Guns

Statistical filter

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

People tend to love data, especially if they can use (twist?) it to back up their emotional appeals to further things towards their desired ends.

Hey, we all do it.

The trick for the listener is to sift through everything and truly see the data for what it is, not what someone wants to present.

So to that, well… I’d reblog this if there was a way, but as a posting on Facebook the best I can do is copy/paste it. This was posted by Marc MacYoung here:

In a thread about gun control, the old saws about the victims being children, women and targets of racism came up. Here’s some things to think about…
***

Here are some raw, baseline — and indisputable — facts about violence that spin-doctors tend to deep six. (As they should because they undermine the credibility of the agenda-group’s message.)

An overwhelming majority of violence occurs between people who know each other. (Killing a stranger is exceedingly rare.)

An overwhelming majority of violence is committed by a member of a race on someone of his/her own race. Violence between different races is rare — except robbery.

A large — if not overwhelming — majority of homicide ‘victims’ have criminal records (and are themselves engaged in criminal lifestyles or illegal activities)

An overwhelming majority of homicide perpetrators have criminal records and are actively engaged in criminal lifestyle or illegal activities)

(Note and distinction — a criminal lifestyle means literally crime is their profession. They make their living off it. [e.g., a drug dealer]. This as opposed to someone who is doing something that is illegal [e.g., buying drugs])

Criminal enterprises — especially drug dealing — commonly involve teens and even children (under 12) as part of their ‘crew.’ (In other words, the ‘children’ killed by guns are often gangmembers and drug dealers.)

Men are more likely to be the ~cough cough~ victims of physical violence than women. With the following caveats…

Women are far less likely to become physically violent with a stranger, but are AS likely (although some argue more likely) to become physically violent within family/ relationship.

So where women are as likely to be victims as men are in domestic situation, BUT they are just as likely to be the perpetrators. (I have a saying that before someone can be certified as an expert in the subject of domestic violence they should be required to live in a trailer park for a year.)

Where women ARE the leading ‘victims’ of physical assault is when it comes to rape. But with the current redefinition of rape to include drunk sex — technically speaking men are being raped at a higher rate. (Granted that’s not how it’s being legally interpreted, but drunk and unable to give consent is not sex/gender specific.)

Rape has a legal precedence of being deemed ‘Grievous bodily injury’ — thereby justifying use of lethal force.

Now, these ‘facts’ are available, but you have to dig — I mean REALLY dig.

Because simply stated, a lot of the times questions (that would reveal these) are deliberately not asked in studies/statistics that are going for a specific answer. Answers to support particular agendas. Oddly enough, in studies where they are, the common response to claim the study is biased, unreliable and agenda driven. (How do they manage not to choke on the irony?)

That’s why when people start with the women, children and race aspects of gun control I have to hold up my hand and say “Wait a minute…” because this is the stuff they’re leaving out. Starting with the fact that we have an armed professional criminal class in this country. (The good news is they prefer shooting each other over civilians.)

Spend some time looking up this data at the FBI Uniform Crime Report, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Again, it takes digging and you’ll often find only fragments here and there. But when you put the pieces together, you’ll find that things are WAY different than what the agenda pushers are selling.

UCR
https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/ucr
BJS
http://bjs.gov/

So, take it for what you will.

One thing that sprung to my mind after reading Marc’s posting was something Tom Givens trots out.

Tom likes to point out that you’ve got about a 1-in-150 chance of being the victim of a violent crime. Tom uses numbers taken from those above same sources. If you look at Tom’s number through the filter of Marc’s information, the average law-abiding citizen doesn’t have a 1-in-150 — their chances are much less; 1-in-300? 1-in-1000?  1-in-10,000? I can’t say, but certainly not 1-in-150. And if you’re a member of that criminal class, your chances are much higher; 1-in-15 maybe? Again I can’t say.

Granted, Tom is simplifying to make a point, because whatever the actual chances are, it’s still a likely event.

But however you look at it, and whomever is presenting data – even people “on your side” – it’s wise to dig deeper.

KR Training July 2015 Newsletter

/ hsoi

The KR Training July 2015 Newsletter is up!

