Guns

Same end, different means

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

…we can do better than this. We can do better to make sure that fewer parents have to endure the pain of losing a child to an act of violence.

– President Barack Obama

full transcript

I agree.

I don’t agree with the reasoning that disarming the citizenry is the way to achieve said safety.

And yes folks, that’s ultimately what he (and his ilk) are after. They tried to slice off a huge chunk, but since that won’t succeed instead they will slowly chip away at the stone. If you start to let the chips fall, eventually there won’t be a rock left and you’ll wonder what happened.

We teach and strongly advocate for things like women’s self-defense clinics where we teach women to fight back against rapists. Rape is an atrocious act of violence. I don’t care who you are or what you think, but the Truth is the vast majority of women can be overpowered by any man — even a teenage male. Are you advocating for my daughter to be a victim? It was not her choice to be weaker, to be smaller, and thus potential prey. If she is at a disadvantage through no fault and choice of her own, what do you suggest she do to overcome potential disparity? What can you honestly suggest she do that could prevent a 250# 25-year old male from raping, beating, and leaving her for dead? Yell “NO!”, blow a whistle, and palm-strike him to the nose? or as some legislators recently suggested, she just pee/poop her pants or tell the attacker she has a disease? I tell you what… come try that on me and see how far you get (pure training environment, just to demonstrate the reality of how much that technique fails).

Like all tools, we use tools to overcome disparity. Most of us aren’t strong enough to pound a nail or turn a screw without a tool. And a gun? That’s something that enables the weak to overcome the disparity against a strong attack. Palm strike or pepper spray or taser? Think about how close you have to be to the attacker to make those things work — too close. A gun? it’s designed to overcome distance. It’s designed to overcome disparity.

I don’t want to lose my children to an act of violence. I don’t want you to lose your children to an act of violence. I used to believe that there was never a reason to hit, that violence was never the answer. I’m glad I overcame those notions, because I left my bubble and learned that yes sometimes there are reasons to hit, and yes sometimes violence is the (only) answer. The idealist in me wishes it wasn’t so, but the realist in me knows it to be true and has finally accepted it. I don’t know anyone that would sit idly by while their children were beaten, raped, kidnapped, etc.. What would they do? They would fight. They would be willing to sacrifice their own lives for the life of their child. If you’re going to fight, if you’re going to be fighting for the life of you and your child, don’t you want ever advantage possible that would enable you to prevail?

We all want the same thing, but we vastly disagree with the road to achieve it.

AAR: Rangemaster Firearms Instructor Development & Certification Course – March 2013

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

I was fortunate this past March 2013 weekend to finally participate in Rangemaster’s Firearms Instructor Development & Certification Course, taught by Tom Givens and hosted by Karl Rehn of KR Training.

I’ve tried to take this course for the past some years, but was unable to for one reason or another, usually logistics due to involved travel to Memphis. But now that Tom and crew were coming to my turf, there was no reason not to make the class.

Setting

The event was held over 3 days (Friday through Sunday) from about 9 am to 6 pm each day (a 24 hour course). It’s an intensive and dense course, split about 50/50 between the classroom and the range. This is not intended to be a class where you learn how to shoot, but rather a place to learn how to be a better instructor (firearms and private citizen self-defense in particular, but of course many teaching concepts can be applied anywhere in life). Thus this is not a class to take to learn how to shoot or how to be a better shooter; it’s a class geared towards instruction.

Weather was most cooperative. Spring is starting here in Central Texas, with the wildflowers in bloom and the temperatures just right… mostly. Friday we were pretty warm outside, broke a good sweat. Saturday we were pretty cold with some early rain threats. And Sunday we were cold and fought a bitter cold 25+ MPH wind (with higher gusts). So while not ideal, that’s life — you don’t get to choose when the fight happens, so you just work through it and have to be that much better.

Tom came with his wife Lynn, assistants John and Ray, and of course Skeeter his Back Up Dog (for when your real dog breaks). We had 15 students, including numerous KR Training assistant instructors (Karl took the class too).

Content Overview

The course is about a 50/50 split between the classroom and the range.

