Guns

Attempted range suicide?

/ hsoi

Wow… this is fucked up. Apparently yesterday a woman attempted to commit suicide at a local gun range.

Red’s Indoor Range is the only indoor range in Austin (there are 2 locations). I am closest to the south location, where the incident occurred, and go there on occasion. I actually don’t like to go there because I don’t like indoor ranges (too loud, too much crap to breathe in), and I don’t like how some of the clientele lacks gun handling discipline (it’s not fun having a gun pointed at you) and the “range officers” aren’t consistent about enforcement of rules. You also can’t do much practical shooting there: no drawing from holster, no movement, slow fire, can only use their approved targets, etc.. The guys that work there are generally nice tho. I do like the ease of adjusting distances and benchrest ability, good for checking the state of a gun, a scope zero, and so on. They also provide rental services, which is nice for new gun owners to be able to try before they buy. Red’s also provides a Ladies Day, which is a welcome thing. So like I said, I do go there on occasion, but try to keep it to weekday mornings if I do go.

Does the incident change how I’ll look at Red’s? No. The sad situation is this was a woman that was suicidal. She was crying out for help, crying out for attention, and was determined in her course of action. It is not Red’s fault (the owner, the employees, the store). It is not the fault of gun owners. It is not the fault of guns. I know there are those that use incidents like this to further their political agenda… the blood still flowing, the body still warm, and they jump at the opportunity to advance their politics. I think that’s distasteful and wrong, and it serves no constructive purpose. It was a woman in need of help, and if she recovers from her injuries I hope she’s able to get the help that she needs. 

If you’re into such things, say a prayer for all involved: the patrons that witnessed the event, the employees that have to deal with it, the store/range owner whose business will be adversely affected (i.e. affects his ability to provide for his family), the police and medical personnel exposed to it, and the woman and her family. I hope they can find peace.

CHL saves the day?

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

It’s a breaking news story… details are slim at this point, but it seems a Florida citizen with a concealed weapons permit foiled a robbery in a Miami Burger King. Another story here and here but apart from listing the CWP holder as a Good Samaritan, not much more detail.

We’ll see what comes of it.

Rules violation

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Looks like rules 1, 2, and 3 were violated here. Not that I’m necessarily broken up about what appears to be a top criminal learning what karma is all about, but it’s still demonstration how not following the rules leads to big trouble.

It’s also demonstration about how not to unload a semi-automatic firearm. To properly unload a semi-automatic firearm you:

  1. Point the muzzle in a safe direction (see NRA’s 3 rules for what “safe direction” means)
  2. Drop the magazine
  3. Pull back the slide to eject the chambered round.
  4. Visually (and perhaps tactically tactilely) check the chamber and the magazine well to ensure and verify no rounds are present and the gun is unloaded.

Updated: Looks like rules 1, 2, and 3 weren’t the only thing violated… adding drugs and alcohol to the mix too. TXGunGeek (in my comments), it looks like this falls under your “raving idiot” category. And yes I guess there is a reason to point a gun at your head and pull the trigger… to teach others how to be just as stupid as you.

Updated 2: Fixed my typo there… should be tactilely not tactically. Freudian slip? 😉

Apparently I’m doing ok

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Was out all day today, thus the lack of blog entries.

One thing I did today was “beta test” some handgun drills/tests. For an idea of what I’m talking about, check here (and the PDF files linked to on that page); those aren’t what I shot today, but it gives you an idea. It’s handgun shooting drills, timed, to assess knowledge and skills.

