Guns

Minimum Competency for Defensive Pistol – An Introduction

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Minimum Competency.

Minimum – the least or smallest amount or quantity possible, attainable, or required.

Competency – the ability to do something successfully or efficiently.

When it comes to the use of a pistol for self-defense, minimum competency would be the least amount of skill and ability needed in order to use that gun to successfully defend yourself.

What would that be?

I got to thinking about it. I see people at gun ranges that blaze away at a target 3 yards in front of them, and they are barely hitting paper. I see people slow plinking, taking one slowly and carefully aimed shot, checking their target, taking their time to set up again for another shot, repeat. I see videos of people attending “tactical band camp” training, throwing lots of lead, but are they hitting anything? are they doing anything effective? I see people passing their Texas CHL shooting test, and their B-27 target looks like it was peppered by a shotgun blast. I see people who are really good at shooting competitions, but struggle with defensive concepts.

Will this cut it? Is this enough true skill and knowledge to survive and win? Or is it a false sense? Sometimes in life it doesn’t matter if our assessment of our competency is different from the reality. But in a case like this, when your life is what’s at stake, you need to be soberingly aware of your skill and ability.

As friend and fellow KR Training Assistant Instructor Tom Hogel likes to say, “you don’t know what you don’t know”. If you don’t know what it takes, if you don’t know what you can and cannot do, well… what’s that going to get you? So, I started to think about what a minimum set of drills would be to try to illustrate this concept to folks. That is, if you shot these drills and could not do them cleanly on-demand, then you don’t have the minimum competency. That someone who thinks “I’ve got what it takes”, you give them this drill(s), have them shoot it right then and there, and if they cannot do it no they don’t have what they think they have.

This isn’t to say once you can do these drills then you are done and can rest here; no, because this is minimum. Karl Rehn likes to point out something he learned from Paul Ford (former Austin Police SWAT member). Paul pointed out that in a gunfight you will do about 70% of your worst day at the range. Think about that: take your worst day (under the ideal circumstances of the range), and now make it a lot worse, and that’s how you’ll do. If this is how it goes, how good do you think you really need to be so when the flag flies and your skills degrade to being “worse than your worst”, then that level is still high enough to get you through? So, you must train well beyond these minimums.

But that said, if you cannot perform to the minimum, the sooner you can know that the better. The sooner you can work to remedy it.

Hasn’t this already been defined? Well, maybe. Take a look at this extensive collection of handgun standards. If we have so many standards, do we really have *a* standard? Well, we do have to consider these standards are likely within a particular context, e.g. qualifying for police, carry permits, etc.. Furthermore, every trainer out there wants to have their own set of standards and performance assessment, but are their standards truly testing something? are they well thought out towards achieving a particular end? or did they just string together a bunch of stuff so they could slap their name on a drill? And is there really a “standard” or “drill” that is trying to answer the question I’m asking?

Ultimately, my motivation is trying to bring some cold truth to folks. I speak to people all the time that passed the Texas CHL shooting test, maybe even got a perfect score. They are quite proud of their accomplishment, and consider that the end – that they have passed the CHL test, they know all they need to know, that they are as proficient as they need to be, and will be able to handle themselves should they ever need it. I speak with people who grew up around guns, learned to shoot in the back pasture, but it’s evident from watching them they really couldn’t shoot their way out of a paper bag much less deal with a response to being assaulted. I’m no expert, but I’ve learned enough to know that I don’t know. Furthermore, I know it’s better to have your bubble burst when it doesn’t matter, than to see your world fall apart when everything is on the line. If I’m in the business of helping people protect themselves and their loved ones, I’d like to see what I could do to come up with a simple way to help people assess if they truly have the minimal skills or not.

The next some postings will be a short journey to examine this question: what is the minimum competency required for defensive pistol use?

(This post is part of a multi-part series. For now, you can find other published parts of the series by looking at the “minimum competency” tag or category).

AAR KR Training 2013-06-22 – Defensive Pistol Skills 1

/ hsoi

Defensive Pistol Skills 1 @ KR Training is about the most difficult and intensive course. Why? Because it represents a big paradigm shift.

Most people come to class with an understanding of how to stand on a square range, in a lane, in a stall, and punch holes in paper at a leisurely pace. The vast majority of students also come with a TX CHL, but the shooting test there isn’t much more than the same “plinking” (more or less). DPS1 introduces concepts like drawing from a holster, from concealment, moving, and having to shoot fast — and accurately — under pressure. It’s a big shift, a lot of information, and an eye opener to folks.