Big news is that we’re running some specials on classes this summer. Not a lot of time, not a lot of money, but ever-so-valuable instruction and reinforcement of fundamental skills – something we all need from time to time. Come on out and see us!

 

“The only reason…”

/ hsoi

“The only reason for guns is to kill”

Right?

The only reason.

In the July/August 2015 issue of Front Sight magazine, they had an interview with Valerie Levanza.

Valerie is the CEO of a healthcare staffing agency, a mother, an immigrant, and an accomplished shooter in numerous disciplines.

A particular part of her interview stood out to me:

Q: Do you do any hunting?

A: No, I don’t have the heart to shoot anything alive.

She shoots guns, competitively, but doesn’t hunt.

I know a number of accomplished competition shooters, that don’t hunt, nor do they even carry a gun for personal protection. To them, a gun is nothing more than a piece of equipment for their chosen sport, like a racket or a ball.

But you know… the only reason for guns, and that people have guns, is to kill. Right?

 

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Yeah I know. You want to open carry because it’s your God-given right or whatever. Or because the legal boundaries have been expanded here in Texas so it’s novel.

Greg Ellifritz posted the following to his Facebook page. What he wrote accompanies a video. I will not repost the video here, but basically it’s surveillance video of 2 police officers in Venezuela, ordering/paying for their lunch. As they do so, a group of men come up behind them — one man sticks his gun to the back of cop 1’s head and shoots him, then turns and shoots the other cop as his cohorts close in.

Why do they do this? It’s obvious in the video: they want the policemen’s guns. They come up, ambush and kill the cops, take their guns, leave.

Greg writes:

Watch this video of two police officers being assassinated. It’s from Venezuela. In that country, gun control makes it impossible for the average citizen to legally own a gun. Criminals there specifically target cops to steal their pistols.

This is the big problem I have with open carry. No one can stay 100% aware of his surroundings at all times. You open carriers don’t think this could happen to you? Wake up. You too could be distracted in a public place ( like this officer paying for his meal in a restaurant) and have a criminal walk up behind you and take the shot.

I have to carry openly as a cop. I would prefer not to, but that isn’t an option. I won’t further enhance my risks for a crime like this by doing it in my off duty hours as well. Be smart. Keep your force options hidden until you need them.

Emphasis added.

And if you think you’re so impervious, that your “head is on a swivel”, that you’re always in Condition Yellow, that your awareness levels are awesome and this will never happen to you, that you’ll be able to take on a determined and well-armed group of men who have zero regard for you and just want what you have… well, I hope you’re right, and I hope your luck never runs out.

Again, I’m all for improving the legal standing of open carry. However from a tactical perspective it’s fairly weak and opens you up to and potentially invites a whole slew of larger issues.

Remember why it is that you carry a gun and try to act humbly and accordingly. If you carry a gun so you can be sure to go home each night to your family, continue to conduct yourself in the manner to best enable that, y’know?

A critique of “good enough”

/ hsoi

What is “good enough”?

Usually it means it’s sufficient to get the job done, but doesn’t exceed what’s (minimally) needed. But still, what does that mean?

I just came across an article “What’s Considered ‘Good Enough’ Shooting for a Concealed Carrier?” While I think the article intentions are generally valid, I think the article could be improved.

BTW, if you haven’t read “Minimum Competency”, I suggest you detour from here and give it a read. The rest of this article will have greater meaning if you have a fuller understanding of where I’m coming from.

Minimum Competency

About 2 years ago I wrote a series of articles about “Minimum Competency for Defensive Pistol“. I spent time looking at what happens in self-defense incidents, and from that being able to compile what might be considered minimum competency. It’s essentially the same goal as trying to define what is “good enough”. From that:

It seems when we look at what unfolds in a typical incident and what needs to be done to handle that typical incident, you get:

  • drawing from concealment
    • And perhaps moving on that draw (like a side-step then stop; not shoot-and-move)
  • getting multiple hits
  • in a small area
    • 5″ circle? 6″ circle? 8″ circle? consider human anatomy
  • from close range
    • Within a car length, so say 0-5 yards
  • quickly
    • 3 seconds or less
  • using both hands, or maybe one hand (or the other)

First

The first assertion in the article is to get your concealed carry draw down. Certainly that is important. But the article becomes scattered.