I have to admit, when I was told I was going to be beta testing the drills I got nervous. I was going to be watched, judged, my performance evaluated. *gulp*  Furthermore, I would be shooting with two other gentlemen whose experience and skills are far more vast than mine, so I was just hit with this feeling of pressure and nerves. But a few seconds after that all washed over me I said to myself: “Don’t worry about it. This isn’t a contest. This isn’t to compare you against them or anyone but yourself. Just shoot the best that you can shoot. Take your time and get hits. Be accurate. Don’t rush and try to shoot fast, even if the other guys can and do shoot faster than you, else you will mess up and shoot poorly. So, just stop being anxious and just shoot your best.”  Just had to let the wave of nerves and apprehension wash over me, then be washed off me. 🙂

We went out to shoot. I kept my mind calm and didn’t worry about anything. I’d shoot however I’d shoot, and as long as I didn’t work myself up I’d shoot fine. Just focus on that front sight, good trigger press, and that’s all you can do.

We shot the tests. If I remember correctly, I scored a 97%. Was I surprised? A little. I didn’t think I’d shoot that well. What surprised me was that I held my own with the other guys. Not that this was a competition or a need of an ego stroke, but that I’m my own worst critic. I will be hard on myself in assessing my skills, abilities, and knowledge in anything. These guys have always told me I shoot well, and while I never thought they were blowing smoke up my skirt, I didn’t think I was good enough. They might say “You shot that well”, but I knew what mistakes I made, I knew I could do better. But now to see me shoot and hold my own with these guys, it did show me my skills aren’t as bad as I think they are. These guys gave me a neutral measuring stick, so to speak, that I could measure myself against instead of just always telling myself “no not good enough”.  Note: I do believe these gentlemen could still outshoot me in competition, don’t get me wrong. 

I also know that I did shoot well on my own accord. I just kept to the fundamentals, e.g. “cleardistinctfrontsight-press-cleardistinctfrontsight”. I did NOT look at the target at all while shooting (it’s a habit I’m working to break); I kept my eyes focused on that front sight. Good trigger presses. Stayed relaxed and calm, focused on nothing but myself and my shooting. I was aware of all of this as I was going through the drills, and that made me most pleased. I was especially pleased in that I did not care about how I was performing. All too often I get caught up in how I’m performing and that causes me to screw up the performance. I just shot and didn’t care what happened, at least until well after the shot was over. So that’s what surprised and pleased me most. It was me performing as I should perform, and it paid off. So I was happy. It wasn’t an ego stroke, but it was certainly a good gain of confidence.

In the end, I realized I’m not as bad as I thought I was. Sure I’m still going to be hard on myself, sure I’m still going to work to improve myself. But it was nice to have something that gave me a bit of a reality check, to put things in some sort of perspective.

 

In related news, I am very pleased with the modifications done by Springer Precision. The improved trigger certainly helped, but what helped most were the sights. There’s no question in my mind regarding today’s drills/tests that I would not have shot as well as I did if I still had those XS Sights on (that may be (part of) my problem… having those XS sights on as long as I did and my shooting sucking as much as it did, that may have brought my confidence and “belief in myself/skills” down). The bright red fiber optic just draws my eye to the front sight. The rear sight is clear and unobtrusive. The sight picture is just great. I do believe having better tools helped me. 

I’ve also been working on my grip, especially my left hand. I’m placing my left palm heel a bit higher on the grip/frame, which gets more of my left palm in contact with the frame and allows my left hand to have as far forward a cant as possible. I’m finding a “sweet spot” for where to place my left hand in terms of how it wraps around my right. And I am working with the Todd Jarrett “grip 20% harder” rule. I believe it’s making a difference in recoil management and thus ability to reacquire my sight picture. Heck, I shot some quasi-Bill drills (6 shot rapid fire strings) today and had no loss of left grip, no need to reset my grip, and good sight picture reacquisition and control. 

Bottom line for the day: I got a nice idea where my skills are, and that my practice and work is paying off. So with that, off to practice more.

And the sun was shining. The weather was great. I got about 120 miles of motorcycle riding in. A good day.

You want facts? Here’s facts.