It’s important to understand that the context of this course is that of private citizen self-defense and concealed carry. This is not law-enforcement, military, nor competition. Could folks working in those areas benefit from such a course? Certainly. But it’s important to realize that the core context is private citizen self defense with firearms, and as such all is geared towards that end.

Classroom

The classroom is where most of the relevant material comes. It runs the gamut from safety, parts and nomenclature, history (Tom is one of the best repositories of history), adult learning, coaching techniques, use of force issues, speaking/presentation techniques, etc.. Anything that might come up in the classroom is discussed along with information and techniques for working with it.

There are 3 tests by the end of the weekend. Two of them are classroom tests: a written test, and a short presentation on an assigned topic.  Yes, you will get up in front of people and do a presentation, because if you’re going to teach, what do you think you’ll be doing? 🙂

To help with the written test, you are provided with a 170+ page workbook containing a host of useful information. Some directly applicable to the course, others as supporting material for you to use afterwards. And yes, keep this book and use it as reference. Reread it from time to time as it’s a useful and information-dense resource.

One subtle thing Tom does in his classroom work is practice what he preaches. For example, Tom talks about the use of “other things” when teaching so it’s not just you up there droning for hours. He used video to show the operation of various firearms, because the video was shot on the range with Tom actually shooting and manipulating the guns — can’t do that in the classroom, so what a useful thing video can be as a supportive aid. Also, Tom talks about not hiding behind a lectern, stand to the side. While there’s no true lectern in the KR Training classroom, Tom still stood off to the side of the table. There’s much to pick up and learn from, if you pay attention.

Range

Of course, everyone looks forward to the range work. We started shooting some diagnostics so Tom and his crew could assess where everyone’s skill is. A few things were cleaned up, and qualification tests were shot. All tests were scored, but the tests shot on the first 2 days were not recorded.

If you haven’t shot much at 25 yards (or even 15 yards) you need to work on that. There’s a fair bit of work at those ranges, and they are humbling. 🙂

But the range time wasn’t all drills. The range is also the meat of the content for many classes you aspire to teach, so you need to know how to handle the range and run the range. Tom didn’t go over much about how to run the range itself, and for that I’d suggest something like NRA Instructor classes and RSO certification (Tom can only teach so much in 24 hours). But he did talk about how to interact with students on the range. He provided useful tips and techniques for teaching technique, diagnosing problems, how to remedy problems, and how to convey numerous concepts in a way that makes sense to students. One really useful technique he provided was how to allow you, the instructor, to verify a student actually understands what sight alignment and sight picture are; I think we’ll need to keep a “red gun” in the range wagon for just such occasions! (you’ll have to go to class to learn the technique, sorry).

We also shot numerous drills to introduce us to the host of drills and variations on drills that can be used to teach and practice various concepts. Of course, Tom did use it as an opportunity to put us under pressure. For example, after introducing the whole class to the “casino drill”, he asked for variations. Someone said how you could have people shoot drills individually, because that puts greater pressure on them to perform (the eyes of their peers upon them, which is a huge stress). So what did Tom then do? Have us all shoot the drill individually with our peers watching. 🙂

Sunday contains the third test: the shooting test.

We shot two tests for recorded score. The first test was the FBI Qualification. Just a few months ago, the FBI revised their test based upon improved and modern data. They removed that which doesn’t happen so much, and replaced it with that which happens more often. I haven’t been able to find a printed copy of the test online, and didn’t have time to record it during the test administration. But you will shoot from 3 to 25 yards, two hands, one hand, draw from concealment, reloads, and time pressure. It’s a tough course; I think Karl was the only one to clean it and he didn’t clean it every time he shot it. The other course was Rangemaster’s Instructor Qual course, which was also revised in light of the FBI revisions (I believe). It’s similar to the FBI course, but tougher (e.g. smaller scoring zones). Both tests were shot twice and the better of the two scores (on each test) recorded.

Updated: I have written up the COF for the FBI Pistol Qualification Course.

Thus at the end of the weekend your class score was made up of the FBI test, the Rangemaster test, and your written test.

And yes… you have to pass with a high score on all three portions. There’s a high standard to uphold, and no, not everyone passed.