It talks about how targets move and how you don’t want to be standing in one place. But then, when a drill is presented in this section of the article, there’s nothing that addresses movement. Simply discussing side-step on draw is a first step (no pun intended).

The article then presents a drill for concealment draw:

  • Place your hand on your handgun in its holster.
  • Scan your full field of view.
  • Lock on target.
  • Draw your pistol or revolver from its holster.
  • Instinctively put two rounds center mass on the target.
  • Scan your full field of view.
  • Place your handgun back in its concealed carry holster.

I’m trying to understand why you put your hand on your gun, then scan for a target. Generally speaking (both legally and tactically), you  go for your gun once an imminent threat to life has been identified. That likely means the target is already acquired before you put your hand on your gun. So I don’t quite understand this given order of operations.

I’m not sure what “instinctively put two rounds center mass” means.

What is “instinctive”? Humans are not born with any instinct to shoot a gun. Does this mean I should be able to accomplish this feat with my eyes closed? Does this mean I should not use the sights of my gun? Granted if the target is just a couple feet in front of me I can probably get away with a coarse index on the target with just the top of the slide and a general notion of pointing the gun towards the target. But what if the target is 15 yards away? What instinct is to help me there? I’d rather bring the gun up to the eye-target line, with both hands on the gun, and use the sights to some degree (by “some degree” I am acknowledging different types of sight pictures as described by Brian Enos — another topic).

Why 2 rounds? Is it wise to ingrain a habit to always and only shoot twice? What if you only need 1? What if you need 5? Should we be shooting 2 then assessing? Or should we be shooting and assessing and to keep shooting until the threat as stopped?

What is “center mass”? Center mass on me is somewhere around my belly button, if you want to be complete about the typical human body. That is not the best place to shoot something. Instead, one should be shooting where vital organs are, which is well above the center of body mass.

That said, it is good once things are done to scan. Scan for what tho? Don’t just look around, look FOR things. Look to see if there are other attackers. Look to see if there are injured people. Look to see if police or EMS are arriving. Look to see if you are injured. To scan is good, but you need to make the scan meaningful.

And reholstering is also good, but don’t do that until you know the scene is safe. I’d also add that you are unlikely to know how many rounds you fired, so before you reholster I’d reload so your gun is back at full capacity. You do carry a spare magazine, yes?

But here’s another issue with this exercise.

Still, what is “good enough”?

There is some litmus provided:

Shot groups are not nearly as important as developing the mechanics of your reaction.  Your reaction speed is the first priority.  Tight 6″ shot groupings at 5 yards is the second.  Why 6 inches?  If you’re able to place two shots center mass into a target with your concealed carry handgun – while doing all the above things in a timely fashion – you’re doing pretty good.

Very true. Reaction speed matters. And getting the hits all within a 6″ circle is actually quite a good “grouping” for the context. That the author gives a distance for this drill of 5 yards is also a good one, as that’s typically the extent of most self-defense shooting.

But it says “a timely fashion”. What is a timely fashion? Trouble with leaving this open to reader interpretation is they will interpret it in whatever way enables them to succeed. Granted, most people will not say 5 minutes is a timely fashion, but a lot of people will consider 7-10 seconds to be timely enough. Really, it has to be 3 seconds or less. And yes, it needs to be on a timer. That there needs to be a buzzer that sounds at an unknown/random interval so you can only react (you cannot anticipate); that you then draw from concealment, and must get off the hits all within 3 seconds.

It’s important to have some semblance of parameters that actually jive with real world need. Skills that apply to how things really work. Distances. Times, and using timers — because as Tom Givens likes to say, there is a timer in a gunfight and it’s held by the Grim Reaper. And then yes, maybe we can start to say this exercise leads to “good enough”. This drill isn’t bad; it just could use a lot of improvement.

Second

The second exercise involves reloading. Honestly, reloading is not that critical of a skill.

Again, from Tom Givens:

None of ours had to reload and continue shooting.

That doesn’t mean reloading is a skill to ignore, it’s just not as much of a priority.

One thing I do like about the article’s reloading exercise? It has you shoot 2, reload, then shoot 2 more (known as the “4 Aces” drill).

