, since clearing a house is such a dangerous activity, you need to practice it as often as you can. For example, last month I got back from a ten day vacation in Utah. I knew my house was secure and no alarms had gone off, however, when I got back to my house from the airport I didn’t just rush in and plop myself down on the couch.
Instead, I opened my front door and took a step back and sliced the pie. Next, I cleared my entire house to make sure it was empty. Not only is this good practice, but I had been gone for ten days, so there’s always a possibility someone could have been hiding in my house.
Another good activity is to practice clearing the house with your spouse or kids. Tell them to go hide somewhere and play a fun game of hide and seek. When you’re searching for them you’ll want to pay attention to see if they see you first or you see them first. Also, if you’re slicing the pie, have them point out the moment they see you or what body part they see first. This will help determine if you’re doing it correctly—the muzzle of the gun is the first thing they should see, not your legs. Obviously, if you do play this game, don’t go around with a real gun. Use your finger or use a plastic training gun instead.
Again, I can’t emphasize enough that clearing a house by yourself is the last thing you want to do. If you still don’t believe me, and you’re the macho type with a huge ego, then play the hide and seek game I mentioned above. After your spouse has surprised and “killed” you for the tenth time, you’ll fully realize that if possible, waiting in your safe room while the police clear the house is the much smarter option.”
Remember to keep your head on a swivel and always check your 6 (look behind you).
Thanks you Jason for that description.
It’s nice to know that my training and Jason’s are the same. It confirms to me that we are correct and that we ourselves have been taught correctly.
Clearing a building is a dangerous thing. On TV and in the movies they do it completely wrong. I have to laugh when they clear several rooms in about 20 seconds. They would be dead if there was someone ambushing them.
Practice and you will see things you hadn’t seen before.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Friday, October 16, 2015
No more, "No More Mr. Nice Guy"
I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing
'Til they got a hold of me.
I opened doors for little old ladies,
I helped the blind to see.
I got no friends 'cause they read the papers.
They can't be seen with me and I'm gettin' real shot down
And I'm feeling mean.
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
They say he's sick, he's obscene.
I had a conversation with an old friend of mine from our years in the military. He is no longer in the military and neither am I. We were talking about the time we were in that often we weren’t very nice guys. We talked about the way we acted and came to the conclusion that it had to do with the job and the training. That is not an excuse. We both made choices and they were our choices, no one forced us to be that way. But the cause was the constant ruthlessness that was being pounded into us. When you must take another human beings life it is not normal or natural. To do so without feeling would be impossible. I do understand that killing can be a very addictive behavior that can turn normally good people into a form of monster.
Years ago my Mother sent me all of my Dad’s military pictures from his time in the navy during WWII. I noticed that his ship was one of the many ships that went into Japan after the surrender and he had pictures of it. On the back of the pictures my Dad wrote comments about each picture. Moving a large ship into a harbor can be a dangerous thing. So, the Japanese put a soldier on board my Dad’s ship to help guide it into port. He had pictures of the soldier and on the back he describes the soldier as the “Nip soldier”. My Dad taught his children that calling anyone a name was wrong, but especially words that are racially offensive. When I asked him about it years before he said, “Son, it was war. In war you must demonize the enemy or you will be killing fathers and sons, good people who just want to live their lives.” Years later I am training to kill “rag heads”. It is something we must do as humans to justify killing a fellow human being.
I have the same feelings at times like the Alice Cooper song “No more Mr. Nice Guy”. Like the lyrics at the beginning of this post I consider myself a nice guy. I consider myself a Christian trying to live a Christ-like life. As a Mormon, we try to emphasize Christ and His mission of atonement here on this earth. So how can I train to kill someone? That’s the exact opposite of Christ’s teachings. It does seem that Christ’s teachings center around peace, but He did understand the need for defense.
If you’ve ever trained in the military or with law enforcement, you know that everyone is a liar, a cheat, and would kill you for nothing. They are the enemy. That can turn a “sweet, sweet thing” into a not nice guy.
You must fight this. You must be realistic and know that everyone out there is not trying to get you. It’s a form of paranoia. It can ruin your life or at the very least, relationships. Relationships with your spouse and your children are the most important relationships you can ever have. They are more important than the brotherhood relationships that you have with your “brothers in arms”. If you didn’t learn that quick, you could be in a world of hurt later on.
Training for self-defense is similar but not quite as intense. You are training to kill another human being. I’ve been to gun ranges that won’t let you shoot “human-like” targets. I think that’s a politically correct way of trying to keep liability off your doorstep. I guess they don’t think anyone is training to kill, even though defense is not necessarily killing. But if you have a hard time thinking that you may very well have to kill, don’t carry a gun. You will hesitate if there is a doubt that you can kill. You may be able to choose not to kill, and that’s what separates you from the animals. You can make a conscience effort to not become cold, and judgmental.
When I was a Bishop I had a counselor who worked in intell in Customs. Because of the nature of his work he was becoming a cold dude. I finally had to take him aside and tell him what he was becoming and what he was doing to his family and others. To his credit, he recognized his direction and changed it.
There is a quote from General James N. Mattis, Marine Commander of US CENTCOMM:
“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.”
That is our challenge. To not let our training, our job, our past experiences affect us as a father, a husband, a citizen, a priesthood holder, a Christian. But to be prepared.
If you are in combat that is very difficult. The same goes for law enforcement. Be extra vigilant if you are in these situations. As a concealed carry holder you may be faced with killing, but you are not duty bound to kill. You can run away if you want to. Combat and law enforcement won’t allow that.
My dog bit me on the leg today.
My cat clawed my eyes.
Ma's been thrown out of the social circle,
And Dad has to hide.
I went to church incognito.
When everybody rose, the Reverend Smith,
He recognized me,
And punched me in the nose, he said.
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
He said you're sick, you're obscene.
You can be prepared and still be a nice guy. The world is not as bleak as your training tells you. There are good people out there and not everyone is trying to harm others. But be vigilant, because Mr. Evil is out there. He would like more than anything for you to be asleep. A sheep.
It’s possible to be prepared to fight Mr. Evil and still be Mr. Nice Guy. It takes effort and discipline. So don’t let No more Mr. Nice Guy take over your life.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
'Til they got a hold of me.
I opened doors for little old ladies,
I helped the blind to see.
I got no friends 'cause they read the papers.
They can't be seen with me and I'm gettin' real shot down
And I'm feeling mean.
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
They say he's sick, he's obscene.
I had a conversation with an old friend of mine from our years in the military. He is no longer in the military and neither am I. We were talking about the time we were in that often we weren’t very nice guys. We talked about the way we acted and came to the conclusion that it had to do with the job and the training. That is not an excuse. We both made choices and they were our choices, no one forced us to be that way. But the cause was the constant ruthlessness that was being pounded into us. When you must take another human beings life it is not normal or natural. To do so without feeling would be impossible. I do understand that killing can be a very addictive behavior that can turn normally good people into a form of monster.
Years ago my Mother sent me all of my Dad’s military pictures from his time in the navy during WWII. I noticed that his ship was one of the many ships that went into Japan after the surrender and he had pictures of it. On the back of the pictures my Dad wrote comments about each picture. Moving a large ship into a harbor can be a dangerous thing. So, the Japanese put a soldier on board my Dad’s ship to help guide it into port. He had pictures of the soldier and on the back he describes the soldier as the “Nip soldier”. My Dad taught his children that calling anyone a name was wrong, but especially words that are racially offensive. When I asked him about it years before he said, “Son, it was war. In war you must demonize the enemy or you will be killing fathers and sons, good people who just want to live their lives.” Years later I am training to kill “rag heads”. It is something we must do as humans to justify killing a fellow human being.
I have the same feelings at times like the Alice Cooper song “No more Mr. Nice Guy”. Like the lyrics at the beginning of this post I consider myself a nice guy. I consider myself a Christian trying to live a Christ-like life. As a Mormon, we try to emphasize Christ and His mission of atonement here on this earth. So how can I train to kill someone? That’s the exact opposite of Christ’s teachings. It does seem that Christ’s teachings center around peace, but He did understand the need for defense.
If you’ve ever trained in the military or with law enforcement, you know that everyone is a liar, a cheat, and would kill you for nothing. They are the enemy. That can turn a “sweet, sweet thing” into a not nice guy.
You must fight this. You must be realistic and know that everyone out there is not trying to get you. It’s a form of paranoia. It can ruin your life or at the very least, relationships. Relationships with your spouse and your children are the most important relationships you can ever have. They are more important than the brotherhood relationships that you have with your “brothers in arms”. If you didn’t learn that quick, you could be in a world of hurt later on.
Training for self-defense is similar but not quite as intense. You are training to kill another human being. I’ve been to gun ranges that won’t let you shoot “human-like” targets. I think that’s a politically correct way of trying to keep liability off your doorstep. I guess they don’t think anyone is training to kill, even though defense is not necessarily killing. But if you have a hard time thinking that you may very well have to kill, don’t carry a gun. You will hesitate if there is a doubt that you can kill. You may be able to choose not to kill, and that’s what separates you from the animals. You can make a conscience effort to not become cold, and judgmental.
When I was a Bishop I had a counselor who worked in intell in Customs. Because of the nature of his work he was becoming a cold dude. I finally had to take him aside and tell him what he was becoming and what he was doing to his family and others. To his credit, he recognized his direction and changed it.
There is a quote from General James N. Mattis, Marine Commander of US CENTCOMM:
“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.”
That is our challenge. To not let our training, our job, our past experiences affect us as a father, a husband, a citizen, a priesthood holder, a Christian. But to be prepared.
If you are in combat that is very difficult. The same goes for law enforcement. Be extra vigilant if you are in these situations. As a concealed carry holder you may be faced with killing, but you are not duty bound to kill. You can run away if you want to. Combat and law enforcement won’t allow that.
My dog bit me on the leg today.
My cat clawed my eyes.
Ma's been thrown out of the social circle,
And Dad has to hide.
I went to church incognito.
When everybody rose, the Reverend Smith,
He recognized me,
And punched me in the nose, he said.
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
He said you're sick, you're obscene.
You can be prepared and still be a nice guy. The world is not as bleak as your training tells you. There are good people out there and not everyone is trying to harm others. But be vigilant, because Mr. Evil is out there. He would like more than anything for you to be asleep. A sheep.