What I Learned

A lot. 🙂

I’ve taken numerous Rangemaster courses in the past, and much of the core material is the same. This stands to reason, given the source. But this class was not a rehash of Combative Pistol 2. This class was teaching about teaching, and so material was presented from that angle.

That said, having heard some of these things before was useful. On the one hand, it’s always good to hear it again because redundancy fosters learning. It just helps me become better in general. On the other hand, because I heard it before, it meant there was less quantity of new things to cram into my head. One can only absorb so much, and the class material is dense with information — you won’t remember it all. So having heard much of this before meant there was less I had to cram in my head, just refresh what was already there.

I certainly picked up on numerous things I can immediately put to use in my work teaching and assisting at KR Training. In fact, one was kinda funny. My assigned presentation topic was “follow-through”. I giggled as soon as I received my topic, because back when I was taking NRA Instructor training? My assigned presentation topic was… “follow-through”. I did a much better presentation this time around, but I hope future instructor trainings can give me a different topic! Else I’ll take it as a sign someone really wants me to be an expert on follow-through. 🙂  Of course, I talk about follow-through every time I help with a Basic Pistol class at KR Training, so the topic was old-hat to me. I already knew what to say, what to do, and how to present it. Of course, I still practiced and prepped for it, because this setting and audience was slightly different. In doing so, I came up with a revision for my presentation. When we introduce the concept, we use an analogy of golf. But golf, bowling, baseball, whatever… that “swing” is a familiar concept to folks. I came up with a better example: tennis. Why? Because in all those others, it’s just you. In tennis, someone is shooting back at you, if you will. I think it’s a slightly better analogy because it makes it more evident why you need to follow-through, so you can get ready to shoot again (or return the volley, if you will). Of course, the other analogies I think are still fine. I think it’s more that if I was say talking to someone in a bullseye shooting context? I might use golf. But if I’m talking in a self-defense context (which is what I usually am doing), I think tennis works a little better.

The other fun thing about my presentation? I didn’t present what I planned to present. I figured we were supposed to present as if we were presenting to an audience of beginning students. That is, present like we’d present if we were teaching a class. Well, Karl was the first to go (his topic was safety) and he took a different angle. Givens teaches with the 4 Cooper Rules, Karl with the 3 NRA rules. Karl took this opportunity to present to the classroom of (aspiring) instructors about safety and those 2 sets of rules. So his presentation was informative to the current audience. I liked that. I also observed other presentations and found myself wondering who they were presenting to; did they identify their audience when they developed their presentation? Hey… I taught public speaking for a number of years, I can’t help but observe these things. 🙂  So I decided on the fly to modify my presentation and instead of presenting as if I was teaching follow-through to a class of beginner students, I opted to teach this classroom of instructors a technique they could use in their classrooms for teaching follow-through (tennis analogy, using the SIRT gun, whiteboard, etc.). Came off great. 🙂  But I’m not afraid to speak in public… probably got that from my politician dad.

So how did I do? I scored a 96% on the FBI Qual test, 235/250 (94%) on the Rangemaster, and 98% on the written. I passed.

I did get a lot of other things out of the class, including assessment of shooting skills and what I need to work on from here. I’ll write more on those in the coming days.

Should YOU take this class? If you desire to teach? Yes you should. However, I’m not sure this should be a first class. I think one might get more out of it if first they obtain their NRA Instructor Certifications and RSO. Even if you don’t do them first, you should still obtain those certifications. I also think it may be useful to attend one of Rangemaster’s other courses, such as the Combative Pistol or Dynamic Marksmanship, or their Level 1-5 handgun courses. This gives you an introduction to how Tom runs things, his material, his point of view. Thus when you come here, you aren’t focused on everything, you can focus more on just the “how to be an instructor” portion of stuff.

After taking this class, are you ready to teach? Nope. Certainly you’ll have a better foundation for things, but nothing substitutes for experience. If you can, seek apprenticeships. I have benefitted greatly from Karl Rehn’s generosity: his time, his teaching, his knowledge, his friendship, his mentorship, and of course, having me as an assistant instructor at KR Training. There’s so much that can and will happen on the range; to have an experienced eye watching, helping, and teaching you will benefit you greatly. This will allow you to have greater confidence in your ability to teach, and it will show in your students.

