Seems to be generally accepted that listening to the police is A Good Thing.
I mean, these are the people actually out there, dealing with crime and criminals on a daily basis. They might know a thing or two. Certainly when your job causes you to get shot at on a semi-regular basis, you might know something more than someone that lives in an Ivory Tower surrounded by armed guards and never has to look violence in the eye every day.
Bottom Line Conclusions
Quite clearly, the majority of officers polled oppose the theories brought forth by gun-control advocates who claim that proposed restrictions on weapon capabilities and production would reduce crime.
In fact, many officers responding to this survey seem to feel that those controls will negatively affect their ability to fight violent criminals.
Contrary to what the mainstream media and certain politicians would have us believe, police overwhelmingly favor an armed citizenry, would like to see more guns in the hands of responsible people, and are skeptical of any greater restrictions placed on gun purchase, ownership, or accessibility.
The officers patrolling America’s streets have a deeply-vested interest — and perhaps the most relevant interest — in making sure that decisions related to controlling, monitoring, restricting, as well as supporting and/or prohibiting an armed populace are wise and effective. With this survey, their voice has been heard.
Well, it wasn’t the most glorious of 5/3/1 days, but it was acceptable. I know that next cycle will bring me back into Press PR territory (3×155). My shoulders are happier, my technique is better, so all is good.
Assistance work wasn’t as plentiful, but it did push me… so, take it for whatever it’s worth… and move on.
My upcoming deload will be short because my schedule got thrown off. So I’ll take it easy the rest of the week, and start cycle 19 next week.
This is the time of year where it’s awesome to be outside in Central Texas.
Come August, not so much. 😉
So we’ll enjoy the days on the range while we can. And this past Saturday was an ideal day. Temperatures were cool in the morning and mild in the afternoon, a slight breeze all day, sunny. Just a great day.
And so, we had another round of Basic Pistol 1, and also held AT-4 – Pistol Skills Development. AT-4 doesn’t happen all that often, but it’s a unique and interesting class where you get to do a lot of things you don’t do in any other class or can do at many other ranges. Truly a class worth taking.
So what’s my take-home from the day?
Basic Pistol 1
You know what stood out to me the most about that class?
Every student wasn’t just on time, but was early! We were even able to start class a few minutes early, which meant 1. we had more time for class material, 2. we got to wrap up on time.
Yes, unfortunately this is an exception, not the rule. Typically there’s always 1-2 “car loads” that are late, or show up right at start time and don’t calculate the time needed to park, walk in, gear up (depending upon the class), go into the building, hit the bathroom, wait for the person in line for the bathroom ahead of you, finally use the bathroom, orient yourself, take care of paperwork, etc.. Yes, lots of things need to happen before you can just sit and take in the class.
If class starts at 9:00? Aim to be there 15-30 minutes prior to the start time. You’ll be better off and have a better class experience.
I really appreciated this start to my day. Not only because in my own life I strive to be early to all my appointments, but because I know arrival time affects not just you but everyone else involved. So your arrival time to class affects not just your class experience, but the experience of the other students and the teachers as well. Granted, shit happens, Apple Maps gives you incorrect driving directions, and all that. I grant that happens. But I just have to express how tickled I was to have everyone there early and we started so smoothly.
Apart from that, the class itself was fine. Since Karl was at the helm, I took some additional notes and am working to refine my class presentation. I’ll be lead instructor on this class starting next month, so I want to have my act together. 🙂
AT-4
I didn’t get to participate much in the class. Karl’s working on an article and needs to gather data for it, so I got to be his data collector. I don’t want to expose too much of Karl’s article prior to publication, but I can say what I did was take each student individually to the small range and had them shoot a very simple course of fire using their gun and another gun. I recorded their times and hits. I wasn’t there to really teach them or test them, just have them perform the course of fire and record their performance.
That said, since I did get to see them perform, if I did notice something about their shooting that was a problem, I did mention it to them.
With only a couple exceptions, I saw much of the same problem: trigger yanking. One string of the COF was: from the ready, both hands on gun, 1 shot, body, 1.5 seconds. Very do-able, but certainly some pressure. So in a rush to get it all done, the gun got thrown out there, mash the shit out of the trigger, and get an unacceptable hit.
It goes along with what I saw at the start of class, when we had everyone on the line working dry. We had them just drawing, presenting, and “clicking off” a shot.
Let’s put it this way. For the sake of easy math, let’s say it takes you 0.5 seconds to press out and 0.5 seconds to press the trigger. If you perform these simultaneously, you will have taken 1 second to press out and shoot. If instead you do these simultaneously, which you can, it will have taken you 0.5 seconds to press out and shoot. So, you’ve performed essentially the same thing, achieved the same goal, and it took you half as much time. Notice however that you never moved faster (or slower) — the press out and trigger press moved at the same speed they always did. But by performing the tasks simultaneously, you moved more efficiently and the overall time taken was less.