It’s possible to be prepared to fight Mr. Evil and still be Mr. Nice Guy. It takes effort and discipline. So don’t let No more Mr. Nice Guy take over your life.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Thursday, October 15, 2015
First Gun: Gun "Action" Speaks Louder Than Words
I was in a gun store the other day waiting for the owner to check a shipment to see if some of my parts came in. I was standing there looking at the pretty Kimbers that were in the counter in front of me and I overheard a young couple at the other end of the counter clearly buying their first gun. As I listened as the clerk was trying to explain the difference between a hammer fired and striker fired and then jump into single action, double action, and then even the double action/single action guns that are available I could see he lost them at “hammer fired”. The owner came back, gave me my parts and then I watched him professionally take this couple through the actions in laymen’s terms. I thought that maybe it would be advantageous to review these actions and their triggers.
Hammer fired
The hammer is the thing that is pulled back and cocked on an autoloader or a revolver. The trigger releases the hammer that strikes the firing pin, igniting the cartridge sending the bullet downrange. For instance a 1911 or the old Colt .45 is a hammer fired weapon.
Striker fired
Striker fired guns have no hammer and really no firing pin. They do have a striker that is under spring tension. The advantage is there is nothing externally to impeded drawing or firing the weapon. Most striker fired guns have no safety which makes some uneasy. To be honest safeties can be more of a problem than they are safe. Striker guns have internal safeties that prevent the striker from moving until the trigger is fully depressed. These guns are very safe in spite of having no external safety. Many people love the consistent manageable trigger pull.
I’ve heard some salesman say “You can chamber a round, throw the gun down and play hockey with it, and it will not go off until the trigger is pulled.”
Revolvers (single action/double action)
The terms “double-action” and “single-action” refer to the job performed by the trigger. An SA trigger performs a single task: It releases the hammer (which, in a traditional revolver, is cocked by your thumb). A DA trigger performs two tasks: It cocks and releases the hammer. Typically, a DA trigger is harder to pull because it has more work to do. Shooters with small or weak hands can struggle with the heavier trigger pull. Because of this, it is wise to test the pull before you buy.
There are striker fired revolvers too.
Single action auto loaders
John Browning’s still-wildly-popular 1911 has a comfortable SA trigger pull, but the backward/forward motion of the slide automatically re-cocks the hammer after you shoot. Thus, once you chamber your first round, you simply pull the trigger until the magazine is empty. Many people—especially new shooters—like the idea of a manual safety because it appears to offer better protection against unintentional discharges. Likewise, in a high-stress situation, you need relatively little strength to depress an SA trigger.
Double action only
A double-action-only (DAO) semi-automatic—not to be confused with double-action/single-action (DA/SA)—is similar to its DA revolver cousin. The trigger both cocks and releases the hammer or striker, but there is no SA option if you don’t like the heavy pull. Fans of DAO guns say they value the consistent trigger pull, not unlike the SA models, albeit heavier. Internet chat rooms are rife with shooters who prefer DAO to DA/SA because they believe accuracy is harmed when you switch from heavy to light trigger pulls.
You will find someone who likes any one of these type weapons or select types. I think there are advantages to all but prefer a particular combination. I’m not here to talk about what I like but to allow you to see what is available out the in gun world. I love guns. If you were to give me a gun with my least favorite features I would not gripe if I got to shoot it.
All Capable
Is this all a little confusing? It can be. The best way for you to understand is to go to the range with these guns and shoot them.
So now that you’ve heard “a little action,” you can decide what to do with this knowledge. Whether you opt for an SA, DA, DAO, DA/SA or striker-fired handgun, take time before you buy to shoot the gun you will trust your life to. With all these options, you should be able to find one that suits your needs perfectly, and that you are comfortable operating. You will unknowingly make many life-and-death decisions during your stay on earth. This is one you can actually have some control over. Choose wisely my friend.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Gun Retention
Nobody wants to be shot with their own gun. This happens to police officers on occasion because their weapon is open carried. They are taught gun retention all the time. Carrying concealed is a little different. Here are some weapon retention tips.
Be aware (situational awareness)
This is very important for so many reasons. I constantly preach being aware of what is going on around you. What is coming up? Can you go the other way? Do you see trouble brewing in front of you or to your side? Then leave. Even if you just have a feeling, follow that feeling.
Concealment
Keep your weapon concealed. If no one knows you have a gun, how can they take it?
Keep distance
Distance can be your friend. In most situations you have control over your distance to others. But if you are in a crowd you may have to use other tactics. Depending on where you carry determines how you would get close to people.
Recognize pre-attack signs
Another aspect of awareness is reading the attackers intentions. Oftentimes, an assailant will telegraph his intentions to attack you or to try to disarm you prior to the actual attack.
Pay attention to your focus person and look for behaviors such as:
Movements too close the distance between you and him,
Movements to the side of your CC firearm,
Other body signals that suggest imminent fight or flight (shuffling feet, shoulder shifts, clenching fists, etc.).
If you see someone exhibiting these signs, address them as an imminent threat using whichever options are reasonable at that time.
Retention holsters
Your holster should have some type of retention system in place. If you fear your gun could fall out of its holster, change to a different holster or add a retention strap or other type of system. Test your holster by bending down, leaning, and running. Also remember that when you use a public restroom that you don’t lose your gun.
Retention holsters require additional training for unconscious competency. In other words, you need to spend time learning the holster so you can draw smoothly under pressure.
If you have a firearm for self-defense or you carry one on the job, you owe it to yourself to practice good gun retention. Be alert of your surrounds and who you are dealing with. Get good training and practice it. If you carry an exposed firearm, seriously consider a quality retention holster.
I think it’s a shame that most concealed-carry trainers didn’t devote time to weapon retention. So whenever I have the chance, I teach a few basic techniques for preventing weapons from being turned against the user. I’ve taught military personnel methods for retaining their weapons, some of which applies specifically to those who carry concealed. Job One: Conceal It! First, a major aspect of retaining your weapon is not letting anyone know you have it in the first place—the only time someone should know you’re armed is when a life-threatening situation requires you to draw.
Next, choose a carry method that keeps your weapon well concealed, and be aware of situations that are likely to reveal it (when reaching for a wallet or grabbing for something on a high shelf). Certain carry methods are better than others.
After the grab what if an assailant manages to get your gun away from you? React immediately and violently. If your opponent is attempting to pull your gun from your holster, clamp his hand down on the gun and start pounding on his arm as near the wrist as possible using your fist. Simultaneously kicking him in the shin with the side of your shoe is even better. Many people including me, also carry a folding knife that can be accessed with the left hand. While you’re forcing the assailant’s hand down with your right hand, pull the knife with your left, flip it open and slice up the assailant’s arm. Be sure not to slice too close to your hand, or you may end up cutting yourself. Alternatively, if you carry a backup gun on the left side pull it out and shoot your opponent. If he is attempting to take your gun, he is a lethal threat. What if your opponent grabs your gun after you draw it? Counterattack hard and fast. First, bear in mind that an attacker grabbing the barrel/slide of your weapon can exert enough force to readily torque the weapon from your hand. If he grabs the muzzle, shoot him off of you if you can. If you can’t, get your support hand on the gun and keep your finger out of the triggerguard—you’ll likely end up with a broken trigger finger if he torques the gun away. Keep kicking your attacker’s knees and shins and stomping his feet. If it appears likely that the attacker may wrest the gun away, hit the magazine release (if an auto) and dump the magazine. If the pistol has a magazine safety, it is now inoperable. If you get it back, you can jam in your spare mag. If there’s no magazine safety, the gun will have a single shot. If using an auto pistol with a hammer drop safety such as some S&W autos, the Beretta 92 or others, then try to shove the safety to the “on” position to render the pistol inoperable.
There are many gun retention techniques out there. Learn from a competent instructor and practice a few. Remember also that concealed is the key. If they don’t know you have it, they can’t take it!
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Be aware (situational awareness)
This is very important for so many reasons. I constantly preach being aware of what is going on around you. What is coming up? Can you go the other way? Do you see trouble brewing in front of you or to your side? Then leave. Even if you just have a feeling, follow that feeling.
Concealment
Keep your weapon concealed. If no one knows you have a gun, how can they take it?
Keep distance
Distance can be your friend. In most situations you have control over your distance to others. But if you are in a crowd you may have to use other tactics. Depending on where you carry determines how you would get close to people.
Recognize pre-attack signs
Another aspect of awareness is reading the attackers intentions. Oftentimes, an assailant will telegraph his intentions to attack you or to try to disarm you prior to the actual attack.
Pay attention to your focus person and look for behaviors such as:
Movements too close the distance between you and him,
Movements to the side of your CC firearm,
Other body signals that suggest imminent fight or flight (shuffling feet, shoulder shifts, clenching fists, etc.).
If you see someone exhibiting these signs, address them as an imminent threat using whichever options are reasonable at that time.
Retention holsters
Your holster should have some type of retention system in place. If you fear your gun could fall out of its holster, change to a different holster or add a retention strap or other type of system. Test your holster by bending down, leaning, and running. Also remember that when you use a public restroom that you don’t lose your gun.
Retention holsters require additional training for unconscious competency. In other words, you need to spend time learning the holster so you can draw smoothly under pressure.
If you have a firearm for self-defense or you carry one on the job, you owe it to yourself to practice good gun retention. Be alert of your surrounds and who you are dealing with. Get good training and practice it. If you carry an exposed firearm, seriously consider a quality retention holster.
I think it’s a shame that most concealed-carry trainers didn’t devote time to weapon retention. So whenever I have the chance, I teach a few basic techniques for preventing weapons from being turned against the user. I’ve taught military personnel methods for retaining their weapons, some of which applies specifically to those who carry concealed. Job One: Conceal It! First, a major aspect of retaining your weapon is not letting anyone know you have it in the first place—the only time someone should know you’re armed is when a life-threatening situation requires you to draw.
Next, choose a carry method that keeps your weapon well concealed, and be aware of situations that are likely to reveal it (when reaching for a wallet or grabbing for something on a high shelf). Certain carry methods are better than others.
