Guns

If stats are any indicator….

/ hsoi

If my blog stats are any indicator, a lot of people spent their Labor Day at the gun range… then came home to research why they couldn’t hit anything. 🙂

My post on “correcting handgun shooting problems” is the most popular page on my site.

Frankly, targets like that might tell you something about what you’re doing wrong, but they don’t really do much to help you correct it. This is where the watchful eye of a good instructor is invaluable. But since that’s not workable for some, here’s some generic advice.

Learn to press the trigger. Not pull, not squeeze, but press. Your flinch, your slapping/yanking/jerking of the trigger is likely your problem. Dry fire is your friend. Wall Drill will help. Then when you go to the range for live fire, ball & dummy drill. Work on accuracy first, speed second.

As well, think about adopting an improved mindset, one where it’s not a miss, it’s an unacceptable hit.

One at a time

/ hsoi

Here’s something I learned from lifting that I’m working to apply to shooting.

When lifting, we look at sets and reps. We think of 3 sets of 10 reps, or 5 sets of 5 reps,. When we perform them, we count. When we count, we think about the string we’re performing, and we’ll often think about them in a relative way, like instead of “7, 8, 9, 10” we might think “3 more, 2 more, 1 more, done”. Whatever we’re doing, we’re doing a couple things:

  1. We think about the reps in a series
  2. We think about the reps.

Somewhere in all the reading I do about lifting, someone said to think about each rep as a single rep. So instead of thinking about doing 1 set of 5 reps, think about doing 5 sets of 1 rep, consecutively. The difference? You don’t think about the reps. You don’t count the reps. You don’t allow any part of your lifting to be focused on not-lifting, so all your energy can be focused on performing the lift itself. Yeah, if you’re lifting the 5# dumbbells it probably doesn’t matter, but when you’re truly pushing your limits, every ounce of energy and focus matters. Furthermore, when we lift with counting, we will start that first rep all tight and ready, then things degrade. If you always think about it being “1 rep, first rep”, you take a moment to reset every time, to ensure this rep is a “first rep” in every and all regards. It increases the quality of the reps.

But for me, it’s often about the mental distraction. I get too focused on where I am in the rep scheme and where that is relative to my goal reps. That loss of focus is bad and something I continue to work on.

And so, it comes to shooting.

When we shoot, we will shoot in a “set and rep” scheme. Look at the “3 Seconds or Less” drill. We’re going to lift (shoot) 20 reps (rounds) total. We’ll start with 1 set (string) of 3 reps (shots), then a 2nd set of 2 reps, and you see where I’m going? it’s the same sort of setup and scheme here, and it allows us to fall into the same sort of counting and mental distraction.

At the A-Zone Range, Karl has a steel “hostage” target (not sure if this is the exact model, but it’s close enough for discussion purposes). The target is set up on “the small range”, and depending where we put the firing line, it’s generally a 25 yard shot. Karl says the flapper is 6″ diameter with probably 75% exposed. So it’s a small target, but hittable. I’ve long had a goal of being able to step up to the line with my carry gun (M&P 9), shoot a full magazine of ammo at the flapper (16+1 rounds), and have 100% hits on the flapper.

I have yet to do this.

25 yards is a humbler for me, and something I’ve long needed to work on. Alas, there’s always something more important to work on, so it always gets bumped down the priority ladder.

The other day I started shooting this and realized what I was doing. I was going along, making hits, doing well. Then I got too mentally excited about things and thinking “hey, I might actually do it this time…. nope… damnit!”  I was distracted. I was thinking too much about my count… hey, I got through 6 without a miss, 7 without… 8!!  9… nope. I could see myself getting closer to the finish line, then falling because I was thinking more about the end goal than doing the work required to get there.

I was not in the present moment. I was distracted by a potential future, one that wouldn’t happen if I didn’t live in the present moment and do what the present required of me.

And I thought to myself, this is just like heavy squats. I shouldn’t be trying to do 1 string of 17 shots, I should be doing 17 single shots.

I also thought I should be more progressive and work up to it. You know, start light (huzzah, Jim Wendler). So I moved up to 15 yards and 10 rounds. I did that. Great! It was getting too hot so I called it an afternoon, but there’s where I will resume: 15 yards, full magazine, one shot at a time. When I can clean that on-demand, I’ll back up to 20 yards, and go for 5 rounds, and “work up” (there’s a lifting term again).

Crazy how world’s overlap, eh?

A little bit about me

/ hsoi

Would you like to know some things about me?

I just did some paperwork for renewing my Texas Concealed Handgun License Instructor credentials. Yes, I hold a valid Texas Concealed Handgun License, and I am also certified by the State of Texas as a CHL Instructor. So, there are a lot of rules, laws, fees, and paperwork I have to abide by.