That said, this past sold-out class was a pretty good one. A lot of eager students. Again, a lot of couples in this class too, both husband-wife and father-son types of things. Very good stuff.

Instead of talking about the class, I want to talk TO the class. That is, if you were in this class, here’s some things I want you to take home in addition to whatever you personally took from the class.

Gear Matters

Yes, ultimately it’s the person operating the gun and not the gun, but the right gun and accessory gear makes a big difference. If nothing else, the wrong gear is certainly going to hinder you.

Most students had good holsters, but y’all could use some improvement on belts. Gun belts are wider, thicker, more sturdy. Remember what we said about getting the initial grip on the gun in the drawstroke? A good belt is going to support you against that initial grip. As well, all the weight on your belt from the gun itself to the spare mag pouches on the opposite side? that belt is going to support and distribute that weight better. There are lots of good belt makers out there. I’ve got some leather belts from TheBeltMan, but these days I’ve been wearing a “The Wilderness Original Instructor Belt“. While I really don’t find nylon and velcro all that fashionable, I cannot deny the practicality of the belt, especially since I can get precisely the fit and tightness I need since it’s “infinitely adjustable” vs. 1″ spaced holes.

And guns? Your small guns suck. Sorry to be blunt. Small guns have their place, but most people don’t need small guns. You think you need a small gun for concealed carry — I sure did (Karl cured me of that). But most people do not need a small gun. And even people that might have gun fit issues can likely still get a gun that’s larger than they think. You’ll be able to shoot it better, manipulate it better, and so on.

We had numerous people shooting 1911-style guns. It was complicated. Lots of dohickies to work. The smaller 1911’s were tough to get your hands on to manipulate. Everyone had trouble locking the slide open because they just couldn’t reach the slide stop lever (gotta flip/twist the gun in your hand). All sorts of issues. Switched folks to one of the various polymer-framed guns (Glock, XD, M&P) and all their problems went away. Simple point-and-click interface. Better fit. Larger size. All good things.

Don’t think the gun will make you an expert shooter, but do realize the wrong gear will make you a poorer shooter. Don’t be married to your gear. This is an excuse to go shopping. This is an excuse to buy another gun. Why are you complaining? 😉

Unacceptable Hits

In a fight, yes speed matters, but accuracy matters more.

Yes, we worked to make the point that in the 0-5 yard range you don’t need a perfect sight picture, but you at least need to get the front sight in the target area. You cannot blaze away. You cannot shoot faster than you can see, nor faster than you can get acceptable hits.

You must get acceptable hits.

You cannot get unacceptable hits.

Read this. Yes… go read it now. Burn the phrase “unacceptable hits” into your mind. Work to only get acceptable hits.

How to do that?

How to get acceptable hits?

Well, while everyone passed the “3 Seconds or Less” test, it was passing for DPS1. Just about everyone in class will need more work to pass the same test at the DPS3 level (tighter scoring area, higher minimum score). The biggest thing is getting those acceptable hits. Just about everyone can get the speed, but what you need is the accuracy.

Regarding speed, you don’t need to go any faster. You need to use your time more efficiently.

When you hear the timer’s start beep, MOVE! Move quickly and get the gun out of the holster quickly. This is not time to mosey. If you have a 3 second par time and use 2.5 of it to get out of the holster, you don’t have much time left to shoot. What also happens is you mentally realize you’ve wasted all your time, so you then rush the shot and everything goes to shit and you blow the shot. Instead, get the gun out of the holster quickly. If you move and get things out in say 1.5 seconds, now you have 1.5 seconds to make the shot — which is more than enough time, and you will know it, and you won’t rush, and you can make the shot. Clear leather/kydex quickly.

But once you get the gun quickly out of the holster, you must change gears and slow down. Throwing the gun out there isn’t going to help you. Your eyes need to find that front sight. This is why the 4-count drawstroke needs to move in an L-shape, up the body, out from the body; not bowling, not fishing. While yes, to go from point A at your hip to point C at extension is shorter distance, it’s visually slower since your eye still needs to find the front sight. If instead you pass through point B at your chin/neck/upper-chest, that whole press-out from B to C lets your eyes have time to find the front sight. And as soon as they pick it up and have enough sight picture, you can fire (even if not at full arm extension). So there’s much speed gained here not from moving fast, but from moving efficiently.