This is a really good drill because not only does it work the reload, but it helps you deal with post-reload shooting, because a common problem is to blow the first shot after the reload.

But still, no standards are given. Check out Ben Stoeger’s take on the drill. And yes… Ben’s times are aggressive, GM-level performance. Still, it gives you something to strive for.

Third

I actually am not sure what the third exercise is supposed to be. It says “move between two targets”. But it never really gives an exercise here.

Am I to be walking between the two targets? i.e. start at position A and move to position B?

Or am I to stay at position A and transition from shooting at target 1 to shooting at target 2?

Or maybe both?

Either way, both are valid things to consider, but for concealed carriers I’d say be more concerned with transitions of shooting 1 target then another target (keep your feet planted while shooting; shoot then move, don’t bother shooting and moving — ask Paul Howe).

Coda

The article isn’t a terrible one, but it’s not the best either. It’s well-intended, but needs refinement.

If we’re going to talk about what is “good enough” then that implies we’re establishing some standard of performance. While some reasonable drills and skills were considered in the article, I didn’t see much that established an objective standard of performance. If you want such a thing, here are some such drills that are better suited towards helping you determine if you are “good enough”:

There’s many more, but those should get you started.

They focus on skills used in combative/defensive pistolcraft. They involve time pressures. They are scored and graded for a performance standard. They allow you to find where you are strong, where you are weak and thus where you need improvement. They allow you a means of tracking that improvement over time. They allow you to be compared to and measured against known objectives and situations, and held to a high standard, so when the flag flies you can proceed with confidence knowing what you can do.

Of course, “good enough” is rarely “sufficient enough”. Always strive to improve, always strive to become better than you were before.

KR Training 2015-07-18 – BP2 Quick Hits

/ hsoi

Ran things a little different at KR Training this day. Normally classes run in sequence: one in the morning, one in the afternoon. But because of the nature of the classes today, and given summer is officially here and the temperatures are now nearing 100º well… if we don’t need to run in the afternoon, let’s not and avoid the sunburns and heat issues.

So we ran a Basic Pistol 2 and an AT-4. Karl and Greg did AT-4 on the big range, while Tom and I ran BP2 on the small range.

All I can say about AT-4 is at one point I had to go over to the large range. I had no idea what they were doing so what I heard was completely out of context. I hear Karl give the “Ready” command, and as soon as the timer beeped, I hear all these magazines hitting the ground. Completely out of context, it was the funniest sounding thing to hear “GO!” and then a sound like everything was falling apart instead of go-ing. 🙂  I’m sure it’s not as funny to read about, but hey… I have to get my giggles where I can. 🙂  That said, it sounds like the AT-4 went really well.

But I can speak to the BP2.

There’s really two things I want to talk about from how the class went.

  1. Practice
  2. Mentality

Practice

This is pretty simple. Practice what you learned. Dry work, and some live work too.

Looking at how everyone was at the start of class vs. how folks were at the end? There was improvement. But I could tell that most people were not happy with their performance. Do not take this as a bad thing! This is good! Why? Because it tells me you have set some high standards for yourself; that you want to be awesome. That’s great! Of course it’s going to take time – and work – to get there, but to see that you have set some high standards for yourself is a great sign.

Practice is what’s going to help you get there. What can you do? Start with things that we worked on in class: grip and stance, keeping that really firm and consistent grip, sight alignment, and then working that trigger. Try using the Wall Drill as a good starting point.

Work the Texas CHL test, and yes, you can work it dry. Set up a target in your house — and don’t worry about a B-27, just get something like a 6″ paper plate (or even smaller to replicate what the target would look like at 7 and 15 yards). You can find timer apps for your smartphone, set those par times, and try to work everything dry (from the ready position). Watch the front sight, make sure it doesn’t dip when you press the trigger.

Just 15 minutes of dry work every other day can do you a world of good.

If you have questions about specifics, feel free to drop us a line. Be happy to help and field any questions you might have.

Mentality

This was a big one from today.

We all have mental obstacles. Some students struggled with this today. But don’t think you’re anything odd, as I’ve been working at KR Training for about 7 years and I see this ALL the time. It’s totally normal. Shooting guns is something we have to learn to do, and because it generates a lot of noise, and the notion can be intimidating or scary for some, there can be things to overcome. Or simply, we might look at our own performance and not be happy with it; or that we’ll compare our performance to others.

