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Guns
What are the chances I’ll need a gun?
Here goes that Tom Givens character again, citing facts and drawing logical conclusions.
In reply to the following statement: ‘The statistical likelihood of a defensive gun use, shots fired or not, is small compared to the likelihood of an injury [from a] car wreck’, he said:
“I would disagree with this. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2009 there were 2,250,808 motor vehicle accident related deaths and/or injuries. According to the same source, in 2009 there were 2,621,100 murders, rapes, armed robberies and aggravated assaults. Every one of those violent crimes was a potential DGU, IF the victim simply had enough sense to be armed.
This rant … is directed at the people I constantly hear telling me that ‘the odds of needing my gun are one in a million.’ They are not.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics victimization survey, the violent crimes reported to police don’t even come close to the true number. For 2007, the BJS estimates there were over 5.6 million violent crimes (murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault). That is one for every 54 people in the country. Again, every one of those would be a legitimate cause for a DGU, if the victim were armed.”
From Claude Werner’s Facebook page.
Tony Blauer on Street Survival
Tony Blauer has written his 10 Commandments of Street Survival.
It’s a pretty good piece, and really works to present and create a warrior mindset. And in some ways, it’s a mindset that’s good for life in general; I could see folks wanting to apply it as self-help strategies or ways to succeed in business. It’s all good stuff towards helping you create a solid mindset and attitude.
Thing is, I had this bookmarked for a couple of weeks, intending to eventually write about it. As I reread it this morning, it stood in contrast to something else I wrote about a few days ago, Claude Werner’s piece on “how much training do you need?”.
Tony’s piece sounds like you must dedicate your life to being a warrior, eating, sleeping, breathing, and living 24/7/365 this way in order to have a chance of defending yourself. Claude’s piece says that lots of people defend themselves every day without much of any formal training, and are we Trainers perhaps constructing a bigger boogeyman to justify training?
It’s a bunch to think about… lots swirling in my head regarding both pieces individually and the compare/contrast of them.
I’m not sure the two are in complete opposition to each other; in parts yes, but I think in others they are orthogonal or even complementary.
What do you think?
How much training do you need?
Claude Werner writes in the 26 June 2012 edition of The Tactical Wire regardign how much training people actually need. He argues that it’s not as much as we in the “pro training” community might advocate:
Still, every year hundreds of thousands of people, who have had no training whatsoever and who seldom practice, successfully defend themselves with firearms, often small ones, from villains intending them harm. Accordingly the statement: “But you need to actually train with said gun and practice often if you expect to save your life with it one day” isn’t necessarily true. In fact, there’s not much real evidence to back up that kind of statement at all.
Claude’s analysis of why we have this skewed perception:
The essence of the problem is that those of us who study mortal combat professionally have constructed a fusion of the worst possible law enforcement and military incidents. The resulting amalgamated adversary is an extremely formidable boogeyman who a T-1000 Terminator would have difficulty defeating. Actually finding a criminal who remotely resembles that boogeyman is quite a different matter.
He’s right on that point. I think this is in part due to the fact we don’t always have reports of incidents. Police don’t record non-events. The newspaper doesn’t report non-events. Example: I know someone who has to pull his vehicle over to handle a phone call and some paper shuffling. While sitting on the side of the road, a vagrant emerged and approached the truck. My friend had his mental alarm bells going off, so he rolled out of the door with his gun drawn. The vagrant stopped, postured a bit, then left. Did anyone other than my friend’s friends hear about this incident? And it’s not like the vagrant was searching for Sarah Connor.
But if I may toot the KR Training horn a bit, this is one thing I’ve always appreciated about Karl’s approach.
Many, perhaps most, criminals are capable of committing the most unspeakable acts against pliant victims. Once defensive tools come into play, the criminal’s motivation tends to flag quite rapidly. Economically based criminals are in the business of victimization not fighting. As soon as a gun comes out, it’s an obvious clue that the victimization has gone sour and turned into a fight. Not good from the criminal’s point of view. The most common response is to point to their watch – “Oh, look at the time. Have to go now.” Actual gunfire makes the souring of the process even more evident.
This is what we know, and this is what we teach. I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard Tom Hogel bring up the “oh, look at the time, I just remembered I have a dentist appointment” line. KR Training strives to bring reality to the table by looking at as much data as we can, not just further the hunt for Sarah Connor.
It’s an odd statement coming from someone who makes his living doing firearms training, but, as I see it, the NEED for training and pistols whose caliber begins with 4 is much overblown. And often what is taught is of questionable relevance to the needs of a mainstream person. If we in the community want to see more people get trained, we need to adopt a “less is more” philosophy and make our training relevant to the mainstream’s needs and resource constraints.