This efficiency comes because things are happening in parallel instead of serially. Another example of that is pressing the trigger in as you press the gun out. For the sake of discussion, if it takes you 1 second to press the gun out and 1 second to press the trigger in, do this serially and you’ve taken 2 seconds to make the shot. If instead you do this in parallel (simultaneously) it’s now taken you 1 second to make the shot — and you didn’t move any faster. In fact, you could actually move a hair slower and still make the shot in less overall time!

Remember what I said above about how DPS1 is a big paradigm shift? This effort to do things simultaneously is probably the biggest and most difficult paradigm shift  for people to make. But work on this. Going faster doesn’t necessarily mean going faster.

(Read this one too)

Dry Practice

To get this way, you don’t have to throw lead. You can and should dry practice.

Use a timer.

Relax.

Breathe.

Work on the skills you need to improve. Everything we did in class? Do it dry. The drills, the strings, the skills, just work on them dry.

With a timer.

And be patient. Improvement will come with time and practice.

Other

Drink water.

Wear sunscreen.

Start eating better and hydrating yourself a few days before class. It takes time to build things up in your system. You want to do well and stay focused in class, and with the Texas summer setting in and temps getting up near 100 degrees now, you need to be prepared and take care of yourself.

 

 

A response to “An Analysis of Gun Violence in Austin 2010 – 2012”

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

The [Austin] City Council passed Resolution 20130228-035 based on concerns about gun violence. The resolution language includes direction to the City Manager to explore methods for collecting data about the use of firearms in the commission of a crime.

In response, the Austin Police Department has compiled data into a report about trends in gun violence. That report is attached for your review. Based on nationwide statistics collected by the FBI, Austin remains one of the safest U.S. cities of our size. This fact is reflected in the comparatively small number of crimes that involve a firearm.

H. A. ACEVEDO
Chief of Police

The full report is here.

Austin’s Mayor and City Council are notoriously anti-gun. It doesn’t matter what reason and facts show, they just hate guns (made evident by their past actions both in and out of the council chambers). So they passed a Resolution about “gun violence”, tax dollars were spent, and the findings have been posted.

Basically, it shows that gun violence isn’t much of a problem in Austin.

Let’s see if their own findings will affect their future actions, or if they’ll ignore it and keep riding that horse.

That said, let’s look at some things:

The report disclaims and caveats the data. How different reports run at different times can get different results. That there are numerous cases in APD’s records system that include no weapon data at all. The way various guns are labeled causes a problem (to call a gun “automatic” is problematic, because a lot of older folks refer to semi-automatic guns as “automatics” or “auto-loaders”, but a lot of other people see the term “automatic” and think “fully-automatic”… this is both a statistics and a perception/reporting problem). So, it’s really hard to be certain of the integrity of this data. I’m sure bother sides of the debate will use this fact as a way to discount the study’s data and press on with their agenda.

Regardless, let’s look at the data provided.

The study looked at part 1 violent offenses (murder, attempted murder (aggravated assault), robbery, rape) and disorderly conduct.

Less than 1/4 of these offenses used guns.

Right there’s the money: guns are used in less than 25% of the offenses. That means 75% of the offenses used something else. I know news media and politicians like to make it out like it’s some major catastrophe, but the data isn’t there to back up the hysterics. Oh sure, it would be nice if the number of part 1 violent offenses was 0 (gun or no gun). But the point is, they want to see if “gun violence” is a problem, and it seems the far greater problem is “not-gun violence”.

Handguns are the most commonly used firearm type. Yet, “they” want to ban rifles. I’m not saying they should ban handguns (or rifles or much of anything). But if thinking a ban on X would reduce or eliminate a problem (perceived to be caused by X), shouldn’t you actually ban X instead of Y? and leave Y alone?

There’s a lot of aggravated assault in Austin. You have to remember, that used to be called “attempted murder”. All this means is someone tried to kill you, but didn’t succeed. But you may be injured, maimed, crippled for life. Don’t think it’s something “more friendly” or “more desirable” as far as crimes go. So I don’t know what that says about Austin… that there’s a lot of attempts to kill people, but they don’t succeed. Maybe it’s because the overwhelming majority of them don’t involve a gun? They involve something else… so why don’t we address why assaults are occurring, instead of looking at an object used in the commission of them? Maybe… just maybe… it’s not about guns.