Thank you to Karl for hosting, and Tom, Lynn, John (great name!), and Ray for coming out to teach us…. and Skeeter for snoring in the back of the classroom.

What NOT to do

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Here’s what not to do

Full story here. Another article. (h/t the gun wire)

I’ll start out saying a lot of people are referring to a “concealed weapon” or that the man had a “concealed weapons permit”. I saw nothing in the video nor the news articles that give any indication of concealment. I found nothing that mentions the man has a permit/license. The gun was apparently in the car, brought out by the wife, and in plain sight handed to the husband. It’s possible he and/or she have a permit, and perhaps the laws of North Carolina are such that you couldn’t even have a gun in the car without a permit/license. But even still, nothing says one can’t have a gun illegally; not to say they did, just trying to dispel the notion of any sort of permit, license, concealment, etc. since I saw nothing in any article that indicated as such.

Story

It’s obviously a road rage incident, given the words the man starts out with. I’m sure there’s a lot more that preceded this. He’s angry, he got irate, seems to have followed the first vehicle to their destination, approaches with heated words, then punches (assaults) the driver. Naturally, driver takes issue with this attack, and defends himself. Driver’s friend also jumps in. Whether their fisticuffs were reasonable or excessive is for the courts to decide, but it appears they worked to stop the rager’s attack and broke off their defense as soon as they stopped the threat.

Event over.

But now, wife comes out of the car with a gun, casually hands it to husband, and husband takes back off after them. It doesn’t matter if he wanted to injure or kill them, or just scare them, his use of deadly force at this time was not in defense of himself because he was no longer in imminent jeopardy. This is now why:

Bradley Turner is charged with discharging a weapon into property, two counts of assault by pointing a gun, going armed to the terror of the people, injury to personal property and assault. His wife is charged with two counts of assault by pointing a gun, according to a sheriff’s office news release.

And there you go.

Lessons

Everything done here was wrong. Well, on Mr. & Mrs. Turner’s part.

Road rage. Yes, it’s easy to get angry when someone cuts you off in traffic. You know what? Let it go. Often most “cut-offs” happen as an accident. That is, there is no malicious intent. Yes maybe they were stupid and negligent, but rarely is someone being an asshole. But you know what tends to lead towards asshole driving behavior and escalation? Letting “road rage” happen, by getting angry about it and letting your anger and emotions control you, instead of you controlling your emotions.

Approaching the driver and punching him. Not smart.

Realizing the driver has friends thus you’re outnumbered, yet you still start shit? Really not smart.

Fisticuffs ends. Wife didn’t work to defend her husband, just after the fact handed her husband a gun. Husband then started a second attack, now armed with a gun.

Folks, this is not the way to handle things.

As noted above, Mr. & Mrs. Turner are being charged with a multitude of crimes, and rightly so. If we go back to them being permit holders or not, it really doesn’t matter. Having a CHL/CWP doesn’t authorize you to be a dumbass. It doesn’t authorize you to wantonly kill people or enact revenge. If anything, it bears upon you a greater responsibility to manage and control your actions and your emotions. You are accepting a higher standard of responsibility and accountability and must hold yourself to it.

Where I’ve been the past 3 days

/ hsoi / 9 Comments

Here’s where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing the past 3 days:

I’ll catch up on blogging, email, and everything else in life over the coming days. Thank you for your patience.

Ammo angle

/ hsoi / 10 Comments

With the current ammo crunch going on, here’s something to think about.

This came out of the March 2013 Tiger Valley newsletter.

My source did give me some advice for this summer.  There will be a shortage of hunting caliber ammunition.  This is caused by the great interest in black rifle.  It seems that most factories are ramping up to produce the .223 by the train load.

Jives with some things I’ve seen. On the one hand, if you hunt with an obscure caliber that black rifles aren’t chambered for (e.g. .25-06), you may well find the ammo on the shelves. But if you hunt with something like .308 Win (AR-10’s), you may have a hard time finding it. Or it may be that you can find target ammo in the caliber, but not hunting ammo.