Here’s where I think we need to look at Claude’s words carefully.
Is much of the training overblown? I think so. Look at endless YouTube videos of people visiting training schools. Look at the things being taught. Is it really Red Dawn? Is there really a worry about zombie apocalypse? Many tools and techniques aren’t NEEDED for someone to defend themselves successfully. But I’d also agree that “what’s need got to do with it?” because if you want to learn as much as possible, that’s fine. The only reason I’ve wanted to learn long range “sniper” shooting was for long-range hunting, like up in the mountains where maybe I’d have to take a 300+ yard shot. But who knows if someday that might be relevant in other contexts.
But don’t let Claude’s words fool you. He’s not advocating NO training. What he’s advocating is the training community looking at what we’re teaching and ensuring it’s relevant and meaningful. Again on the KR Training front here, I like how Karl created a graduated curriculum, each class rather focused on one or just a few important concepts, and ensuring the most important things are covered first. For example, Defensive Pistol Skills 1 works on the basics of “gunfighting” like getting fast accurate hits from 0-5 yards and drawing from concealment. Reloads are just not that important at that level and most people aren’t going to need to reload in a fight. But reloads are discussed in DPS2.
How much training do you need? Probably more than you think, but probably less than some might have you believe.
A trip to the store
Reading The Firearm Blog this morning, I skimmed over a review of the S&W Bodyguard .380. I got to the conclusion:
The “Bodyguard” is handy and light to carry as well as fast getting the first shot off. It would be hard to beat as a backup pistol or one you grab to make a quick trip to the convenience store. I know carry your full size pistol but to be honest many people do grab a backup pistol for this type of neighborhood chore.
If everyone else in the house wasn’t sleeping, I would have screamed at my computer monitor.
I know a lot of people do this sort of thing, but just because a lot of people do it doesn’t make it right, nor that you should perpetuate and encourage it. You know… like voting Democrat. 😉 Or voting Republican for that matter. *grin* I digress.
We don’t call convenience stores “stop and robs” for nothing.
If a place has a statistically higher chance of being a target of violent crime, well, of course the best solution is to not go there. But if you must, why in the world would you willingly choose an inferior piece of live-saving equipment? That would be like a firefighter choosing to go to a 3-alarm fire with a garden hose and a bucket.
If ensuring you have a talisman to ward off evil or make you feel comfortable is what matters to you, then I guess by all means make this choice. But if ensuring you can return home with that jug of milk should the flag fly is what matters to you, strap on your proper gun. I mean, you obviously considered this fact, because it’s why you carry a gun in the first place. But it’s up to you and your mindset. Your life. Your choice.
KR Training June 2012 newsletter
The KR Training June 2012 e-news is now online. It lists all classes with slots available in the next 60 days, along with interesting links and other news.
Most of our classes will be morning-only (8-12), starting early to beat the summer heat!
4 hours too long? Come out for a 2 hour Skill Builder course! Cheap ($40) and short. No lecture. 200 rounds of structured practice. Perfect to refresh skills you’ve learned in our classes and run those drills you can’t do at other ranges. Can be shot with a .22.
Carry a pocket gun or other small handgun? Our new Defensive Pistol Skills BUG (backup gun) class was designed specifically to train you with the small, difficult to shoot carry gun. It’s scheduled for July 28, registration is open now.
To see the entire 2012 schedule click here.
Karl, Penny and the KR Training crew
Tyler Kee – back for more
Looks like Tyler Kee from The Truth About Guns was back out at KR Training for another class.
I wasn’t out for that one (was out picking up my beef from Sand Creek Farm). I wish I had known Tyler was coming out. It was nice to meet him when he first came out, and it would have been cool to see him again.
Either way tho, just happy to see he came around for more and had a good time.
Carrying the Shield – an update
I’ve been carrying my M&P Shield for a few weeks now.
I thought it was time to give an update on the carry side of things.
As a reminder, the reason I’ve chosen to carry it for a while is as an experiment. The reason we’re looking at the Shield is to gain first-hand knowledge if it’s recommendable as a handgun for carry and personal protection. On the surface it pans out pretty well, but it’s new and needs some mileage. So I opted to try it and see how it goes.
There’s a saying (I believe attributed to Clint Smith) that a carry gun should be comforting, not comfortable.
Well… at least for me, I find the M&P to be comfortable, not comforting.