Another fun take-home are the maps showing where most crimes happen. East of I-35; along the I-35 corridor between 71 and the river (esp. the Riverside area), and again around the 183 intersection (esp. the “northwest” quadrant). Read: avoid these places.

All in all, the report is pretty straightforward. It’s mostly a presentation of data, and opinion doesn’t really come until the end conclusions.

First, Austin remains one of the safest cities, if you measure “safe” by “number of violent crimes”. Not an unreasonable measure, but 1. there’s still more than many people would consider acceptable, 2. what about all the other crimes? property crime, burglary, etc. are pretty high.

Crime incidents involving the use of a firearm remain relatively low for the City. As a result, the limited data makes it challenging to formulate effective preventative measures.

Indeeed there’s not a lot of data. They looked at 3 years of data and with “so few murders”, it certainly is hard to formulate a plan.

But maybe that’s just it: maybe there doesn’t need to be a plan.

First, the summary statement above is loaded, because the wording shows they want to formulate effective preventative measures against crimes involving guns. They don’t want to formulate effective preventative measures against crime… no, it’s against guns. But the data shows that there’s just not as much involvement of guns in crimes as the City Council was hoping for, so there’s not much for them to do and go on. Darn the luck, but we’ll keep selectively researching until we get data that backs up our agenda!

Here’s a tip. What the data does show is there’s still a lot of violent crime in Austin. Focus less on the tools used in the crime, and focus more on the crime itself. I don’t see why it matters so much if someone tried to kill me with a knife vs. a gun vs. a car vs. poison vs. their bare  hands. Isn’t it enough they tried to kill me? Why don’t we focus on the whole “not killing me” part? Why are we so hung up on HOW people were killed? This isn’t a game of Clue. Instead of being so discriminatory towards certain traits about people, let’s focus on the root issues to really solve the problems.

 

KR Training May/June 2013 Newsletter

/ hsoi

The KR Training May/June 2013 Newsletter is out.

All the usual good stuff, but two things stood out to me (that I hadn’t seen prior to the newsletter).

1. Howard Nemerov looks at the mystery of the missing crime data.

2. Austin Police Department releases data on gun violence in Austin.

Firearm Violence, 1993-2011

/ hsoi

The Bureau of Justice Statistics collects and publishes all manner of criminal data. Of course it lags a little bit because you have to wait for the year to end, then allow time for data collation. Nevertheless, there is no bias, no agenda, just pure data from the .gov.

And we can trust the .gov, right?

In May 2013, they published their Firearm Violence, 1993-2011 report.

Let’s look at some of this data.

Firearm-related homicides declined 39%, from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011.

Of course, if you listen to the “news,” you’d think it was at an all-time high.

About 70% to 80% of firearm homicides and 90% of nonfatal firearm victimizations were committed with a handgun from 1993 to 2011.

So why then do they want to ban rifles? Something doesn’t add up.

From 1993 to 2010, males, blacks, and persons ages 18 to 24 had the highest rates of firearm homicide.

What’s going on with these populations that cause them to have the highest rates? Maybe we should examine some deeper social issues?

In 2004, among state prison inmates who possessed a gun at the time of offense, less than 2% bought their firearm at a flea market or gun show and 40% obtained their firearm from an illegal source.

So if they didn’t follow the laws we have now, how will bans, background checks, and other regulations and limits stop anything? Perhaps we need to look for real answers, not knee-jerk reactions, not solutions that don’t stop crime but do stop good, law-abiding citizens?

In 2004, among state prison inmates who possessed a gun at the time of offense, fewer than 2% bought their firearm at a flea market or gun show, about 10% purchased it from a retail store or pawnshop, 37% obtained it from family or friends, and another 40% obtained it from an illegal source (table 14). This was similar to the percentage distribution in 1997.

Further data on the above. So they talk about the evils of the gun shows and make them out like a Wal-Mart for criminals, yet gun shows are barely a statistical blip. Most are getting them off the street, through theft, drug deals, or obtaining from people they know. So they’re already committing an illegal act to obtain their guns. How will making it more illegal do anything? They aren’t regarding the current laws.