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

The Florida State University’s Research in Review magazine Winter 2009 issue has as their cover story an interview with Gary Kleck. (h/t to Sebastian)

Whenever people talk about “gun control” (in a manner other than “use both hands”), far too often what you hear from them is emotional arguments (see here and here and here). If you hear any data or facts, it’s usually vague and incorrect, or just a flat out lie (tho usually well-intended, but that’s what paves the road to Hell). While I can’t fault people for going with their emotions, legislating and regulating a citizenry because of how you feel usually doesn’t make for sound policy. Facts, hard data, and research make for a more solid foundation upon which to build. So if you want such things regarding guns, Gary Kleck is the man to turn to. For those that will offhand dismiss him as being an NRA shill, he’s not. Read the article.

Rangemaster in the news

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

The March 19-25, 2009 issue of The Memphis Flyer has a cover story on a handgun permit class.

Apparently one of the Flyer’s senior editors, Michael Finger, went through the class just a little while ago, without mentioning to the Rangemaster folks who he was or his intent to write a story. The story is factual and accurately depicts the process that beginning students go through at Rangemaster. Apart from the whole “clip vs. magazine” thing (minor nit), it’s a good article. Give it a read.

The 9mm Handgun

/ hsoi / 15 Comments

James R. Rummel over at Hell in a Handbasket has a nice write-up answering the question “What is a ‘Wondernine’?“.

I have no problems with 9mm handguns. Yeah, some say any handgun caliber that starts with something less than a “4” is wussy (9mm is about .35″). So are you volunteering to take one to prove how wussy it is? I didn’t think so. 😉  I assert that just about any handgun load is wussy. They all pretty much suck equally, in terms of the fabled “stopping power.” When emergency room techs have to deal with handgun wounds, they can’t really differentiate between 9mm Luger vs. .40 S&W vs. .45 ACP. Granted, in the past 9mm ammo had problems if you were using ball ammo for self-defense, but with advances in technology most any modern hollow-point 9mm is about as effective as you can get from a handgun round.

So why 9mm then over something like .45 ACP? As James explains, part of what makes it a “Wondernine” is the expanded capacity. Consider something like Springfield Armory’s XD(m) in 9mm. It has a 19+1 capacity, which means 19 in the magazine and one in the chamber, for a possible 20 rounds total. That’s a lot of lead. So why might someone want this much capacity? I’ve spoken about it before.

Let’s also consider that prices of 9mm ammo is less than prices for many other calibers. 9mm is so popular, so pervasive, it is a NATO standard. If it’s less expensive you can get more for the same price, you can then practice more, you can keep more on hand. I don’t see how this is a negative.

Finally, 9mm is rather controllable to shoot. It doesn’t have a lot of recoil. I mean, 11 year old McKenzie has no problems with her Glock 19:

(note, her malfunctions are intentional… they have random snap caps in there to force the practice of malfunction clearing).

Granted as she gains more strength in her forearms and wrists she’ll manage the recoil even better. Now this isn’t to say that the recoil of a .40 or .45 isn’t manageable, but when you’ve got more kick and have to manage it, you’re just not going to perform as fast. I recall one of the KR instructors telling a story on this… I may have the details wrong, but the gist was that highly trained handgunners shot courses with a .40 then a 9mm and the 9mm shooters always finished about 15% faster. When those follow-up shots matter, when a fast reacquisition of your sight picture matters, why subject yourself to something that will just slow you down?

So, 9mm handguns. They can hold more ammo, ammo that is less expensive and able to be found worldwide, and shot with more control, and be about as effective as any other top handgun round out there. I don’t see much of a downside.

 

Updated: A lot of people come to my blog via this posting. So, you’ll also want to check out this article and this article that elaborate further and may be of interest.

Humility may save your life

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

I train in an empty hand martial art. I train with guns. Some would say I have a greater ability than the average citizen to hurt other people and perhaps end their life. And there’s no question, when you start to learn these things you get a big confidence boost in your ability to take care of yourself. Unfortunately, ego can get in the way… and you can get over-confident, and that could get you killed.