Makes sense given the state of things.

Just consider that if you’re going to go deer hunting in the Fall/Winter, it may be worthwhile to look for a box or two now. They’ll keep.

So it’s dead…. but not gone

/ hsoi

Looks like Feinstein’s pet legislation is dead.

They know it’s polarizing, they know it won’t get through, so the “bigwigs” are basically nixing it.

So folks… please stop hoarding ammo. Those of us that actually want, need, and use ammo would like to get some. Classes are hard to teach without it. 🙂

But this isn’t the end of the road.

First, we don’t know what Reid will actually try to present on the floor. But he believes they will be proposals that will gain more support. So I guess the question remains: who is still willing to sell us out? None of these proposals will make any difference towards achieving their stated ends.

One proposal that keeps coming up that they think could gain traction is a ban or restriction on “high-capacity magazine clips” (quote from the above article… *sigh*.

“Families in Newtown and across the country deserve a robust debate on efforts to reduce gun violence,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said in a statement. “While the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 is an incredibly important part of this debate, I continue to believe that a more targeted ban on high capacity magazines is an equally effective way to reduce casualties in episodes of mass violence. I believe we need to have a separate floor vote on a high capacity magazine restriction, and I look forward to working with other senators in the coming weeks to develop a reasonable restriction on large volume magazines that can gain bipartisan support.”

Newtown… “won’t someone think of the children, because we’ll make you look like a heartless beast that wants children to be slaughtered if you oppose us”.

But the reality is, it won’t affect casualties. So many of the mass shootings have been slow and methodical. They will casually reload, and keep shooting. If they won’t reload, then they’ll just have more guns and reload by picking up another gun. And if not another gun, there’s far many more ways to inflict mass death and damage that doesn’t involve guns at all. So tell me, apart from making you feel good because you’ve “done something”, what are you actually doing towards solving root problems and not just taking a lozenge for the symptoms?

Here’s some irony out of the article.

“Our nation’s law enforcement officials know better than anyone what it takes to protect our communities from gun violence, and they know that background checks help save lives,” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, co-chair of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, said in a statement. “They have dedicated their lives to protecting the public, and as Congress debates our nation’s gun laws, their voices deserve to be heard.”

Yes, the LEO’s know. And that’s part of why LEO’s want “high-capacity magazine clips”. It’s part of why LEO’s are constantly exempted from these sorts of bans and restrictions. If putting 10-round or 7-round limits on gun capacity directly correlates to a reduction in gun violence, then it should apply to LEO’s as well. Else, what’s your real motivation behind such a ban and restriction?

Background checks save lives. Maybe, maybe not. I think to some extent the system has worked, because I’ve spoken with a lot of guys behind the counter and heard some crazy stories about people who have tried to buy, filled out the 4473, got called in for a background check, and then had such a rap sheet that they dispatched police to come pick the guy up at the counter. So yeah, it can work.

But do you really think that background checks are going to keep guns out of the hands of people bent on death and destruction?

I mean, consider Sudafed. Look at what Grandma has to do to get medicine for her cold. But exactly how much meth production has been stopped by this “background check”? So do you think Joe Gangbanger selling a stolen gun out of the trunk of his car is going to do an NICS check? Tell me how this will do anything useful.

And folks… one thing to remember about a lot of Police Chief’s. They are politicians. They are many times the puppet of the city council and mayor. They aren’t elected, so they tend to serve who put them there. This is why you often find the Sheriff more favorable, since they were elected by the people. It’s been quite interesting to watch the past some months and see how police chief’s come out in favor of bans and restrictions, and sheriffs are not and in fact many have flat out stated they will defy orders to do things like confiscation.

So folks….

It’s the same old story. And it won’t go away any time soon.

It’s evident things are fading, and that’s good because it shows what people really want in this world: real solutions to our problems, not political agendas.

But it’s not gone. It’s not done. There’s still stuff on the Federal level, and there are still states trampling on freedoms with their emotional appeals and knee-jerk reactions. So, we cannot let up. We must still fight the fight.