Persons living in urban areas had the highest rates of nonfatal firearm violence

Basically that means they stuck a gun in your face, you gave them your money, and they left without killing you (still maybe harming, maiming for life, but you lived). This also means that if you live in the city, you’ve got more chance of being the victim of a violent crime than if you live in a rural area.

In 2011, higher rates of nonfatal violence occurred in areas with a population of more than 250,000 residents than in areas with a population under 250,000

That further backs up the above: live in a big city? greater chance of being victim of a violent crime, than if you live in a small town.

In 2007-11, the majority of nonfatal firearm violence occurred in or around the victim’s home (42%) or in an open area, on the street, or while on public transportation (23%) (table 7). Less than 1% of all nonfatal firearm violence occurred in schools.

Actually the summary is a little deceiving and you need to look at the table itself. The upshot? Yes, violence can and does happen in the home. But the majority of violent encounters happen outside the home: open area, street, public transportation, parking lot or garage, or near your home (but not in it). The implication? As Tom Givens like to say, “Carry your damn gun, people.” People seem to have no problem preparing for a home break-in’, or want to carry a gun in their car. But when the data shows that most violent crime happens in not-these-places, what are you doing to be prepared for those violent encounters?

As well, firearm violence in schools? It’s marginal. It might grab the most headlines, but that’s the only thing it has a lot of.

Anyways, you can read the report for yourself.

Yes, the report also contains some things that “pro-gun” folks might not want to tout. For instance:

For both fatal and nonfatal firearm victimizations, the majority of the decline occurred during the 10-year period from 1993 to 2002

That somewhat coincides with the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 (through 2004). So did that ban work? Hard to say, but I would think it had no effect because if the vast majority of crimes were committed by handguns (which really weren’t the target of the ban, and if you look at the firearms used in crimes again it doesn’t mesh with those firearms targeted by the AWB). Then from about 2002 to 2011, numbers have remained about the same.

Really, what a lot of this says to me? The common tactics of addressing “gun violence” are not addressing gun violence at all. They might be trying to address the symptoms, but they are not addressing the root causes. It’s like taking a cough drop: sure you stop coughing, but you’re still sick.  It’s evident the common tactics of bans, restrictions, checks, etc. are ineffective because those things have been in place and are still in place, but yet they make no impact towards the end of “reducing/eliminating gun violence”.  So why are you continuing to seek solutions in answers that have been proven ineffective? Or do you not understand the definition of insanity?

Or maybe you use “stopping violence” as a front, and your goals are more nefarious.

But let’s assume you mean well and truly want to stop violence. If so, you need to stop taking cough drops and get some proper rest. You need to work at the root causes. Again, why are young black males the overwhelming majority of perpetrators? What is going on to bring that about? What’s different in the Hispanic populations that has brought about the largest drop in that group? Maybe we should be looking at deeper social issues, economic issues, etc. to see what’s causing people to turn to guns and violence as the way to proceed in life.

I know it won’t give instant results, nor easy answers. In fact, it may be rather a tough pill to swallow because it might not be very politically correct. But if you want real solutions, you’ll face the Ugly Truth and work to make things truly better… else, things will only get worse.

 

Is it worth dying for?

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

WASHINGTON, Pa. — A Pennsylvania bank robber fatally shot a supermarket customer who ran after him and tried to stop his getaway car, police said.

Full story here.

In short, man sees a dude acting strange, shortly thereafter hears a scream from inside the bank and the dude running out. Man gives chase, tries to stop the dude, and gets killed for his efforts.

I cannot fault the man for seeing wrong and trying to do something about it. I’m sure he didn’t think, he just reacted. His intentions were good and honorable.

Unfortunately, his good intentions got him killed.

I’m not saying you should do such things, nor am I saying you shouldn’t.

What I am saying is, you need to answer this question for yourself: what is worth dying for?

You need to answer this question NOW, not later. When the fur flies, you will not have time to think, only do. You need to know where your line is, what you are willing to die for, and what you are unwilling to die for. You might find your line is in a different place than you thought it was. There is no shame in that, because it’s better to be honest with yourself. Who knows… maybe your life circumstance changed. I know if I was single and childless my line would be in a different place than it is with me being married with children. Whatever your reasons are, don’t be ashamed and don’t worry what others might think, especially if it might be some ego “less manly” type of thing. Those calling you wussy aren’t going to support your children when you’re dead. They’re not going to comfort your grieving widow. They’re not going to pay your medical bills when you’re in the hospital. This is your life, not theirs, and you don’t answer to them. Know what you are willing to and unwilling to die for, and answer only to yourself and your god.