After the grab what if an assailant manages to get your gun away from you? React immediately and violently. If your opponent is attempting to pull your gun from your holster, clamp his hand down on the gun and start pounding on his arm as near the wrist as possible using your fist. Simultaneously kicking him in the shin with the side of your shoe is even better. Many people including me, also carry a folding knife that can be accessed with the left hand. While you’re forcing the assailant’s hand down with your right hand, pull the knife with your left, flip it open and slice up the assailant’s arm. Be sure not to slice too close to your hand, or you may end up cutting yourself. Alternatively, if you carry a backup gun on the left side pull it out and shoot your opponent. If he is attempting to take your gun, he is a lethal threat. What if your opponent grabs your gun after you draw it? Counterattack hard and fast. First, bear in mind that an attacker grabbing the barrel/slide of your weapon can exert enough force to readily torque the weapon from your hand. If he grabs the muzzle, shoot him off of you if you can. If you can’t, get your support hand on the gun and keep your finger out of the triggerguard—you’ll likely end up with a broken trigger finger if he torques the gun away. Keep kicking your attacker’s knees and shins and stomping his feet. If it appears likely that the attacker may wrest the gun away, hit the magazine release (if an auto) and dump the magazine. If the pistol has a magazine safety, it is now inoperable. If you get it back, you can jam in your spare mag. If there’s no magazine safety, the gun will have a single shot. If using an auto pistol with a hammer drop safety such as some S&W autos, the Beretta 92 or others, then try to shove the safety to the “on” position to render the pistol inoperable.
There are many gun retention techniques out there. Learn from a competent instructor and practice a few. Remember also that concealed is the key. If they don’t know you have it, they can’t take it!
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Self Defense: Never Surrender
I give up! I surrender! I’ll do whatever you want!
That’s what some advice is out there and I can say, you’d better be careful how and to whom you surrender.
The history of surrendering is a tragic story.
Surrender during war
During the American Revolution 12,000 Colonists captured by the British died in captivity on prison ships, while only 8,000 died in battle. Had the 12,000 who surrendered continued to fight, many would have survived and they could have done great damage to the British and likely shortened the war.
Civil War prisoners were treated so badly that some 50,000 died in captivity. More Americans have been killed by Americans than by any foreign army in any war. Six hundred and eighteen thousand Americans died in the Civil War.
As many as 18,000 captured American and Philipino prisoners died or were murdered at the hands of the Japanese during the six days of the “Bataan Death March.” Had most of these soldiers slipped into the jungle and fought as guerrillas they could have tied up elements of the Japanese Army for months or years and perhaps more of them would have survived the war.
Of the Americans who actually reached Japanese prison camps during the war, nearly 50,000 died in captivity. That is more than 10 percent of all the American military deaths in the entire war in both the Pacific and European theaters combined.
In addition to the 50,000 captured Americans who died in Japanese prison camps an additional 20,000 were murdered before reaching a prison camp. If those 70,000 Americans had continued to fight, they could have provided time for the United States to build and maneuver its forces, perhaps shortening the war and saving even more lives. Some of them would have likely survived the war. If they had all died in battle their fate would have been no worse.
During the early stages of the “Battle of the Bulge” American soldiers were massacred by the German troops who captured them.
During the Vietnam conflict many American Prisoners Of War were tortured daily for years by the Communist North Vietnamese. Many Americans died during the process. Only Officers (Airmen) held in North Vietnam were ever repatriated. Enlisted Americans captured in South Viet Nam were routinely tortured, mutilated and murdered by the Communists. As a combat soldier and knowing my fate should I be captured, it would have been better to have committed to fighting to the death.
In recent years, American troops captured by Islamic terrorists groups have virtually all been tortured and murdered in gruesome fashion. If I were fighting in the Middle East, I would make a similar vow and plan to fight to the death. Under no circumstances would I allow myself to be captured by our Islamic enemies.
Death by Government
RJ Rummel, who wrote the book, “Death by Government” states that prior to the 20th Century; 170 million civilians were murdered by their own governments. Historians tell us that during the 20th Century perhaps as many as 200 million civilians were murdered by their own governments.
Some of the Nations where the mass murder of civilians occurred during the 20th Century include Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, The Congo, Uganda, Armenia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nigeria, Laos, China, Cuba, Manchuria, Iraq, Iran, Biafra, Rwanda and many others. The slaughter of civilians by governments appears to be as common as not.
Most of these slaughters were only made possible by disarming the victims before killing them. Had these people resisted, their fate would have been no worse and perhaps better. Resistance is much more difficult after the government has already taken the means of resistance away from the people. Planned genocide has been the primary reason for weapon confiscation throughout history.
Jews and others who surrendered to the Nazis were murdered in slave labor camps by the millions. Had all the Jews in Europe resisted when the Nazis started rounding them up they could have made the Nazis pay an enormous price for the holocaust. The fact that Hitler confiscated guns in 1936 made resistance far less feasible.
Had the Jews in Germany resisted, the outcome may have been the same but the world would have learned about the holocaust years earlier and may have intervened. Most people would prefer to die fighting and trying to kill their oppressor, than be taken off to a death camp and starved to death or murdered in a gas chamber.
William Ayers, former leader of the Terrorist organization “The Weather Underground,” and close friend of Barack Obama, told his followers in the Weather Underground, “When we (Communist Revolutionaries) take over the United States, we will have to kill 25 million Americans.” He was referring to those who would never submit to a Communist takeover. Those who would refuse to deny and reject the Constitution would have to be murdered. If this sounds impossible, remember that Genocide by Government was the leading cause of death in the last Century.
Surrendering to Criminals
The “Onion Field Murder” in California was a wakeup call to Law Enforcement Officers everywhere. On March 9, 1963, two LAPD Officers were taken prisoner by two criminals. The Officers submitted to capture and gave up their weapons. They were driven to an onion field outside of Bakersfield.
One Officer was murdered while the other Officer managed to escape in a hail of gunfire. The surviving officer suffered serious psychological problems, having been unable to save his partner. As a result of this incident, the LAPD policy became, “You will fight no matter how bad things are.” “You will never ever surrender your weapons or yourself to a criminal.”
Consider the Ogden, Utah “Hi-Fi” murders. Read the book if you do not know the story. The manner in which the criminals murdered their young victims cannot be described here. Resistance might have been futile. Compliance was definitely and absolutely futile.
The courts in this country have ruled that the police have no legal obligation to protect anyone. Why do Law Enforcement Officials always tell civilians not to resist a criminal, while they tell their Officers to always resist and never surrender? Police administrators fear being sued by a civilian victim who gets hurt resisting. Furthermore, the police, like all government agencies derive their power by fostering dependence.
According to Professor John Lott’s study on the relationship between guns and crime, a victim who resists with a firearm is less likely to be hurt or killed than a victim who cooperates with his attacker. His book is titled “More Guns, Less Crime.”
The Doctor and his family in Connecticut complied and cooperated, meeting every demand of the home invasion robbers to whom they had surrendered. The Doctors wife and daughters were tortured, raped, doused with gasoline and burned alive. How did surrender and cooperation work out for them?
In another home invasion robbery, a kindly couple with 9 “adopted, special needs children,” surrendered to the robbers. The victims opened their safe and did not resist in any way. When the robbers where finished ransacking the home and terrifying the children, they shot both parents in the head several times before leaving. How did surrender and complete cooperation work out for them?
Handing over your life by surrendering to someone who is in the process of committing a violent crime against you is a form of suicide. Some survive but many do not. The monster gets to decide for you.
We have heard brutalized victims say, “The robber said that he would not hurt us if we cooperated.” Why would you believe anything that someone who is committing a crime against you says? He will be lying if he speaks. As they say in law enforcement, “If a criminal’s lips are moving while he is speaking, he is lying.” Criminals by definition are dishonest and should never be trusted or believed.
You have no doubt heard friends say, I would not resist a criminal, after all why would he kill me? This is stupid and naive. In law enforcement, they call these people “Victims by Choice” (VBC). There could be a long list of reasons why a criminal would kill you despite your cooperation.
You may be of a different race, thus a different tribe. Only members of his tribe are actually human in his mind. He may feel hatred toward you because you have more than he does. Gratification from being in a position of total power is reason enough for some.
Criminals are sometimes members of a Satanic Cult who worship death such as the “Night Stalker” in California. Eliminating a potential witness is often cited as a reason to kill a victim. Sometimes criminals simply enjoy causing suffering and death. There are people who are in fact, pure evil.
A victim who begs for mercy can give his attacker a tremendous feeling of power which many criminals seem to enjoy. You cannot expect mercy from someone who does not know what mercy is.
Resist!
We each have a duty to ourselves, our loved ones, our neighbors, our community, our city, our state and our country to resist criminals. Reasoning with a thug who believes that his failures are because of people just like you is not likely to be helpful. Pleading with a terrorist who has been taught from birth that his salvation depends on murdering people like you is a doomed plan. Resist!
Resist! His gun may not be real. After you are tied up it will not matter. His gun may not be loaded. After you are tied up it will not matter. He may not know how to operate his gun. After you are tied up it will not matter. Resist!
Statistically if you run and your assailant shoots at you he will miss. Statistically if you run and he shoots and hits you, you will not die. Bad guys shooting at the police miss 90 percent of the time. The odds are on your side. Better to die fighting in place than to be tied up, doused with gasoline and burned alive. There are things worse than death. Surrender to a criminal or a terrorist and you will learn what they are. Resist!
If you resist with a commitment to win you may well prevail, especially if you are armed and trained. If you lose it is still better to die fighting in place than to be taken prisoner and have your head cut off with a dull knife while your screams gurgle through your own blood as we have witnessed on numerous videos from the “Islamic practitioners of peace,” as well as the Mexican drug cartels.
Some who have refused to surrender.
History is filled with brave people who refused to surrender. Some of these men and woman have won their battles despite what seemed to be insurmountable odds. Others have gone down fighting and avoided being tortured to death. Some fought to the death to help or save others. Many have fought to the death for an idea or a belief.
When General Santa Ana (also the President of Mexico at the time) ordered 180 “Texicans” to surrender the Alamo, Col. Travis answered with “a cannon shot and a rebel yell.” Eventually General Santa Ana was able to build his troop strength to ten thousand. The Mexicans then swarmed the defenders and killed them all.