Stop.

What you need to do at this point is compare yourself to yourself. Look at where you want to go, chart the course to get there. Look at where you started and how far you’ve progressed since then. Beating yourself up accomplishes nothing positive. Telling yourself what not to do actually backfires!

When you tell yourself “don’t slap the trigger, don’t slap the trigger”, what does your brain hear? Slap the trigger! And so what do you think you do? And then you beat yourself up more, and everything spirals downward.

Instead, acknowledge what you may have done “wrong”, then tell yourself what you need to do to make it better. It might be “focus on the front sight” or “slow smooth trigger press”. Whatever. Tell yourself what you need to do.

And focus on what you need to do RIGHT NOW. Yeah, the gun is going to go bang. Yeah it’s going to be loud. Yeah it’s going to recoil. Fine. Acknowledge that and know that it’s coming. But you can’t let the anticipation of that event drive you, because it will throw you off and you won’t focus on what’s going on RIGHT NOW. Right now you need to be focused on the front sight. Right now you need to be gripping the pistol hard and consistent. Right now you need to breathe. Right now you need to press the trigger slow and smooth. Right now you need to let the pistol recoil. Right now you need to reacquire your sight picture and reset the trigger. Right now is the moment to be in, what you need to do right now.

Because the context is… that dude is trying to kill you, and you can focus on what might happen later, or instead you can focus on what’s happening right now – and what you need to do right now – which gives you the ability to influence the outcome of later, y’know?

Be in the now.

Yes, shooting can be very Zen. Ask Brian Enos

Coda

A fine day. Even tho it was getting hot out, it actually wasn’t too bad. We had some clouds here and there, a really good breeze all day. Really it was great to be outside.

A couple groups of good students.

A little gunpowder.

A fine day.

Thank you all for coming out and entrusting us with your education. We hope to see you back out on the range soon. 🙂

10,000 hours

/ hsoi

People often discuss the notion of how long and how much work it takes to master something.

Malcolm Gladwell popularized the notion of “10,000 hours” of practice being needed to master something. I just read an article written by Jay Jay French, founder and guitarist for the band Twisted Sister. Jay Jay writes about The Power of 10,000 Hours.

Recently AJ Pero, long-time drummer for Twisted Sister, passed away. Of course, this caused much sadness and unknown in the Twisted Sister camp. But as they say, “the show must go on”. Twisted Sister has been around since 1973, and with all the shows, all the rehearsals, they’ve got much more than 10,000 hours of practice under their belts.

Jay Jay reflects:

The truth is, these days, we only play about a dozen shows a year, almost always between May and August. It means that we are off doing other things the other nine months of the year. We usually only run over the songs once at a rehearsal. I am always feeling just a little queasy and unsure. That’s why, before we go into our first rehearsals, sometime in April, I’m gripped with anxiety. But this time, I was also anxious about a new drummer who had only three rehearsals to learn not just the music but also the pacing of the show; the fact that we were doing a live recording for DVD; multiple bands being on the same bill with us (their equipment changes can always cause problems); and special effects, flames, sparklers, and explosions that will possibly light you on fire if you stand in the wrong place. Plus, I’m not just a guitar player–I’m the manager of the band, with a long mental checklist. More important, I was really sad that A.J. wasn’t up there with us.

Here is my confession. There were just too many unknowns this time. Too many potential areas of disruption. Too much emotion. Because it was the first show of the year, I just couldn’t get lost in the performance. My mind was overwhelmed by the confluence of information. And I was still dealing with my own emotions about this first show without A.J.

So what did I do? I consciously let go. I set my brain on autopilot and let the songs flow out. I kept in the back of my mind an idea of what I would need to do if something really went out of control. But I tried not to think about it, and instead, I relied on my ability to do something I’d done for more than 10,000 hours.

And … nothing bad happened. The show went on about as smoothly as I could have hoped.

This is what separates the big boys from the also-rans. The confidence–in our case, forged in the fires of the live club circuit — that we could always deliver, no matter what was thrown at us, is burned into our DNA. As long as we want to do it, it will be done at the highest levels.