It’s very comfortable. It’s small, it’s thin, it’s light. In my Comp-Tac MTAC holster worn IWB at 3 o’clock, the Shield just disappears into my side. Of course, this is with the flush/compact magazine. There’s no butt butting out, bumping into things, making clothing look bumping or odd. Truly, I can forget the gun is there… well, I don’t because it’s been rather a humid and hot June and so the holster sometimes sticks to my skin thus when I bend I remember the gun is there. But it’s the holster, not the gun, you see. I can sit in a hard-backed chair and there’s no gun butt smacking into the seat back, or causing things to have to shift around. I can lay on the floor and there’s almost nothing uncomfortable or bumpy.
So it’s a VERY comfortable gun to carry. At least for me.
But honestly, I don’t find it very comforting.
Previously I discussed the Shield’s capacity problem. At practical best, it’s a 6+1 with that flush mag. Get an M&P9c and you’re getting 12+1, but the tradeoff is a slightly larger gun which may be defeating the purpose. Of course, a full-sized M&P9 gets you 17+1 (16+1 really, since you should down-load the magazine by 1). But gee… 16 rounds in the magazine vs. 6… almost 3 times more ammo. And it’s a lot easier to do a speed reload with a full-sized gun, or at least, for someone with my size hands. See my most recent write-up about shooting the Shield.
I guess I just don’t feel like it’s enough gun.
”I have interviewed an awful lot of people after a gunfight. Not one of them has ever said to me, ‘I wish I’d had a smaller gun with less ammunition in it.'” – Tom Givens
And that’s the thing. You choose to carry a gun because you understand there may come a time in life when you’ll have to use it. In every aspect of our lives we (should) strive to be the best, to have every legitimate advantage possible so as to improve our chances of success. Why would you desire to intentionally handicap or cripple yourself? especially in a matter of life and death? If you can carry a larger gun, you should. And frankly, many people choose small guns for carry because they eschew comforting for comfortable.
Some will say “well, how much ammo do you need?” Well, I don’t know. And because I don’t know, I’d rather have more than less. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
That all said, I don’t think the Shield is a bad gun. I think it has a role. For me, it’s somewhere between my snub and my full-size. That is, my snub is my backup gun, but on rare occasion is pressed to be my primary/sole because I need as much concealment as possible. Otherwise, my choice and preference is to carry my full-sized gun. But there are times when the full-sized is too much for the situation and I could see the Shield filling the role. So, at the end of this experiment the Shield won’t be going into cold storage, but it may collect a little dust since it will not be my primary. But I will still bring it to appropriate KR Training class because I think it may have a role as a primary for some.
And that’s the thing… circumstances are different for everyone. The initial appeal of the Shield was as a possible solution to the “small/weak hands” problem we see in classes. There are some guns out there that fit small and/or weak hands, but usually those guns are also of variable or questionable quality and fitness for serious purposes. Could the Shield fit and be fit? So far results are promising, but it’ll take many people and much time before we can really say. Still, I’m high on the Shield for this purpose.
As for me, I still like it. It has a place, but it just won’t be part of MY regular use.
I’m going to switch back to my uncomfortable but more comforting full-sized M&P9.
DR Performance Practice Deck for iOS version 1.1 Now Available
The DR Performance Practice Deck for iOS version 1.1 is now available.
Lots of good things in this update, the biggest news being score tracking is now available.
Please spread the good word!
Thank you for your support.
More Shooting with the M&P Shield
At this past Saturday’s KR Training class, my M&P Shield saw some more action and had a few hundred more rounds put through her.
First, I’ll say, installing that Apex Tactical hard sear was a good decision. It really helps improve the Shield’s trigger. I cannot wait for Apex to put out their full trigger kit. Note that I don’t believe Apex is officially supporting this configuration… I’m doing so at my own choice and risk.
The first bit of action was lending it to a student. She shot it well, but it did give me some pause. First, one reason for the Shield is for folks with small hands. But as she showed me, even the Shield can be big for some hands. This student’s hands were alright for the Shield, but it was on the cusp of being big for her (in terms of proper gun fit and trigger reach). She told me she actually owned a Shield, but didn’t like it as much because it was snappy and hurt to shoot, or at least, hurt more than shooting her full-sized M&P9. This makes sense, and that’s a reality of a smaller gun: lighter in weight, the gun thus cannot absorb the recoil and so you get to feel it. These are the tradeoffs.
Apart from that, she managed alright… the lack of magazines and lack of capacity made using it in class tough. I really hope S&W will sell magazines soon, and that they won’t cost a fortune.
After class was over and everyone cleared out, I spent a couple hours doing some shooting on my own. I just wanted to shoot because I had the opportunity, but I also wanted to do some more work with the Shield to evaluate how it worked for me.