The battle of the Alamo delayed the Mexican Army long enough for Sam Huston to build his Texican Army, which met and defeated the Mexican Army and captured General Santa Ana. General Santa Ana traded Texas for his life and the sacrifices of the Alamo defenders changed history.
Frank Luke was a heroic aviator in WWI. Shot down and wounded he refused to surrender when confronted by a German patrol. He killed 4 German soldiers with his 1911 Pistol before being killed. Luke was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
When his unit was pinned down by German Machine Guns and all of the Officers and non-commissioned officers in his company were killed or wounded, Alvin York never considered surrendering. Instead, he attacked hundreds of German soldiers killing about 25 with his rifle and pistol and then captured 132 others by himself!
Most of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto (Poland) surrendered to the German Army. They were taken off to death camps and murdered. Between 400 and 1,000 Jews refused to surrender and armed with only a few pistols, revolvers and rifles, they held off the German Army for three months before dying in battle.
During the “Battle of the Bulge,” the 101st Airborne was surrounded by the German Army and ordered to surrender. Faced with overwhelming odds, the Commanding Officer of the 101st sent this reply to the Germans. “Nuts.” The Americans refused to surrender and they stopped the German advance. Most of the Americans troops survived.
On Sept 2, 2010, 40 armed criminals took over and robbed a train in India. Some of the robbers had guns, others used knives and clubs. When they began to disrobe an 18 year old girl for the purpose of gang raping her, one of the passengers decided to fight. He was a 35 year old retired Gurkha soldier. He drew his Khukasri Knife and attacked the 40 robbers. He killed three of the robbers and wounded 8 more despite his being wounded in this 20 minute fight. The remaining criminals fled for their lives leaving their stolen loot and eleven comrades dead or wounded on the floor of the train. The eight wounded robbers were arrested.
How does one man defeat 40? How does he summon the courage to fight such odds? He utilized all of the Principles of Personal Defense: Alertness, Decisiveness, Aggressiveness, Speed, Coolness, Ruthlessness, and Surprise. He was skilled in the use of his weapon. Most importantly, He refused to be a victim and allow evil to triumph!
If this one inspirational soldier can defeat 40 opponents using his knife, it would seem that we should all be able to defeat a group of armed criminals by using our firearms if we are professionally trained as was this heroic Gurkha soldier.
The first phase of surrender is failing to be armed, trained and committed to fight. We are prepared to surrender when we are unprepared to resist. The second phase of surrender is failing to be alert. You must see trouble coming in order to have time to respond. The warning may be less than one second but it will be there and it must be recognized and acted upon immediately.
The Third phase of surrender is giving up your weapons.
The last phase of surrender is up to the monsters who have taken control of your life and perhaps the lives of your loved ones. The last phase of surrender is out of your hands.
How will you respond if you are confronted by evil as some of us have been in the past and some of us will be in the future? If you have not decided ahead of time what you will do, you will likely do nothing. Those who fight back often win and survive. Those who surrender never win and often die a horrible death. Have you made your decision? Remember, no decision is a decision to do nothing.
I could not just cower in a corner. I don’t consider myself a violent person but from some of my experiences I would say that I could not just give up and hope it all turns out alright. Hope is not a strategy. Surrender is not a tactic.
Learn from history. Do not repeat it. Find it within yourself to not be a victim. Decide now to not let someone else decide your fate. Find a weapon or defense system that works for you. Get trained. Practice. Help others to learn. Be a force for good in this world. Learn and practice situational awareness. Be prepared not paranoid. Understand that I’m not saying fight for your purse or even your car. If someone tries to take you, resist. If they invade your home, resist. If they want your wallet, surrender your wallet. If they want you, you do not surrender. Have your wits about you to know when you should fight.
This is not intended to be legal or authoritive advice. You must decide for yourself.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
That’s what some advice is out there and I can say, you’d better be careful how and to whom you surrender.
The history of surrendering is a tragic story.
Surrender during war
During the American Revolution 12,000 Colonists captured by the British died in captivity on prison ships, while only 8,000 died in battle. Had the 12,000 who surrendered continued to fight, many would have survived and they could have done great damage to the British and likely shortened the war.
Civil War prisoners were treated so badly that some 50,000 died in captivity. More Americans have been killed by Americans than by any foreign army in any war. Six hundred and eighteen thousand Americans died in the Civil War.
As many as 18,000 captured American and Philipino prisoners died or were murdered at the hands of the Japanese during the six days of the “Bataan Death March.” Had most of these soldiers slipped into the jungle and fought as guerrillas they could have tied up elements of the Japanese Army for months or years and perhaps more of them would have survived the war.
Of the Americans who actually reached Japanese prison camps during the war, nearly 50,000 died in captivity. That is more than 10 percent of all the American military deaths in the entire war in both the Pacific and European theaters combined.
In addition to the 50,000 captured Americans who died in Japanese prison camps an additional 20,000 were murdered before reaching a prison camp. If those 70,000 Americans had continued to fight, they could have provided time for the United States to build and maneuver its forces, perhaps shortening the war and saving even more lives. Some of them would have likely survived the war. If they had all died in battle their fate would have been no worse.
During the early stages of the “Battle of the Bulge” American soldiers were massacred by the German troops who captured them.
During the Vietnam conflict many American Prisoners Of War were tortured daily for years by the Communist North Vietnamese. Many Americans died during the process. Only Officers (Airmen) held in North Vietnam were ever repatriated. Enlisted Americans captured in South Viet Nam were routinely tortured, mutilated and murdered by the Communists. As a combat soldier and knowing my fate should I be captured, it would have been better to have committed to fighting to the death.
In recent years, American troops captured by Islamic terrorists groups have virtually all been tortured and murdered in gruesome fashion. If I were fighting in the Middle East, I would make a similar vow and plan to fight to the death. Under no circumstances would I allow myself to be captured by our Islamic enemies.
Death by Government
RJ Rummel, who wrote the book, “Death by Government” states that prior to the 20th Century; 170 million civilians were murdered by their own governments. Historians tell us that during the 20th Century perhaps as many as 200 million civilians were murdered by their own governments.
Some of the Nations where the mass murder of civilians occurred during the 20th Century include Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, The Congo, Uganda, Armenia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nigeria, Laos, China, Cuba, Manchuria, Iraq, Iran, Biafra, Rwanda and many others. The slaughter of civilians by governments appears to be as common as not.
Most of these slaughters were only made possible by disarming the victims before killing them. Had these people resisted, their fate would have been no worse and perhaps better. Resistance is much more difficult after the government has already taken the means of resistance away from the people. Planned genocide has been the primary reason for weapon confiscation throughout history.
Jews and others who surrendered to the Nazis were murdered in slave labor camps by the millions. Had all the Jews in Europe resisted when the Nazis started rounding them up they could have made the Nazis pay an enormous price for the holocaust. The fact that Hitler confiscated guns in 1936 made resistance far less feasible.
Had the Jews in Germany resisted, the outcome may have been the same but the world would have learned about the holocaust years earlier and may have intervened. Most people would prefer to die fighting and trying to kill their oppressor, than be taken off to a death camp and starved to death or murdered in a gas chamber.
William Ayers, former leader of the Terrorist organization “The Weather Underground,” and close friend of Barack Obama, told his followers in the Weather Underground, “When we (Communist Revolutionaries) take over the United States, we will have to kill 25 million Americans.” He was referring to those who would never submit to a Communist takeover. Those who would refuse to deny and reject the Constitution would have to be murdered. If this sounds impossible, remember that Genocide by Government was the leading cause of death in the last Century.
Surrendering to Criminals
The “Onion Field Murder” in California was a wakeup call to Law Enforcement Officers everywhere. On March 9, 1963, two LAPD Officers were taken prisoner by two criminals. The Officers submitted to capture and gave up their weapons. They were driven to an onion field outside of Bakersfield.
One Officer was murdered while the other Officer managed to escape in a hail of gunfire. The surviving officer suffered serious psychological problems, having been unable to save his partner. As a result of this incident, the LAPD policy became, “You will fight no matter how bad things are.” “You will never ever surrender your weapons or yourself to a criminal.”
Consider the Ogden, Utah “Hi-Fi” murders. Read the book if you do not know the story. The manner in which the criminals murdered their young victims cannot be described here. Resistance might have been futile. Compliance was definitely and absolutely futile.
The courts in this country have ruled that the police have no legal obligation to protect anyone. Why do Law Enforcement Officials always tell civilians not to resist a criminal, while they tell their Officers to always resist and never surrender? Police administrators fear being sued by a civilian victim who gets hurt resisting. Furthermore, the police, like all government agencies derive their power by fostering dependence.
According to Professor John Lott’s study on the relationship between guns and crime, a victim who resists with a firearm is less likely to be hurt or killed than a victim who cooperates with his attacker. His book is titled “More Guns, Less Crime.”
The Doctor and his family in Connecticut complied and cooperated, meeting every demand of the home invasion robbers to whom they had surrendered. The Doctors wife and daughters were tortured, raped, doused with gasoline and burned alive. How did surrender and cooperation work out for them?
In another home invasion robbery, a kindly couple with 9 “adopted, special needs children,” surrendered to the robbers. The victims opened their safe and did not resist in any way. When the robbers where finished ransacking the home and terrifying the children, they shot both parents in the head several times before leaving. How did surrender and complete cooperation work out for them?
Handing over your life by surrendering to someone who is in the process of committing a violent crime against you is a form of suicide. Some survive but many do not. The monster gets to decide for you.
We have heard brutalized victims say, “The robber said that he would not hurt us if we cooperated.” Why would you believe anything that someone who is committing a crime against you says? He will be lying if he speaks. As they say in law enforcement, “If a criminal’s lips are moving while he is speaking, he is lying.” Criminals by definition are dishonest and should never be trusted or believed.
You have no doubt heard friends say, I would not resist a criminal, after all why would he kill me? This is stupid and naive. In law enforcement, they call these people “Victims by Choice” (VBC). There could be a long list of reasons why a criminal would kill you despite your cooperation.
You may be of a different race, thus a different tribe. Only members of his tribe are actually human in his mind. He may feel hatred toward you because you have more than he does. Gratification from being in a position of total power is reason enough for some.