So of course, imagine now if you then moved faster, how much better it could be. I mean, if you took the press out down to 0.25 and the trigger to 0.25, simultaneous becomes 0.25… so you know, it’s really a combination of truly moving faster and also moving simultaneously that brings about decreases in time expenditure.
Of what I saw in the AT-4 students, I think y’all need both.
I think you need to truly move faster when it comes to getting the gun out of the holster. When the buzzer sounds, when you hear the “B” in “BEEP”, you need to start moving. Anticipate the start of the buzzer, don’t wait for the buzzer to finish then move. As well, when you start moving, move really damn fast. Move your hands fast, clear your cover garment, get your hand on your gun, get the gun out of the holster. Move FAST. You have no time no waste, no time to lollygag. If your life is on the line, this matters. If it’s competition, it can mean the difference between winning and losing.
Watch this video of Ben Stoeger (shooting the FAST drill, which was shot during the AT-4 class… so compare your time to his time)
Watch carefully. His hand is on his gun and drawing it before the buzzer finishes. That’s fast. I’m not that fast, and I’m not saying you have to be that fast either, but it demonstrates the concept of getting on the gun, getting it out, and how doing THAT allows you to achieve better shot times.
So for things like drawing? Y’all just need to flat out move faster.
Then during the class dry practice, I would watch the press-out, and it would be a consecutive action: press out then press trigger. Here’s a place where you can gain “speed” by just moving simultaneously. I wrote enough on that above.
Here’s the thing. Everyone tries to beat the buzzer. From the moment the buzzer sounds, time is ticking and you know it. Because you didn’t start out fast, you now are feeling extra pressure because you know there’s not much time left, and so you rush everything and it all falls apart. Don’t rush. Instead, don’t waste time; use your time wisely and efficiently. If you move on the “B” in “BEEP”, if you work to get out of the holster faster, you will find that you have a lot more time to press the gun out and press the trigger. If you press the gun out and press the trigger in at the same time, you’ll get more done in less time. And y’know what’s weird? You’ll notice that you got done WAY before the second beep, you put up a great time, and you’ll find that you didn’t feel rushed at all. It’s a really weird feeling, but a really cool feeling too. It won’t feel like much effort, because now you didn’t rush: you were swift and efficient.
Again, I know of no gun owner that doesn’t want to solve the real problems. But so far there haven’t been any proposals that actually solve the real problems. We just keep getting crap laws like those being passed in New York, Connecticut, Maryland, Colorado, and now being proposed on the federal level. Again, if the ACLU thinks the wording of the bill is dangerous, perhaps y’all should listen.
I’ve been a card-carrying member of the ACLU in my past, and I still generally support them because we need groups like them. I wish they weren’t so pick-and-choose about what Constitutional rights they opt to support, but I’m still glad they’re here.
The story is that Tom was hosting Todd Louis Green at Rangemaster. Tom had been out and about, returned to the building, poked his head onto the range to see how things were going, and Todd had Tom shoot the FAST Drill. Tom shot it cold, in his street clothing (heavy coat on, must have been winter), with his carry gear.
He cleaned it in less than 6 seconds.
That’s about as good as you can shoot that test without gaming it (e.g. releasing the slide with the slide latch vs. doing an “over the top” grip rack, which Tom did and will only do).
And of course, Tom makes the point that he’s old and fat and still beats us all, so what’s our excuse! He’s right, you know.
His takeaway? Presentation is the key to being fast.
To paraphrase Dory: just keep lifting, just keep lifting….
Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 18, week 3
Work Set – Deadlift (working max: 375#)
1x5x150 (warmup)
1x5x190
1x3x230
1x5x285 (work)
1x3x325
1x4x365 (PR)
I was technically supposed to do 360#… but I kept staring at those 25# plates, and they were staring back at me. I also felt really damn good. So I went for the additional 5#.
I also tried going for a fifth rep, but it wasn’t going to happen — bar didn’t even leave the floor.
That’s fine. I’m happy with this. 4×365 is a nice PR.
Years ago I could never have envisioned this. Heck, just 2 years ago when I started lifting again, I didn’t think I’d get to this point. I didn’t think that deadlifting 400 would be within reach. But it is.
Didn’t bother with assistance work. I’ve got a short deload next week, plus I think I might want to “reset” my CBL and go low/no-carb for the next week. So, no need to kill myself — I need to recoup, and lots more deadlifting is very taxing on the CNS.