But please, stop hoarding. 🙂  That way we can hold more classes, and bring more people into the fold. Teach them right, teach them well, teach them safely, and allow them to go to the range to practice. This is the sort of advocacy that will benefit us most in the long run. As Jim Scoutten says, “Shoot often, shoot safely, and share your sport!”

 

 

KR Training March 2013 Newsletter

/ hsoi

I’m a little behind in posting about the KR Training March 2013 Newsletter.

Schedule through the end of summer is posted, and I’ll say this… if you are contemplating taking a class, sign up now. Literally, now.

The current climate has had much impact upon things. Classes are filling up at an unpredicented rate. What classes are being offered is being greatly driven by demand; it normally is, of course, but not like this. It shows what’s on everyone’s mind. I’m not suggesting “sign up now” out of “fear drive”, but rather, reality of scheduling. For example, the April 20 classes weren’t full when I looked a couple days ago, but writing this post this morning, now they’re full. Truly, it’s just high demand for limited slots, so if you want to get one, you can’t dawdle.

The realities of the present climate have also had some other impacts.

NRA Instructor courses are being offered this summer (usually a January thing).

Numerous classes have had round-count adjustments. For example, there’s a new Defensive Long Gun – Essentials that’s a modified version of the regular DLG class, but since shotgun ammo is highly available, the class will be a little more shotgun-centric. We also had to raise the price of Basic Pistol 1 to help cover the rising cost of ammo.

Of course, just being summertime, other adjustments were made as well — such as starting classes at 8 AM. Please be sure to arrive before class starts so we can start on time. 🙂

Oh… and apparently now I’m lead instructor on some classes. Whee!

Pretty Swirls

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

At the end of a recent DPS1 class, we were doing the extreme-close-quarters drill. As I walked the line I noticed something different on one student’s target.

Click to embiggen

You’ll want to click on the picture to embiggen it and see the detail.

He said he was shooing Blazer (I guess Blazer Brass). And at that “contact distance”, the bullet was spinning (hooray rifling!), thus the air around was being spun, all the unburnt powder was coming out… and there you go.

Pretty nifty looking, eh?

 

AAR – KR Training 2013-03-09 – DPS2/AT-2/AT1-A

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Ah, the “big weekend”. KR Training can only do this twice a year due to the logistics of daylight, and it’s always a long but satisfying day.

We ran Defensive Pistol Skills 2, AT-2: Force-on-Force scenarios, and AT-1A Low Light Shooting. Had lots of severe rain threats, and while it was windy and cloudy all day, the rain didn’t happen. How typical. 🙂

I’m pleased to see more women seeking advanced training, with about 1/4 to 1/3 of the students in each class (depending upon class) being women. Ladies, do not fear force-on-force – it’s where you’ll get some of your best knowledge and training. It was cool to see Mr. & Mrs. Groundhog again, a few other familiar faces and friends, and also meet some new folks too!

All in all, the classes ran as these classes tend to run, so I will  address some specifics for the folks in those classes.

Move Fast(er)

Y’all need to move faster. The intent of these classes and these skills is to keep you alive in a life-threatening situation. If you were one of the people that stayed all day long, remember how quickly everything unfolded in the AT-2 scenarios? Once it was time to move, it was over in seconds. If it’s time to start shooting, you do NOT have time to waste. You need to move (off the X) quickly. You need to get your gun out fast. But then yes, slow down just a bit so you can ensure acceptable hits.

Watching y’all shoot throughout class, I know you have the skills to shoot really well — I saw it all morning long. When it came time to shoot the “3 Seconds or Less” drill, there were too many shots coming in more than 3 seconds. So y’all are close, and now you know what to work on. Yes, you still have to remain accurate enough (use a 6″ paper plate as a target, and hits on that plate are acceptable), you just need to move faster.

There’s a few specifics here:

Get out of the holster

Get a shot timer. If you have a smartphone, there are apps out there for this, so grab one.

Set the timer to go off at a random time (e.g. somewhere between 2 and 5 seconds after you press the “start” button). When the buzzer goes off, MOVE immediately and quickly to draw and present (i.e. all 4 steps of the draw). Don’t be sloppy, don’t throw the gun out there, be sure to acquire a good (enough) sight picture. You want to do it right. Start out doing it right, even if it’s slow, and work to bring up the speed.