Criminals are sometimes members of a Satanic Cult who worship death such as the “Night Stalker” in California. Eliminating a potential witness is often cited as a reason to kill a victim. Sometimes criminals simply enjoy causing suffering and death. There are people who are in fact, pure evil.
A victim who begs for mercy can give his attacker a tremendous feeling of power which many criminals seem to enjoy. You cannot expect mercy from someone who does not know what mercy is.
Resist!
We each have a duty to ourselves, our loved ones, our neighbors, our community, our city, our state and our country to resist criminals. Reasoning with a thug who believes that his failures are because of people just like you is not likely to be helpful. Pleading with a terrorist who has been taught from birth that his salvation depends on murdering people like you is a doomed plan. Resist!
Resist! His gun may not be real. After you are tied up it will not matter. His gun may not be loaded. After you are tied up it will not matter. He may not know how to operate his gun. After you are tied up it will not matter. Resist!
Statistically if you run and your assailant shoots at you he will miss. Statistically if you run and he shoots and hits you, you will not die. Bad guys shooting at the police miss 90 percent of the time. The odds are on your side. Better to die fighting in place than to be tied up, doused with gasoline and burned alive. There are things worse than death. Surrender to a criminal or a terrorist and you will learn what they are. Resist!
If you resist with a commitment to win you may well prevail, especially if you are armed and trained. If you lose it is still better to die fighting in place than to be taken prisoner and have your head cut off with a dull knife while your screams gurgle through your own blood as we have witnessed on numerous videos from the “Islamic practitioners of peace,” as well as the Mexican drug cartels.
Some who have refused to surrender.
History is filled with brave people who refused to surrender. Some of these men and woman have won their battles despite what seemed to be insurmountable odds. Others have gone down fighting and avoided being tortured to death. Some fought to the death to help or save others. Many have fought to the death for an idea or a belief.
When General Santa Ana (also the President of Mexico at the time) ordered 180 “Texicans” to surrender the Alamo, Col. Travis answered with “a cannon shot and a rebel yell.” Eventually General Santa Ana was able to build his troop strength to ten thousand. The Mexicans then swarmed the defenders and killed them all.
The battle of the Alamo delayed the Mexican Army long enough for Sam Huston to build his Texican Army, which met and defeated the Mexican Army and captured General Santa Ana. General Santa Ana traded Texas for his life and the sacrifices of the Alamo defenders changed history.
Frank Luke was a heroic aviator in WWI. Shot down and wounded he refused to surrender when confronted by a German patrol. He killed 4 German soldiers with his 1911 Pistol before being killed. Luke was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
When his unit was pinned down by German Machine Guns and all of the Officers and non-commissioned officers in his company were killed or wounded, Alvin York never considered surrendering. Instead, he attacked hundreds of German soldiers killing about 25 with his rifle and pistol and then captured 132 others by himself!
Most of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto (Poland) surrendered to the German Army. They were taken off to death camps and murdered. Between 400 and 1,000 Jews refused to surrender and armed with only a few pistols, revolvers and rifles, they held off the German Army for three months before dying in battle.
During the “Battle of the Bulge,” the 101st Airborne was surrounded by the German Army and ordered to surrender. Faced with overwhelming odds, the Commanding Officer of the 101st sent this reply to the Germans. “Nuts.” The Americans refused to surrender and they stopped the German advance. Most of the Americans troops survived.
On Sept 2, 2010, 40 armed criminals took over and robbed a train in India. Some of the robbers had guns, others used knives and clubs. When they began to disrobe an 18 year old girl for the purpose of gang raping her, one of the passengers decided to fight. He was a 35 year old retired Gurkha soldier. He drew his Khukasri Knife and attacked the 40 robbers. He killed three of the robbers and wounded 8 more despite his being wounded in this 20 minute fight. The remaining criminals fled for their lives leaving their stolen loot and eleven comrades dead or wounded on the floor of the train. The eight wounded robbers were arrested.
How does one man defeat 40? How does he summon the courage to fight such odds? He utilized all of the Principles of Personal Defense: Alertness, Decisiveness, Aggressiveness, Speed, Coolness, Ruthlessness, and Surprise. He was skilled in the use of his weapon. Most importantly, He refused to be a victim and allow evil to triumph!
If this one inspirational soldier can defeat 40 opponents using his knife, it would seem that we should all be able to defeat a group of armed criminals by using our firearms if we are professionally trained as was this heroic Gurkha soldier.
The first phase of surrender is failing to be armed, trained and committed to fight. We are prepared to surrender when we are unprepared to resist. The second phase of surrender is failing to be alert. You must see trouble coming in order to have time to respond. The warning may be less than one second but it will be there and it must be recognized and acted upon immediately.
The Third phase of surrender is giving up your weapons.
The last phase of surrender is up to the monsters who have taken control of your life and perhaps the lives of your loved ones. The last phase of surrender is out of your hands.
How will you respond if you are confronted by evil as some of us have been in the past and some of us will be in the future? If you have not decided ahead of time what you will do, you will likely do nothing. Those who fight back often win and survive. Those who surrender never win and often die a horrible death. Have you made your decision? Remember, no decision is a decision to do nothing.
I could not just cower in a corner. I don’t consider myself a violent person but from some of my experiences I would say that I could not just give up and hope it all turns out alright. Hope is not a strategy. Surrender is not a tactic.
Learn from history. Do not repeat it. Find it within yourself to not be a victim. Decide now to not let someone else decide your fate. Find a weapon or defense system that works for you. Get trained. Practice. Help others to learn. Be a force for good in this world. Learn and practice situational awareness. Be prepared not paranoid. Understand that I’m not saying fight for your purse or even your car. If someone tries to take you, resist. If they invade your home, resist. If they want your wallet, surrender your wallet. If they want you, you do not surrender. Have your wits about you to know when you should fight.
This is not intended to be legal or authoritive advice. You must decide for yourself.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
You Know You're A Concealed Carry Nut When...
You know you’re a concealed carry nut when…
The people you’ve been with many times for many hours just realized you carry! (You’re a CC God!)
You buy your pants an inch too big in the waist.
You worry about printing! (No one can see, they’re far too interested in their own lives and phones!)
You hate safeties unless they are on 1911’s.
You take a knee instead of bending over to pick up something. (Don’t want to print!)
You smile at a “no guns allowed sign” that does not have force of law. (Many states have specifics for no guns signs. If they are not within that law, the law cannot enforce the establishments policy)
You hate California.
You sweat like a pig because you wore “this hot thing” in too warm of weather. (Why did the weatherman say it would be 65 degrees when it’s 80!?)
You hate the name “Brady”.
You actually care which business are pro or anti-gun.
You have a reciprocity map app on your phone.
You have a day time caliber and a night time caliber.
You won’t get too close to someone who is hugging you. (They might feel my gun!)
You have ammo dedicated to the season.
You plan road trips around states that honor your permit.
Your wife watches people, and you watch to see who’s carrying.
Your wife asks if what she’s wearing makes her look big, you ask if what you’re wearing prints.
You recognize cover and concealment whenever you walk into a building.
You have a drawer full of holsters at home.
You buy holsters like your wife buys shoes.
Your first holster was an Uncle Mike’s.
You breathe a sigh of relief when you see the object inside the red circle-slash is just a cigarette.
You have more guns than friends.
You put on a paddle holster to grab the paper.
You own reloading dies for guns you don’t have. (Yet!)
You can’t really remember how many guns you have!
You identify the gun on the cover of Dillon’s Precision catalog cover before you see the girl.
You carry a spare backup gun and a spare magazine for your backup gun…
You carry a gun that cost more than your pickup.
You hear someone say "It's about 9:45" and you think to yourself "Good grief, the 9mm/.45 debate will never end!"
You’ve ever written a smug blog post about how other people need to get over themselves about concealed carry. …Hey!
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
The people you’ve been with many times for many hours just realized you carry! (You’re a CC God!)
You buy your pants an inch too big in the waist.
You worry about printing! (No one can see, they’re far too interested in their own lives and phones!)
You hate safeties unless they are on 1911’s.
You take a knee instead of bending over to pick up something. (Don’t want to print!)
You smile at a “no guns allowed sign” that does not have force of law. (Many states have specifics for no guns signs. If they are not within that law, the law cannot enforce the establishments policy)
You hate California.
You sweat like a pig because you wore “this hot thing” in too warm of weather. (Why did the weatherman say it would be 65 degrees when it’s 80!?)
You hate the name “Brady”.
You actually care which business are pro or anti-gun.
You have a reciprocity map app on your phone.
You have a day time caliber and a night time caliber.
You won’t get too close to someone who is hugging you. (They might feel my gun!)
You have ammo dedicated to the season.
You plan road trips around states that honor your permit.
Your wife watches people, and you watch to see who’s carrying.
Your wife asks if what she’s wearing makes her look big, you ask if what you’re wearing prints.
You recognize cover and concealment whenever you walk into a building.
You have a drawer full of holsters at home.
You buy holsters like your wife buys shoes.
Your first holster was an Uncle Mike’s.
You breathe a sigh of relief when you see the object inside the red circle-slash is just a cigarette.
You have more guns than friends.
You put on a paddle holster to grab the paper.
You own reloading dies for guns you don’t have. (Yet!)
You can’t really remember how many guns you have!
You identify the gun on the cover of Dillon’s Precision catalog cover before you see the girl.
You carry a spare backup gun and a spare magazine for your backup gun…
You carry a gun that cost more than your pickup.
You hear someone say "It's about 9:45" and you think to yourself "Good grief, the 9mm/.45 debate will never end!"
You’ve ever written a smug blog post about how other people need to get over themselves about concealed carry. …Hey!
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Sunday, October 11, 2015
The Guns of The United States Border Patrol
H&K P2000 .40 cal. 12 round mags. Remington 870. By Wilson Combat. Colt M4 (M16)
Bill Jordan asst chief patrol inspector. (1911- 1997)S&W model 19 .357 Marine Corps vet of WWII and Korea retired Col. Using a double action revolver, Bill Jordan was recorded drawing, firing and hitting his target in .27 of a second.