Just be sure you figure out that answer now, when it’s nice to know, before you need to know.

 

AAR KR Training – 2013-06-15, Basic Pistol 2

/ hsoi

This Basic Pistol 2 class at KR Training was typical in most ways, but atypical in a very significant one.

Sold out class. Wide variety of folks. One thing that was cool was seeing a lot “pairs”, be it husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend, or father and son. Had a fair number of those in this class, and it was nice to see folks strengthening relationships this way.

For the most part, it was a typical Basic Pistol 2 class. Safety, fundamentals, working on sights and trigger, the “press-out”.

What was atypical? The sheer variety of guns. The past some years we’ve seen consolidation towards Glock, M&P, XD/XDm. You get the occasional Sig or 1911, or random other thing. This class was pretty wide across the board. What struck me the most was the sheer number of DA/SA style guns, like Beretta PX4’s and Beretta 92’s. Normally we don’t have to talk much about “guns with a decocker” or the realities of working with DA/SA guns (other than “avoid them”), but we had to make extra effort to work with it in this class. One lady had a P226 DAK, which was a long heavy but at least consistent pull; oddly, she didn’t struggle much with the gun (typically not the case).

We also had a few cases of the opposite gun-fit problem. Whereas normally the problem is small hands with large gun, we had a few cases of large hands and small guns. For example, one gentleman had a fine Springfield 1911, but his hands were so big that the controls didn’t always work. He would press the trigger and the gun wouldn’t go bang; turns out just the way things were with his hands vs. the grip wound up with the grip safety not being fully depressed. We lent him one of Karl’s double-stacked STI’s and an instant world of difference.

The big take-home? Equipment matters. Your equipment can and will influence your ability to shoot. It will affect your skill, both in a good way and a bad way. Sure, you can master a DA/SA trigger press (look at Ben Stoeger), but do you have the time and dedication to do so? Lend someone an M&P or a Glock and after a few shots to get used to the improved trigger (vs. their DA/SA) and it’s a world of difference and improvement.

That little gun you bought for concealed carry? You can’t get your hands on it, you cannot manipulate and shoot it. How useful will that be if you have to use it to defend yourself? Yes, most people can conceal a full-sized pistol without much problem (with the right holster, etc.). There is a place for small guns, but when you are just starting out, when you are just learning to shoot, get a full-sized gun. Learn to shoot well first, then learn to master the little gun later.

Don’t get married to your equipment – it’s just steel and plastic. Work to find the right gun that fits you and you can shoot well; a gun that doesn’t get in your way, that you don’t have to fight. Here’s helpful guide. You will shoot better with the right equipment.

 

Changes to Texas gun laws

/ hsoi / 7 Comments

The following is a copy/paste of an email from the Texas State Rifle Association giving an update on how gun-related bills fared in this past Texas legislative session.

Governor Perry Signs All Gun Bills
Last Thursday, Governor Perry added conservative issues to the last two weeks of the Special Session but the list did not include gun-related bills.  While this is disappointing, all the pro-gun bills passed during the regular session have now been signed into law and will take effect September 1st.   The list includes some major streamlines for concealed handgun licensees.SB 1907 by Sen. Glenn Hegar/ Rep. Tim Kleinschmidt allows CHL-students to have firearms in their personal locked vehicle when parked on a private or public university or college parking lot.  A CHL-student could not be prosecuted but they were subject to the rule-making authority of the school and could be expelled.   Passed and signed by Governor Perry.

SB 299 by Sen. Craig Estes/Rep. Kenneth Sheets provides language to clarify the unintentional display of a firearm by a concealed handgun licensee. The language changed from “failure to conceal” to “intentional display of a weapon in a public place” when force or deadly force is not authorized.  Passed and Signed by Governor Perry

SB 864 by Sen. Donna Campbell/Rep. Dan Flynn reduces the number of hours for the initial CHL class. The bill does not touch the required materials, the written test, or firearm proficiency exam. Range qualification is still in place but no counts toward the required hours.  Passed and Signed by Governor Perry

HB 48 by Rep. Dan Flynn/Sen. Donna Campbell creates in statute a process for renewing your CHL online without taking a renewal class. Passed and Signed by Governor Perry 6/14/13 