I shot numerous drills and standards, including some of the standards from the Rangemaster Instructor course, Paul Howe’s standards, the KR Training 3 Seconds or Less drill.
Overall the shooting went well, but I can make some comments.
Draw
My draw was slow. I was drawing from concealment, and I just felt like my arms were made of lead and I couldn’t get the moving fast enough. I used a shot timer throughout and most of my first shots were taking 1.5 to 1.7 seconds… and I felt so slow. So for the most part, I think it was me.
But I did notice on numerous draws that my grip was not solid. Was it because the size/shape of the gun? That when my hand met grip there just isn’t much to grip because it’s so short and thin? Or could it be because I’m just not used to it, after so many years of coming down on a full-sized grip? So many times I found myself, hand hitting grip, and then fiddle-farting for a moment or two to ensure solid grip. That’s going to take a tenth or two-tenths of a second. In the end tho, I chalk this more up to the man than the tool.
Reloads
Reloads were just hard. On a full-sized gun, everything sticks out so it’s easy to get into the magazine well and slam a new mag home. It’s even easier to let an empty mag drop free. But on this gun — and I strove to shoot with the flush-mount mag, only using the extended mag as the reload — everything is “in”, nothing sticks out. So when I press the magazine release button, I have to release my grip on the gun, gripping it almost like I’m trying to daintily hold a fancy champagne flute, so I can get my palm out of the way so the magazine can drop free. Then seating the new magazine is difficult because left palm meets right palm unless again I’m way out of the way. Then seating the magazine can be a bit of a challenge. Finally I have lost so much of my grip I have to reacquire it all over again and ensure I don’t rush and fumble and blow the first shot post-reload.
And it just adds up to precious time being spent in a way that I don’t prefer.
But this again isn’t the gun, it’s the person. The lady that shot the gun in the morning? I reckon she’d not have these same problems because her hands just don’t “consume” the gun like mine so.
Trigger
This is the one that really bugs me.
I have noticed when I shoot the gun weak-hand-only (left hand), sometimes the trigger hangs up on something and will not fully depress and the gun will not go bang.
That’s…. bothersome.
It only happened once today (and blew an otherwise perfect run on a test, argh!), but it’s happened to me enough times in dry practice too.
Frankly, that it happens once is one time too many. At least, for a piece of life-saving equipment.
I’m not sure what’s going on with it, why the trigger is hanging up like that. But because it doesn’t always happen and seems to involve the “angle” at while my left index finger is pressing the trigger and maybe “pulling” or “pushing” it into something well… this is not the man, this is the machine that’s at fault. The trigger should NOT require me to have to press it “just so” in order for the gun to work. There’s something wrong.
And if I remember correctly, this did happen before I installed the Apex hard sear, so I don’t think it has anything to do with that change or part.
Capacity
I’ve touched on this before, but gee, it really made things go slow. With only 6+1 (plus 7 in the extended mag for a reload), I would have to reload after almost every string since most required more than 3 shots. It got really old, things went really slow. It will be partially remedied when/if S&W ever starts selling magazines, but even still, a couple of the drills I had to modify because I just didn’t have enough ammo period.
On the one hand, having 17+1 in my full-sized M&P9 really helps with the administrative side of things. On the personal defense side having 17+1 means you can handle a lot more. While I just shot drills, that I couldn’t manage 2 strings in a row is a bit bothersome… what if that equates to having to deal with 2 bad guys in a row?
My Finger
Get this.
The day after, I noticed the pad of my right ring finger was hurting. There were a couple “white dots” on it, a hint of purple, and the pad was very tender… like it was bruised.
I realized it was due to the Shield. All that shooting with the flush magazine and how my fingers then wrapped around and interacted with the gun during recoil. It just beat the dickens out of my finger.
Never had that happen before.
It’s not a horrible thing, but when a primary activity in your day is typing, and a secondary activity is grasping things, well… you get a constant reminder of it being there. It’s annoying.
Conclusion
All in all, I shot well and did a lot better with the Shield than I expected. I did find myself mashing the trigger more due to the ergonomics of the gun. I haven’t touched my full-sized gun since I started this Shield experiment, but I really should go back and see how it goes. I hope I didn’t pick up too many bad habits, and I hope I can undo my trigger mashing. I didn’t think to bring the full-sized M&P with me so I could do some side-by-side comparison, but I now wish I had.
The trigger problem bothers me.
So I’m warming up to the Shield in some respects… but I’m still not sure it’s right for me.
Stuff From Hsoi 