The first of the many recent additions to the Heckler & Koch handgun line, the P2000 and incorporate features of the successful HK USP Compact pistol with the latest innovations of HK engineers. A refinement of a design created for several European police agencies, the P2000 is available with a traditional double-action/single-action trigger mode and the LEM/CDA (Law Enforcement Modification, also known as Combat Defense Action) trigger system first introduced in 2001 on the USP Compact "LEM" model.
The HK Law Enforcement Modification trigger system combines the advantages of a cocked striker component (constant level of trigger pull from first to last round fired) with a double-action hammer system.
Developed especially for a U.S. government agency, the Law Enforcement Modification (or LEM for short), is a unique trigger mechanism created specifically to improve the trigger performance and reduce the weight of the Double-Action Only (DAO) trigger pull on HK pistols.
With this mechanism, HK pistols can be fired like a standard DAO semi-automatic pistol where every round is fired by simply pulling the trigger fully rearward with the hammer starting at the forward rest position. The design of the proprietary HK LEM system allows the weight of the DAO trigger pull to be reduced to a smooth and constant 6.18 - 8.5 pounds because the two-part hammer is pre-cocked every time the slide moves rearward. Trigger pull on conventional double action pistols is 12 - 15 pounds.
The unique LEM pre-cocked hammer system combines the advantages of a cocked striker component (constant level of trigger pull and short trigger travel from first to last round fired) with a double action hammer system. Optional adjustment (by HK certified armorer) can bring the trigger pull into the 5.5 pound range.
Using such an enhanced trigger system consolidates ease of use and safety into a convenient, innovative trigger operation — one that prevents unintended firing. And in case of an ammunition-related failure to fire, all that is needed is an additional second or third pull of the trigger without the need of first pulling the slide back to re-cock the P2000. The enhanced LEM trigger system combines the reliability of a double action revolver trigger with the crisp, precise trigger of a single action pistol. I had the opportunity to fire this weapon through the graciousness of BP agent and I can say, I love the action.
The reputation of the Remington 870 speaks for itself. It has been used by law enforcement and military since 1950.
If the Model 870™ were introduced today, it would be hailed as a major advance in pump-action shotgun design - the ultimate in strength, durability, silky-smooth bind-free action, and classical lines.
Yet this remarkable shotgun has been around for almost half a century, and has become the best-selling shotgun of any type in history, with over ten million made.
The Colt M4 name speaks for itself.
Throughout the world today, the Colt M4’s reliability, performance, and accuracy provide joint coalition forces with the confidence required to accomplish any mission.
Designed specifically for lightweight mobility, speed of target acquisition, and potent firepower capability - the M4 delivers. The M4 can be comfortably carried, yet be instantly available to provide the level of firepower, dependability and accuracy of a 5.56mm rifle. Proven in military combat operations all over the world, it is in a class by itself as a first rate combat weapon system. The Colt M4 Carbine serves as the United States Armed Forces’ weapon of choice and the weapon of the 21st century warfighter.
The Colt M4 is the ONLY 5.56mm carbine in the world today that is manufactured to meet or exceed the stringent performance specifications (MILSPEC) required for acceptance and use by the U.S. Armed Forces.
I have known personally many Border Patrol agents. They are exemplary in their defense of this country and in protecting our borders. The worst thing is they work for a government that constantly betrays them and ties their hands in their work. They have the most dangerous job in law enforcement and they discharge their duties with integrity. Having lived on the border I have had to go through many BP checkpoints. I feel the professionalism of these agents is shown in that thankless job daily. Most agents are top notch and respect US citizens.
Pres. Obama's plan, carried out by Attorney General Eric Holder, "Fast and Furious", ended with a dead Border Patrol agent, Brian Terry. Brian gave his life in defense of this country and was killed with a gun from our very own United States government.
I hope that we never will forget Brian Terry and the way our government, including the White House, betrayed Brian and an organization that assists in the defense of this country.
Remember Brian Terry and the brave agents of the Border Patrol.
Remember Brian Terry and the brave agents of the Border Patrol.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Saturday, October 10, 2015
The Man Behind The Man: Jonathan Browning
You know about John Moses Browning, but do you know about his Dad Jonathan? He had a great influence on his son and what his son was to become.
Jonathan was born in Tennessee in 1805 at the same time Lewis and Clark were exploring the Louisiana Purchase. As a teenager he apprenticed as a gunsmith, started his own shop and was building a successful business. After joining the LDS Church (Mormons) he moved with them to Illinois where he built his shop.
He invented a sliding breech repeating rifle often called a "slide gun" or a "harmonica gun" sometime between 1834 and 1842 while living in Quincy, Illinois. These rifles were the precursors to today's high-capacity magazine firearms. With a solid block of metal to hold multiple loads, they were a bit heavy for sure. His business success in Quincy lead to his high regard in the community and soon he was elected as the justice of the peace. During this time he met a young lawyer by the name of Abraham Lincoln who reportedly was an overnight guest in his home at least two times.
He moved from Quincy to Nauvoo to be closer to the gathering place of the Mormons and continued building and repairing guns in Nauvoo until persecution drove the Mormons out of Illinois -- which began the Great Mormon Migration to what would eventually become Utah.
He was devout about his religion and his firearms. Guns made by him during this time were each marked with the words "Holiness to the Lord - Our Preservation."
Jonathan did not cross the plains with the early groups of pioneers, but stayed behind in the temporary city of Kanesville (Council Bluffs) at the request of Brigham Young. This assignment was to outfit and equip the pioneers as they headed west over the next few years. In 1852 Brigham Young called him to Utah where he settled in Ogden, just north of Salt Lake City. Today it's about a 15 minute drive from Ogden to Browning's headquarters in Morgan.
Jonathan lead a very successful life in Ogden as a businessman, a gunsmith and in public service. He was a family man at his core.
His son, John Moses Browning worked at his gunshop and store from an early age. And it was there, in 1878, under his father's supervision that John Moses Browning invented his first rifle: The Browning Single Shot. It later became known as the Winchester 1885 or the B-78. The Winchester 1885 is still in production today.
Just a year after his son invented the Single Shot Jonathan Browning passed away in Ogden, Utah. And the rest, as they say, is history.
JONATHAN BROWNING was the son of Edmund and Sarah Allen, and was born October 22, 1805, at Brushby Fork of Bledsoe Creek, near Nashville, Sumner County, Tennessee. In his youth he was steady, thoughtful and devoted to the acquisition of useful knowledge. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Stalcup, November 9, 1826, and there were twelve children born to them, as follows: Sarah A, David E., Barbara J., John W., James A., Asenath E., Martha C., Mary M., Nancy L., Emma E., Jonathan A. and Melinda V.
In 1834 he moved with his family from Tennessee, locating in Adams County, Illinois, where he invested largely in land, and carried on agricultural pursuits in connection with his trade, gun and blacksmith. In 1842 he moved to Nauvoo, he having previously been converted to Mormonism. Here he built a nice two story brick residence, gunsmith shop, etc., on Main Street, which lie subsequently left without a cent's renumeration, emigrating west, in 1846 [along with] the general Mormon exodus from Nauvoo.
He settled and remained in Western Iowa, near Council Bluffs (then called Kanesville) on the Missouri bottoms, close to the little village (of Indian traders) called Sarpy's Point. Here he engaged in manufacturing guns, wagons, etc., making several improvements and inventions in firearms. He also carried on farming, and discharged the duties of magistrate, which office he had previously held in the states he had left.
Many years after his demise an old gentleman from Idaho sent his family a copy of the Frontier Guardian, published in Kanesville, Iowa, September 19, 1849, in which was the following advertisement:
"GUNSMITHING. The subscriber is prepared to manufacture, to order, improved Fire-arms, viz: revolving rifles and pistols; also slide guns, from 5 to 25 shooters. All on an improved plan, and he thinks not equalled this far east. (Farther west they might be.) The emigrating and sporting community are invited to call and examine Browning's improved fire-arms before purchasing elsewhere. Shop eight miles south of Kanesville on Musquito Creek, half a mile south of Trading Point. JONATHAN BROWNING."
In 1852 he resumed his journey, crossing the plains, of three months' travel, by ox teams. He was captain of a company in crossing the plains, and being an expert marksman, he frequently furnished the camp with meat from the vast quantities of buffalo along their route of travel.
Arriving in Utah, October 2, 1858, Jonathan Browning settled in Ogden, where he continued to reside until the time of his demise.
On March 17, 1854, he married Elizabeth C. Clark, and there were born to them three children, viz.: Elizabeth C., John M. and Matthew S.
On March 29, 1858, he married Ann Emmett and there were born to them seven children, viz.: Jonathan E., T. Samuel, William W., Olive A., George E., Benjamin F. and Susan 0.
In the history of Ogden City he is recorded as one of its founders and principal business men and property owners. Much of the real estate on the principal business street now known as Washington Avenue, once belonged to Jonathan Browning. He owned four city lots on the west side of this street, beginning at what is now known as the Eccles Building, and running south to where the Egyptian Theater now stands, and where some of the finest buildings of the city have since been erected.
During his residence in Ogden City he held many civil and ecclesiastical offices. He also, at an early age in manhood, before he gathered with the Mormon people, was a representative man in society, he having been a justice of the peace in Sumner County, Tennessee. Soon after his arrival in Ogden he was elected a member of the Ogden City Council. He also held the various positions of justice of the peace, probate judge of Weber County, and member of the Legislature of Utah.
In the ecclesiastical sphere he was a bishop's counselor, member of the High Council, and president of the High Priests Quorum. In all his official capacities Jonathan Browning proved himself to be a man of honor, truth and integrity.
When you pick up your 1911 and admire this great design and style of weapon, remember Jonathan Browning, father of gun maker John Moses Browning, the man behind the gunmaker.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Jonathan was born in Tennessee in 1805 at the same time Lewis and Clark were exploring the Louisiana Purchase. As a teenager he apprenticed as a gunsmith, started his own shop and was building a successful business. After joining the LDS Church (Mormons) he moved with them to Illinois where he built his shop.
He invented a sliding breech repeating rifle often called a "slide gun" or a "harmonica gun" sometime between 1834 and 1842 while living in Quincy, Illinois. These rifles were the precursors to today's high-capacity magazine firearms. With a solid block of metal to hold multiple loads, they were a bit heavy for sure. His business success in Quincy lead to his high regard in the community and soon he was elected as the justice of the peace. During this time he met a young lawyer by the name of Abraham Lincoln who reportedly was an overnight guest in his home at least two times.