HB 698 by Rep.Springer/Sen. Craig Estes requires access to digital fingerprinting not more than 25 miles from the applicant’s residence and is limited to counties with a population of 46,000 or less.  This is specific to rural Texans who are forced to drive hundreds of miles for digital fingerprinting.  Passed and Signed by Governor Perry 6/14/13

HB 3142 by Rep. Cecil Bell, Jr./Sen. Craig Estes repeals the SA/NA designation for the CHL license.  No more gun categories.  Passed and Signed by Governor Perry 6/14/13

HB 1421 by Rep. Perry/Sen. Craig Estes provides law enforcement agencies an option in statute to sell confiscated firearms to a federal firearm dealer (FFL) instead of destroying. After the cost of the sale and any other related charges, funds could stay with that law enforcement agency.  Passed and Signed by Governor Perry

HB 333 by Rep. Guillen/ Sen. Hinojosa requires hotels and motels to provide advance notice if they prohibit firearms.    Passed and Signed by Governor Perry
Check out more bill status at www.tsrapac.com  or check directly at the state site www.legis.state.tx.us 
 
 
Please help rebuild the PAC!~.  Political Action Committee funds help pro-gun candidates.  We need to support those who support us.   Go towww.tsra.com or call 512-615-4200.  Make a donation, join the association or up-grade your membership.
 
Keep the Faith,
 


Alice Tripp

Legislative Director

Some of my comments:

SB 1907 – baby steps

SB 299 – I think the intent of the law was always clear, but it’s nice to have it explicitly clear.

SB 864 – I have some mixed emotions here, but I think the end it doesn’t matter much. There’s no change to curriculum or requirements, merely accounting. The way it was made for a long day often with much filler and ways to meet the required hours. Now things can be more direct, concise, with less time wasted on everyone’s part. There will always be someone willing to abuse this tho, so vet your instructors carefully.

HB 48 – it’s good to embrace the Internet

HB 698 – reduction in burden is always good.

HB 3142 – good. This was silly.

HB 1421 – options are good

HB 333 – good. A little annoyed at the hassle, but hopefully winds up making things better for everyone in the end.

In a lot of ways, what I’m happy about is how these new laws remove things that didn’t make a lot of sense. It’s not really adding, it’s taking away, and that I can deal with.

Finally, if you like these laws, then you should be a member of the TSRA and support the TSRA-PAC. These laws don’t just magically happen. Yes, the NRA gets all the press and likes to take all the glory here, but Alice Tripp deserves so much of the credit for her work to make these things happen. If you are a Texas resident, if you appreciate and benefit from the laws of this state, show your support. (disclosure: I am a Life Member of the TSRA, and only “lobby” for their support because it’s one way I can add my voice to the legislative process… and you can too).

Gun blarg

/ hsoi

I know. Lots of posting about lifting things up and putting them down.

Not enough posting about shooty goodness.

Mainly, I’ve been busy and finding time to write has been difficult.

But I have been working on a deeper  and longer article about “minimum competency” regarding defensive pistol skills. That’ll be posted soon, and probably in parts to make it more consumable. So, fret not. 🙂

 

AAR – KR Training, 2013-06-08, Basic Pistol 1

/ hsoi

Another month, another Basic Pistol 1 @ KR Training on the books.

Oddly, enrollment was down. We’ve had nothing but sold out classes for the first half of the year. I’m guessing it’s the typical reasons: it’s hot, it was the first weekend after government schools let out for the summer so families were heading out. But I can’t help but wonder if it’s perhaps the pendulum  swinging back — so much gun rush/panic, everyone’s panicked out, so now there’s a lull to compensate for the overcompensation. *shrug*  Given previous tracks, it’s probably due to the heat.

But still, we had a good class. Two-thirds of the class were women — that’s your growing demographic.

All in all class went alright. I felt a little off in my timing of the class flow, and for that I apologize. We’re always working to improve curriculum and it just gets tougher to get more information into the same limited amount of time. I’m still working on streamlining.

Still, the students were engaged, asking questions, and that’s always a good sign. I hope to see them back, especially when we start offering the force-on-force classes again (when the weather cools down). Hard skills, like marksmanship, are important, but it’s those “soft skills” like awareness, decision-making, etc. that take you further in personal defense.

Thank you all for braving the heat and spending your Saturday with us.