Over-confidence can lead to a false sense of what your skills and abilities actually are. Over-confidence might lead you to make choices, especially in the heat of the moment, that turn out to be less than correct and could lead you into greater trouble. And worse? Being over-confident might lead you to be arrogant, and that could lead to you getting your ass handed to you.

What is the point of self-defense? To come out alive with as little injury as possible. A realistic humility aids in this endeavor. If I know it’s a bad part of town, while perhaps I could take care of myself just fine, why should I even put myself in that situation in the first place? If there’s no need to go there, don’t. There we go, I’ve just defended myself, came out alive, no injury to myself. I didn’t let my ego get in the way with a “I’m going to go there, and if any punk tries to mess with me I’m going to fuck him up good!” sort of mentality — that’s more than likely just going to get me in trouble.

Realize as well that just because you have those particular skills doesn’t mean you have to use them. It’s the old “you have a hammer so everything looks like a nail” problem. I recall my first “force-on-force” scenario. I had a (fake) gun, I felt like I had to use it (it’s a gun class after all, right?). But in fact, that was the wrong answer; the best answer was to just call the police and avoid putting myself in a potentially dangerous situation. It was a humbling experience. Yes, my ego felt really bruised to have gotten the answer so wrong. I wanted to rationalize, I wanted to make excuses, I wanted to save face. But that’s the wrong way to go about it because I wouldn’t learn. Better to make the mistake in a forgiving environment and learn from it. The experience was humbling in and of itself, and by accepting my mistake in a humble manner, it’s a lesson that’s stuck with me and I’d like to hope I’m a little better off for it.

If someone opts to get in your face for something stupid, just apologize. Back off. Yield. Take on a submissive posture (tho still have the mental preparation and wherewithal to respond should the situation turn ugly). Even if you were wrong, still apologize. What’s more important? Being right? Or being alive and uninjured? This isn’t to say be wishy-washy, it’s to say you should be smart, you should be wise, and you should maximize the course of action that allows you to stay alive and unharmed. Don’t let your ego, your testosterone, your fantasy, your false sense of honor, get in the way and get you hurt.

Be humble. Yield. Knowing how to yield is strength (Tao Te Ching 52). Ponder Tao Te Ching 59:

The generals have a saying:
“Rather than make the first move
it is better to wait and see.
Rather than advance an inch
it is better to retreat a yard.”

This is called
going forward without advancing,
pushing back without using weapons.

There is no greater misfortune
than underestimating your enemy.
Underestimating your enemy
means thinking that he is evil.
Thus you destroy your three treasures
and become an enemy yourself.

When two great forces oppose each other,
the victory will go
to the one that knows how to yield.

Tax Free Weekend for guns?

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Texas State Senator Jeff Wentworth is proposing a “tax free weekend” for the sales of guns and ammo. It is filed as SB 1788.

It’s an interesting thought no doubt. Every year at “back to school” time there’s a tax free weekend here in Texas allowing families to purchase clothing and other necessities for kids going back to school and all tax free. What isn’t taxed is very limited (e.g. basic clothing, school-type backpacks; no accessories, no sporting goods, etc.), but many stores know how big a shopping weekend it is so they’ll have their own promotions that basically eliminate the tax… technically yes you’re still paying tax, but they’ll adjust the price so in the end it totals up to the regular price sans sales tax, or other sales promotional gimmick. Either way, the weekend is always big business.

So to provide such a weekend for hunters to obtain the things they need, there’s merit to the idea.

I did find this a choice quote in the article:

“It is not because we don’t believe in people’s right to bear arms,” [Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston] said. “It’s because we don’t think we ought to subsidize an industry, which is what this bill would, subsidize the gun industry.”

Note, Rep. Coleman has an “F” rating from the NRA. So please excuse me if I doubt the sincerity of the first part of his statement. And I guess then it’s OK to subsidize the clothing industry? Oh I forgot… that’s thinking of the children, right?