He moved from Quincy to Nauvoo to be closer to the gathering place of the Mormons and continued building and repairing guns in Nauvoo until persecution drove the Mormons out of Illinois -- which began the Great Mormon Migration to what would eventually become Utah.
He was devout about his religion and his firearms. Guns made by him during this time were each marked with the words "Holiness to the Lord - Our Preservation."
Jonathan did not cross the plains with the early groups of pioneers, but stayed behind in the temporary city of Kanesville (Council Bluffs) at the request of Brigham Young. This assignment was to outfit and equip the pioneers as they headed west over the next few years. In 1852 Brigham Young called him to Utah where he settled in Ogden, just north of Salt Lake City. Today it's about a 15 minute drive from Ogden to Browning's headquarters in Morgan.
Jonathan lead a very successful life in Ogden as a businessman, a gunsmith and in public service. He was a family man at his core.
His son, John Moses Browning worked at his gunshop and store from an early age. And it was there, in 1878, under his father's supervision that John Moses Browning invented his first rifle: The Browning Single Shot. It later became known as the Winchester 1885 or the B-78. The Winchester 1885 is still in production today.
Just a year after his son invented the Single Shot Jonathan Browning passed away in Ogden, Utah. And the rest, as they say, is history.
JONATHAN BROWNING was the son of Edmund and Sarah Allen, and was born October 22, 1805, at Brushby Fork of Bledsoe Creek, near Nashville, Sumner County, Tennessee. In his youth he was steady, thoughtful and devoted to the acquisition of useful knowledge. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Stalcup, November 9, 1826, and there were twelve children born to them, as follows: Sarah A, David E., Barbara J., John W., James A., Asenath E., Martha C., Mary M., Nancy L., Emma E., Jonathan A. and Melinda V.
In 1834 he moved with his family from Tennessee, locating in Adams County, Illinois, where he invested largely in land, and carried on agricultural pursuits in connection with his trade, gun and blacksmith. In 1842 he moved to Nauvoo, he having previously been converted to Mormonism. Here he built a nice two story brick residence, gunsmith shop, etc., on Main Street, which lie subsequently left without a cent's renumeration, emigrating west, in 1846 [along with] the general Mormon exodus from Nauvoo.
He settled and remained in Western Iowa, near Council Bluffs (then called Kanesville) on the Missouri bottoms, close to the little village (of Indian traders) called Sarpy's Point. Here he engaged in manufacturing guns, wagons, etc., making several improvements and inventions in firearms. He also carried on farming, and discharged the duties of magistrate, which office he had previously held in the states he had left.
Many years after his demise an old gentleman from Idaho sent his family a copy of the Frontier Guardian, published in Kanesville, Iowa, September 19, 1849, in which was the following advertisement:
"GUNSMITHING. The subscriber is prepared to manufacture, to order, improved Fire-arms, viz: revolving rifles and pistols; also slide guns, from 5 to 25 shooters. All on an improved plan, and he thinks not equalled this far east. (Farther west they might be.) The emigrating and sporting community are invited to call and examine Browning's improved fire-arms before purchasing elsewhere. Shop eight miles south of Kanesville on Musquito Creek, half a mile south of Trading Point. JONATHAN BROWNING."
In 1852 he resumed his journey, crossing the plains, of three months' travel, by ox teams. He was captain of a company in crossing the plains, and being an expert marksman, he frequently furnished the camp with meat from the vast quantities of buffalo along their route of travel.
Arriving in Utah, October 2, 1858, Jonathan Browning settled in Ogden, where he continued to reside until the time of his demise.
On March 17, 1854, he married Elizabeth C. Clark, and there were born to them three children, viz.: Elizabeth C., John M. and Matthew S.
On March 29, 1858, he married Ann Emmett and there were born to them seven children, viz.: Jonathan E., T. Samuel, William W., Olive A., George E., Benjamin F. and Susan 0.
In the history of Ogden City he is recorded as one of its founders and principal business men and property owners. Much of the real estate on the principal business street now known as Washington Avenue, once belonged to Jonathan Browning. He owned four city lots on the west side of this street, beginning at what is now known as the Eccles Building, and running south to where the Egyptian Theater now stands, and where some of the finest buildings of the city have since been erected.
During his residence in Ogden City he held many civil and ecclesiastical offices. He also, at an early age in manhood, before he gathered with the Mormon people, was a representative man in society, he having been a justice of the peace in Sumner County, Tennessee. Soon after his arrival in Ogden he was elected a member of the Ogden City Council. He also held the various positions of justice of the peace, probate judge of Weber County, and member of the Legislature of Utah.
In the ecclesiastical sphere he was a bishop's counselor, member of the High Council, and president of the High Priests Quorum. In all his official capacities Jonathan Browning proved himself to be a man of honor, truth and integrity.
When you pick up your 1911 and admire this great design and style of weapon, remember Jonathan Browning, father of gun maker John Moses Browning, the man behind the gunmaker.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Friday, October 9, 2015
Abraham Lincoln and Guns
On an August afternoon in 1863, Christopher Spencer made his way to the White House with a rifle in hand.
The gun he was carrying, and which he had invented, was significantly different from traditional rifles of the time that could only be fired once before having to be reloaded. The new Spencer Repeating rifle could be loaded with seven cartridges in a tubular magazine and featured a lever under the trigger. When the lever was pushed down and then brought back up, the spent casing of the round that was fired was ejected and a new round was automatically fed into the chamber.
Upon arriving at the White House, Spencer, President Lincoln and a naval aide walked over to a small park near the Treasury Building where the aide set up a makeshift pine board target so that Lincoln could test the new rifle himself. Repeatedly hitting the target, Lincoln was impressed with the accuracy, rapid-fire and multi-shot capabilities of the Spencer and immediately recommended the rifle to the Army. Soon tens of thousands of Spencer rifles were being delivered to Union troops.
While the Spencer Repeating Arms Company founded after the war, lever-action rifles, notably those produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, became tremendously popular rifles among pioneers, hunters and homesteaders for the very same reasons they were popular among the troops in the Civil War. More compact, lighter, and easier to handle, they offered the owner quick and multiple shots before reloading.
One of President Theodore Roosevelt’s favorite hunting rifles was a Winchester lever-action Model 1895.
If the anti-gun movement had been active in the late 19th century, they may have labeled such rapid-fire, high capacity magazine rifles as the “assault weapons” of their day. And it would have been as inaccurate then as it is today to label a civilian sporting rifle an “assault weapon.”
For well over a century, many of our most popular sporting rifles have directly evolved from a service rifle of a particular era. Battlefield requirements in a rifle such as accuracy, ruggedness, reliability and fast follow-up shots are features equally sought by hunters and target shooters.
The bolt-action center fire rifle, for many decades America’s classic deer hunting rifle, is a descendent of the First World War battle rifle, the 1903 Springfield. The bolt-action of the Springfield offered smooth and rapid cycling of the action and allowed for the use of a more powerful cartridge, the .30 06, accurate at ranges out to 1000 yards. More than a hundred years later, the .30 06 remains as America’s most popular big game hunting cartridge.
The first semi-automatic (one shot per pull of the trigger) U.S. service rifle, the Springfield .30 M-1, popularly known as the Garand, saw service initially in the Second World War. Not long after the war, a wide range of semi-automatic hunting rifles as well as semi-automatic shotguns were developed by sporting arms manufacturers and have gained widespread popularity among both hunters and clay target shooters.
Today, the AR-15 looks like the M-16 service rifle that first saw combat in Vietnam. To be sure, the AR-15 does not look like a traditional sporting rifle. Neither, in their time, did the Spencer or the Springfield. What the AR-15 does look like is the latest iteration of a modern rifle that employs advanced technology and ergonomic design to produce an exceptionally reliable, rugged and accurate sporting rifle. Produced in different configurations and chambered in a variety of calibers, AR-type rifles not only can be used for, indeed are exceptionally well suited to, many types of hunting, precision target shooting as well as personal protection. In recent years, AR-type rifles have become among the most popular sporting rifles sold in the United States.
Unfortunately, some anti-gun organizations have worked hard to mislead the public by calling the civilian versions of service rifles, “assault weapons.” This anti-gun strategy is a clever ploy, much in the same way that prohibitionists labeled alcoholic beverages, “demon rum.” True “assault weapons” are in fact light machine guns capable of fully automatic fire. Machine guns of all types have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.
While AR-type rifles do look different, they function the same way as models of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns (one shot per pull of the trigger) that have been in the sporting marketplace for many decades.
From the Kentucky rifle to the most modern sporting arm, accuracy has always been the hallmark of the American rifle. Accuracy should too be the hallmark of any firearms debate.
I have been around guns my entire life. I’ve plinked, hunted, competed, and instructed with a gun. I’m not sure about this “gun culture” that progressives talk about. I’ve had a car longer than I’ve had a gun but I don’t hear about a “car culture”. I believe, as did our founding fathers, that guns are what make Americans different. With a gun we became a nation. Guns protect our President and they protect this country. Guns keep tyrants from trying to take over. During World War II Japan chose to not invade mainland United States because they believed every American would fight and were armed. They were right.
I love that guns are part of history.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
The gun he was carrying, and which he had invented, was significantly different from traditional rifles of the time that could only be fired once before having to be reloaded. The new Spencer Repeating rifle could be loaded with seven cartridges in a tubular magazine and featured a lever under the trigger. When the lever was pushed down and then brought back up, the spent casing of the round that was fired was ejected and a new round was automatically fed into the chamber.
Upon arriving at the White House, Spencer, President Lincoln and a naval aide walked over to a small park near the Treasury Building where the aide set up a makeshift pine board target so that Lincoln could test the new rifle himself. Repeatedly hitting the target, Lincoln was impressed with the accuracy, rapid-fire and multi-shot capabilities of the Spencer and immediately recommended the rifle to the Army. Soon tens of thousands of Spencer rifles were being delivered to Union troops.
While the Spencer Repeating Arms Company founded after the war, lever-action rifles, notably those produced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, became tremendously popular rifles among pioneers, hunters and homesteaders for the very same reasons they were popular among the troops in the Civil War. More compact, lighter, and easier to handle, they offered the owner quick and multiple shots before reloading.