The same is true for companies and entrepreneurs. For you or your company to be great, nothing can ever present an obstacle to excellence. You need to practice until you’ve got muscle memory. You can’t stop Twisted Sister. And you can’t stop a great company when you have a great foundation.

So, get to practicing.

You won’t get better overnight. It’s going to take a lot of time, dedication, and discipline. But if you really want to master something, it’s what it takes, and it’s worth every bit.

Self-Defense Myths – Let’s put some to rest

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

Melody Lauer interviewed some of the best self-defense instructors out there in an attempt to dispell some of the self-defense myths that just won’t die.

An excellent article rich in information.

Go. Read. Now.

 

Pro Ears – good customer service story

/ hsoi

I like relaying good customer service stories, because I think we need more of them. Seems these days people prefer to just complain when things are bad and don’t acknowledge when things are good. So, let’s add some good to the world. 🙂

When engaging in shooting sports, hearing protection is vital. My hearing protection of choice is Pro Ears. I think they make a top-notch product that has excellent hearing protection as well as amplification that’s useful in situations like firearms classes. Being able to hear what you need to hear and not what you don’t, that’s important. 🙂

I own two pairs: the Stalker Gold and the Pro Tac Mag Gold

I have the Stalker version because of the slimmer cups. This is good for things like rifle or shotgun shooting. If I know I’ll be doing a lot of it, I’ll still put some ear plugs in as well as the Stalkers. This is because the slimmer cups of course mean a little less noise reduction, but also because it’s very easy to get that cheek-weld and then bump the muffs out of place. Having the plugs in adds some extra protection, and the amplification works to keep me able to hear.

The Pro Tac Mag Gold’s are what I normally wear when shooting by myself or in classes. What I like about these is not just the large cups and best noise reduction, but this particular model uses CR123A batteries, instead of things like “N” size batteries. I already have to have CR123’s because of my flashlights, and nothing else I own uses “N” batteries. So it’s nice to be able to simplify my battery needs. Supposedly angling the cups the way they are is to help with cheek welds, but I find it’s still a little too bulky for me.

Nevertheless, I’m happy with the products. They are expensive, but preserving what hearing I have left is worth it. Too many years of loud music, motorcycles, etc., so I’ve got some hearing loss. Preserving my hearing is important to me.

What makes me happier right now is their customer service.

The headband on my Stalker’s broke, so I went to their website and ordered another. I then received an email from their customer service people asking me some questions and saying I’d get a refund.

Eh?

Did I do something wrong? Or is there maybe some sort of warranty issue? Or was it just my lucky day and I won the Golden Ticket? I didn’t know what was up. Not that I’m complaining about things, but it was just a little odd. So when I asked, this is what I was told:

Golden ticket time.  Every once in a while I reach out to customers that purchase a replacement item to find out the cause.  In this case we had a couple of people order a replacement headband within a few days and I wanted to make sure it was not a production issue.  We want to reward your cooperation and loyalty.   Thanks again.    By the way, if you have the inclination and are happy with your Pro Ears we do appreciate a review on one of the major web sites such as Amazon, Optics Planet or Midway.   Have a great day.

Best Regards,

Gary Lemanski

Wow!

So check it out.

They keep an eye on what their customers are ordering.

They aren’t just looking at sales, but they are also looking at what they are ordering. They saw something that looked odd, so they investigated.

And there was no complaining, no arguing, no nothing. I’m not sure exactly what they saw, but it seems they identified something that was important enough to take care of.

They saw a customer needed something, and they did something about it… and I didn’t have to pay for it.

Does that mean there might be a known defect? I don’t know, and I’m not going to press the issue — I asked, and they responded as they did.

I had no problem paying for it — it was my order that triggered all of this. But to see how they are paying attention to their products, to their orders, to their customers — that’s really good to see.

And Gary asked for a review on those large sites. Well, I can’t give them since usually those require you to review/comment in regards to a purchase. But if that’s all they ask in exchange? I can certainly do so on my blog here.

So thank you, Gary, and Pro Ears. An example of good customer service — service that likely goes on all the time, without customers being aware, but certainly that yields a better product and business. 🙂