Use the timer app and set a par time; that’s where there’s a second beep. The drill we ran had a par time of 3 seconds, so you can start there. On the start beep, draw and present, and get it done before the second beep goes off. If you cannot get it done in time, bump the time up and find out how long it takes you. If you can get it done, drop it down and find where you cannot do it any more. The point is, never rush it, always do it right. You are trying to find out how long it takes you to react, draw, and present — it’s just not easy to have something stop the timer (e.g. no “shots” to pick up, and it’s not good enough to have a second person watch and hit the stop button because their reaction time factors in). Once you know how long it takes you, work at that pace for a little while. Then drop it down a tenth of a second, and keep going. You must push yourself to go faster, and you may surprise yourself that you can go faster than you thought you could. Keep working from there. As Karl mentioned, a 1.5 second draw from concealment is great.

Another thing to help on time? slowing down to go fast. Click/tap, read.

Get rid of your crappy holster

Gear matters. You need good holsters, good magazine pouches, good belt, good gear helps. Bad gear hinders.

When in doubt, try Comp-Tac. They aren’t the only game in town, but if you’re not sure what else to try, try them, especially since they have a wide variety and fairly quick turnaround time.

Play the “what-if” game

For those that ran scenarios, be sure to play the “what-if” game. Start to create your rolodex of situations and responses, and remember that everything isn’t a nail.

Remember, maximize enjoyment of beer and tv.

Get rid of your crappy flashlight

You never cared or thought much about flashlights, until now. 🙂

Surefire, Streamlight, Fenix. There are others, but these will give you a good place to start. My current EDC is a Surefire E2D.

Anyways, a long but good day. We’ve all got some homework to do (including myself). Thank you all for coming out and spending your day with us. Hope we served you well, and we look forward to serving you again in the future.

I think you have it backwards

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Tom Diaz at the Washington Post asks:

Why are the First, Fourth and Fifth amendments subject to erosion in the name of homeland security, but the Second Amendment is beyond compromise in the name of saving innocent lives?

and then he spends 2 pages railing about the need for gun control to save the lives of “won’t-someone-think-of-the-children”.

I’ll agree with him on one thing:

Our perception of the relative dangers of terrorism and gun violence is distorted. We don’t know it, and our leaders don’t bother to tell us.

And he’s right. Our perception of the relative dangers is vastly distorted, because when you have non-stop media coverage about a single event, it impresses strongly on your mind. But when you step back and look at the numbers, you find there haven’t been all that many people killed in mass shootings. Statistically speaking, more children die from accidental drownings and car accidents — but there’s no media outrage, no 24/7 coverage, and so yes perception is distorted.

So Mr. Diaz, are you saying “the media” is ‘our leader’? Because the mass media isn’t bothering to tell us either. They are taking no responsibility for providing a clear, logical, rational, and sound picture. Do they have to be so responsible? No, but then if you want such a proper picture, turn off the TV (and perhaps write for another newspaper).

I really think you mean ‘our leaders’ are our politicians.

They are not “our leaders”. They are our servants, only they forget it, never learned it, or because people keep referring to them as “our leaders” instead of the proper label of “our servants” they keep believing they are in charge of us and are supposed to tell us what to do and we’re supposed to blindly follow them.

Are they supposed to present us with a clear and proper picture? I’d say they have a greater responsibility to do so, and it seems Mr. Diaz thinks so as well. But I am constantly amazed at people that shocked at the corruption of politicians, then turn to the same corrupt politicians expecting them to help and have their best interests at heart.

What bothers me more, however, is I think Mr. Diaz has it backwards.

He is right that there’s something wrong with allowing the 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendments to degrade in the name of “security”. What bothers me most about his article is he is calling for the 2nd to be just as or more degraded. All in the name of “leveling the playing field” of “equality”.

You know how you can also achieve this same end?

By upgrading (or rather, restoring) the 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendments.

I too think it’s horrible that we’re destroying our Constitution in the name of (false) security. But instead of calling for further destruction, we should be working towards restoration… else we just continue down the path we’re already going down.