One of President Theodore Roosevelt’s favorite hunting rifles was a Winchester lever-action Model 1895.
If the anti-gun movement had been active in the late 19th century, they may have labeled such rapid-fire, high capacity magazine rifles as the “assault weapons” of their day. And it would have been as inaccurate then as it is today to label a civilian sporting rifle an “assault weapon.”
For well over a century, many of our most popular sporting rifles have directly evolved from a service rifle of a particular era. Battlefield requirements in a rifle such as accuracy, ruggedness, reliability and fast follow-up shots are features equally sought by hunters and target shooters.
The bolt-action center fire rifle, for many decades America’s classic deer hunting rifle, is a descendent of the First World War battle rifle, the 1903 Springfield. The bolt-action of the Springfield offered smooth and rapid cycling of the action and allowed for the use of a more powerful cartridge, the .30 06, accurate at ranges out to 1000 yards. More than a hundred years later, the .30 06 remains as America’s most popular big game hunting cartridge.
The first semi-automatic (one shot per pull of the trigger) U.S. service rifle, the Springfield .30 M-1, popularly known as the Garand, saw service initially in the Second World War. Not long after the war, a wide range of semi-automatic hunting rifles as well as semi-automatic shotguns were developed by sporting arms manufacturers and have gained widespread popularity among both hunters and clay target shooters.
Today, the AR-15 looks like the M-16 service rifle that first saw combat in Vietnam. To be sure, the AR-15 does not look like a traditional sporting rifle. Neither, in their time, did the Spencer or the Springfield. What the AR-15 does look like is the latest iteration of a modern rifle that employs advanced technology and ergonomic design to produce an exceptionally reliable, rugged and accurate sporting rifle. Produced in different configurations and chambered in a variety of calibers, AR-type rifles not only can be used for, indeed are exceptionally well suited to, many types of hunting, precision target shooting as well as personal protection. In recent years, AR-type rifles have become among the most popular sporting rifles sold in the United States.
Unfortunately, some anti-gun organizations have worked hard to mislead the public by calling the civilian versions of service rifles, “assault weapons.” This anti-gun strategy is a clever ploy, much in the same way that prohibitionists labeled alcoholic beverages, “demon rum.” True “assault weapons” are in fact light machine guns capable of fully automatic fire. Machine guns of all types have been severely restricted from civilian ownership since 1934.
While AR-type rifles do look different, they function the same way as models of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns (one shot per pull of the trigger) that have been in the sporting marketplace for many decades.
From the Kentucky rifle to the most modern sporting arm, accuracy has always been the hallmark of the American rifle. Accuracy should too be the hallmark of any firearms debate.
I have been around guns my entire life. I’ve plinked, hunted, competed, and instructed with a gun. I’m not sure about this “gun culture” that progressives talk about. I’ve had a car longer than I’ve had a gun but I don’t hear about a “car culture”. I believe, as did our founding fathers, that guns are what make Americans different. With a gun we became a nation. Guns protect our President and they protect this country. Guns keep tyrants from trying to take over. During World War II Japan chose to not invade mainland United States because they believed every American would fight and were armed. They were right.
I love that guns are part of history.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Active Shooter "Training"
I work on a federal installation so there is a lot of training that we receive every year. I just went through an Active Shooter training class again. This is something that we get annually and so I’ve been through it before. One of the requirements is to watch a video called “Run, Hide, Fight” which you may have seen before.
http://youtu.be/5VcSwejU2D0
This video is not too bad and it contains some good advice. The problem I have with the government is they tend to be myopic in their training. After this training I talked with the instructor whom I have met at my shooting range from time to time. He and I decided that the video gives good advice, but it should be taken with a grain of salt. Reality does not always happen the way the video depicts. Sometimes run, hide, fight might be appropriate, but clearly it is not the best plan for ALL active shooter events. While discussing this with the instructor he sent me some interesting research. Ron Borsch, an ex-paratrooper, ex-swat member, retired police officer, and now trainer, is the leading active shooter specialist. He did some research that should be reviewed in light of active shooter training.
Ron prefers the more descriptive term of “Rapid Mass Murder” over the traditionally-used terms like “active shooter” or “active killer”. Ron defines a “Rapid Mass Murder” (RMM) as “Four or more people being killed in less than 20 minutes in a public location.” That encompasses most active shooter events as well as includes events where the killer used a weapon other than a firearm.
Ron’s statistics through November indicate that 2012 will set a new record in numbers of RMMs. From 1975 through the Columbine massacre, “successful” and attempted RMMs in the US and abroad averaged one per year. Post-Columbine through 2010, the yearly average was four. Last year there were eight, and the total for 2012 through Thanksgiving was 9.
Some additional research you may find interesting (quoted directly from Ron’s newsletter):
WHO HAS BEEN STOPPING THE ACTIVE KILLER, AND HOW?
Before investing in any theory or propaganda, enlightened administrators and trainers should exclusively examine only successful aborts. “Stopping the killing” only occurs in slightly over half of “Rapid Mass Murder”© incidents. Significant, documented, verifiable, and repeatable research has identified what strategies and tactics work in stopping the killing. In summary, they are:
1. Citizens, mostly unarmed, perform two thirds of all “Rapid Mass Murder”© aborts.
2. In citizen aborts, initiation by a single citizen stops the killing eight out of ten times.
3. Law enforcement performs one third of all “Rapid Mass Murder”© aborts.
4. In law enforcement aborts, initiation by a single officer stops the killing seven out of 10 times.
Where do RMMs occur?
38% Schools, (Pre-school and K-12)
17% Colleges and Universities
10% Church/Religious facility
8% Restaurant/Coffee House
6% Mall/Shopping Center
4% Hospital/Nursing Home
3% Military Base/Facility, tied with Bus Stop/Train
Most Dangerous Months for RMMs
“Our Post-Columbine data indicates that March, (23%), and April (16%) have been the most dangerous months, followed by a 3rd place tie, (11%), between September and December. February and June were tied, (7%); July, August, October, and November were also tied, (5%). January was 6th, (3%), and May has been relatively safest in 7th or last place, (2%).”
In looking at Ron’s research, it is clear that time is of the essence in stopping an active shooter. Law enforcement need to be training in single officer response tactics. If a single unarmed citizen stops more than half of all rapid mass murders, why are cops (who have pistols, rifles, and armor) waiting outside until they can get a “team” to confront the shooter? They really need to change their thinking about that type of response. Some departments are.
Law enforcement (or someone) need to be providing armed citizens with “advanced CCW” classes that prepare them to deal with an active killer. There is far more likely to be an armed citizen already on the scene of a rapid mass murder than a uniformed cop. We need to empower those folks with the knowledge they need to neutralize the shooter. Citizens are already stopping more shooters than the police, why not give them a better chance?
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
http://youtu.be/5VcSwejU2D0
This video is not too bad and it contains some good advice. The problem I have with the government is they tend to be myopic in their training. After this training I talked with the instructor whom I have met at my shooting range from time to time. He and I decided that the video gives good advice, but it should be taken with a grain of salt. Reality does not always happen the way the video depicts. Sometimes run, hide, fight might be appropriate, but clearly it is not the best plan for ALL active shooter events. While discussing this with the instructor he sent me some interesting research. Ron Borsch, an ex-paratrooper, ex-swat member, retired police officer, and now trainer, is the leading active shooter specialist. He did some research that should be reviewed in light of active shooter training.
Ron prefers the more descriptive term of “Rapid Mass Murder” over the traditionally-used terms like “active shooter” or “active killer”. Ron defines a “Rapid Mass Murder” (RMM) as “Four or more people being killed in less than 20 minutes in a public location.” That encompasses most active shooter events as well as includes events where the killer used a weapon other than a firearm.
Ron’s statistics through November indicate that 2012 will set a new record in numbers of RMMs. From 1975 through the Columbine massacre, “successful” and attempted RMMs in the US and abroad averaged one per year. Post-Columbine through 2010, the yearly average was four. Last year there were eight, and the total for 2012 through Thanksgiving was 9.
Some additional research you may find interesting (quoted directly from Ron’s newsletter):
WHO HAS BEEN STOPPING THE ACTIVE KILLER, AND HOW?
Before investing in any theory or propaganda, enlightened administrators and trainers should exclusively examine only successful aborts. “Stopping the killing” only occurs in slightly over half of “Rapid Mass Murder”© incidents. Significant, documented, verifiable, and repeatable research has identified what strategies and tactics work in stopping the killing. In summary, they are:
1. Citizens, mostly unarmed, perform two thirds of all “Rapid Mass Murder”© aborts.
2. In citizen aborts, initiation by a single citizen stops the killing eight out of ten times.
3. Law enforcement performs one third of all “Rapid Mass Murder”© aborts.
4. In law enforcement aborts, initiation by a single officer stops the killing seven out of 10 times.
Where do RMMs occur?
38% Schools, (Pre-school and K-12)
17% Colleges and Universities
10% Church/Religious facility
8% Restaurant/Coffee House
6% Mall/Shopping Center
4% Hospital/Nursing Home
3% Military Base/Facility, tied with Bus Stop/Train
Most Dangerous Months for RMMs
“Our Post-Columbine data indicates that March, (23%), and April (16%) have been the most dangerous months, followed by a 3rd place tie, (11%), between September and December. February and June were tied, (7%); July, August, October, and November were also tied, (5%). January was 6th, (3%), and May has been relatively safest in 7th or last place, (2%).”
In looking at Ron’s research, it is clear that time is of the essence in stopping an active shooter. Law enforcement need to be training in single officer response tactics. If a single unarmed citizen stops more than half of all rapid mass murders, why are cops (who have pistols, rifles, and armor) waiting outside until they can get a “team” to confront the shooter? They really need to change their thinking about that type of response. Some departments are.
Law enforcement (or someone) need to be providing armed citizens with “advanced CCW” classes that prepare them to deal with an active killer. There is far more likely to be an armed citizen already on the scene of a rapid mass murder than a uniformed cop. We need to empower those folks with the knowledge they need to neutralize the shooter. Citizens are already stopping more shooters than the police, why not give them a better chance?
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
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