In remarks at the Denver Police Academy in Denver, Colo., [President Barack Obama] said that, after campaigning in rural Iowa, Michelle Obama told him, “You know, if I was living out on a farm in Iowa, I’d probably want a gun, too. When somebody just drives up into your driveway and you’re not home, you don’t know who these people are, you don’t know how long it’s going to take for the sheriffs to respond, I can see what you’d want some guns for protection.”
Are the Obama’s being well… not racist but classist? stereotyping “Iowa Rednecks” or Iowa as a scary place to live? elitist attitude? or is this simple ignorance? Are they saying guns are fine in rural areas, but not in cities? for rednecks but not cityfolk? or… what? I’m not sure what to make of the implications of their comments. But let’s just set that side and look at the plain words.
When someone drives up to your home…
You don’t know who these people are…
You don’t know how long it’s going to take for someone else to come and save you (because apparently your safety is someone else’s responsibility)…
well, in that case, they can see why people might want guns.
OK.
Well… all the people around you right now. Maybe not those immediately around you there at home or even the office (but perhaps even at the office, because I’m sure you don’t know everyone in your company or your building), but look at all those around you in the greater area. Heck, next time you go out to lunch or dinner, next time you’re out shopping, next time you’re at the gas station… do you know all those people? Do you know who they are?
Was there ever a time when some strange person drove into your driveway? Or came and knocked on your door?
Do you know how long it takes for your local law enforcement to arrive? You probably don’t. I’m not sure where this guy got his stats from, but you can see the average for these large cities runs about 10 minutes. That’s about par with my experience in Austin. Even if you don’t know the precise time, consider simple realities of time and space. There isn’t a cop standing right next to you right now, so that means if you want one, one has to travel to you. First, you have to have a way to communicate that you need one: so you or someone needs to dial 911, wait on hold, talk to an operator, explain what you need, they patch things through, depending how your 911 center is organized they might dispatch from there or the operator might have to relay your information to a dispatcher who then can send out the police… how many minutes did all this take before a cop was even starting to travel your way? Now they have to fight through traffic to get to you. Yeah sure they can turn on their lights, but I’m sure you’ve seen it — police car, fire truck, ambulance… lights and siren flashing, and it still takes them a while to get through an intersection because cars can’t or won’t get out of the way. All the while… the clock is ticking…. and your attacker continues their attack.
So… Mr. & Mrs. Obama….
What makes it about Iowa that can have guns (in your mind), but someone living in not-Iowa couldn’t? Don’t these things happen in The Big City too? Aren’t there strange people, willing to commit horrible acts, in cities too? Aren’t police in cities subject to the same rules of time and space and that it takes time to respond? I mean, not all of us are surrounded by Secret Service agents.
So please, explain to me the thinking behind your statement.
“I do like to have guns around,” she told Time’s Belinda Luscombe when asked if she shared her mother’s fondness for firearms. “I don’t like to carry them. But I like — if somebody is going to come into my house and I have not put out the welcome mat, I want to stop them.”
Apparently she’s used her guns too:
“Have you ever fired a weapon?” the interviewer asked.
“Of course!” Ms. Angelou affirmed. “I was in my house in North Carolina. It was fall. I heard someone walking on the leaves. And somebody actually turned the knob. So I said, “Stand four feet back because I’m going to shoot now!” Boom! Boom! The police came by and said, ‘Ms. Angelou, the shots came from inside the house.’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t know how that happened.’”
I’m not going to comment on Ms. Angelou’s tactics or legal proceedings, nor the misconceptions about home invasion realities vs. where crime (attacks) typically happen.
No… just let it sink in that Maya Angelou understands that guns have a place in the lives of private citizens. She understands that guns can be tools used for protection (she apparently inherited the love of guns from her mother, who the Time interviewer referred to as ‘her protector’). She obviously considers herself a good, law-abiding, upstanding citizen, and appreciates that she was able to have — and use — a gun for her personal protection.
I don’t know when her home-defense incident occurred, but relative to that date consider…
…it could have prevented I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings from ever existing.
…it could have prevented Ms. Angelou from speaking at President Clinton’s inauguration.
…it could have denied the world of a civil rights leader.
…she likely would not have received the Presidental Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2011.
…and the world would have lost one of its great writers, speakers, and influencers.
“When you start talking about 21 year-olds and college students, responsibility is the last thing on their minds,” Acevedo said. “With a lot of pressure and high campus suicide rates, the last thing we want to include in that environment, like a bar, is guns.”
So let me get this straight. A 21-year-old Texas resident gets a Texas CHL. To have that CHL apparently demonstrates the person is a responsible gun owner — a person of excellence, according to Chief Acevedo.
But if that 21-year-old is a college student, if they cross over into the magical fairyland bubble of the college campus… suddenly somehow responsibility degrades to becoming the last thing on their mind.
Apparently I’m failing to understand Mr. Acevedo’s logic.
Stuff From Hsoi 