Here’s some of them:

Eligibility Statement

I, JOHN C DAUB , hereby swear or affirm the following:

I satisfy all the eligibility requirements listed under 37 TAC Chapter 6, and Chapter 411, Texas Government Code.

This includes:

  • I have established legal residence in the state of Texas for the preceding six months (resident license only) or I am eligible for a license as a non-resident under Section 411.173(a);
  • I am at least 21 years of age; or I am 18 to 20 years of age and am eligible under Section 411.172(g) (military exception);
  • I have not been convicted of a felony (as ‘convicted’ is defined in Section 411.171(4);
  • I am not currently charged in any jurisdiction with the commission of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor or equivalent level offense, or an offense under Section 42.01 (Disorderly Conduct), Texas Penal Code, or of a felony under an information or indictment;
  • I am not a fugitive from justice for a felony or Class A or Class B misdemeanor or equivalent offense in any jurisdiction;
  • I am not chemically dependent (as defined in Section 411.171(2);
  • I am not incapable of exercising sound judgment with respect to the proper use and storage of a handgun;
  • I have not been convicted in any jurisdiction of a Class A or Class B misdemeanor or equivalent offense, or an offense under Section 42.01 (Disorderly Conduct), Texas Penal Code (as ‘convicted’ is defined in Section 411.171(4), in the past five years;
  • I am fully qualified under applicable federal and state laws to purchase a handgun. (refer to 18 U.S.C. § 922 (g))
  • I have not been finally determined to be delinquent in making child support payments administered or collected by the attorney general;
  • I have not been finally determined to be delinquent in the payment of taxes or other money collected by the comptroller, state treasurer, or tax collector of any agency or political subdivision of this state (or state of residence for non-resident applicants);
  • I am not currently restricted under a court protective order or subject to a restraining order affecting the spousal relationship, not including a restraining order affecting property;
  • I have not in the past 10 years been adjudicated as having engaged in delinquent conduct violating a penal law of the grade of felony; and
  • I have not made any material misrepresentation, or failed to disclose any material fact, on my application.

And that’s just the beginning.

But look at that and roll that around in your head a bit.

By the mere fact I hold a TX CHL, you can tell I’m what society would generally term a “good person”.

So why would you want to abridge me? What have I done to harm you? Why do you think more laws that will only serve to restrict my behavior are a solution? Shouldn’t we be promoting good people doing good things? enabling good people to freely live their lives? Why are you behaving contrary to this?

 

Good for you, Mayor Stothert

/ hsoi

The new Mayor of Omaha, Jean Stothert, just got her concealed handgun permit.

Mayor Jean Stothert is now the proud owner of a black, Austrian-made Glock 26 pistol.

But you might not be able to tell when she’s packing. The mayor says she’s awaiting delivery of a state concealed-carry handgun permit.

“It is not an issue of being afraid,” Stothert said Friday. “It’s an issue of not being afraid to protect myself.”

“Because it is the law, I wanted to really understand what went on in that concealed-carry class,” she added. “I thought, as mayor, I needed to understand.”

Before I go any further, I should give some context.

I was born in Omaha and still have family there. It might be my hometown because of birth, but I no longer consider it so because I’ve lived in Texas for 20 years — far more than I ever lived anywhere else. Austin is home to me. But still, family is there and they have a fair presence in town. I mean, my Dad was US Congressman from Omaha for 8 years, and did spend 6 years as Mayor as well. So there’s some interest in this for me.

Omaha has a lot of violence problems. Lots of gang problems. They worked hard to build things up, to try to combat and deal with it. A recent/former Mayor did a lot to tear down all that hard work and folks tell me things regressed pretty badly under his tenure. Jean Stothert looks to try to remedy things, so here’s hoping. And her getting a permit seems a good step. Because while Nebraska is generally alright in terms of gun laws, Omaha has a lot of weird things because it somehow thought more laws and ordinances would be adhered to by drug gangs. Yeah… people willing to smuggle millions of dollars of pot, heroin, and cocaine somehow care about your ordinance. 🙄 So law-abiding folks get abridged, and this even caused some weirdness for me when I’ve traveled there. Frankly, the laws there are really unclear, especially for visitors. But I don’t want to digress into this, other than to say maybe with this, Mayor Stothert will be able to fix things.

I do appreciate her desire to go through the process to gain first-hand understanding. Wouldn’t it be nice if more politicians gained first-hand experience about matters so they could better do their jobs? And not just doing it for a photo-op.

She does seem to get it:

“People have a right. They have a right according to the Second Amendment,” Stothert said. “And I feel like I want to let people understand that I agree with that right, and I don’t think that restricting gun ownership from responsible gun owners is the way that you address irresponsible (owners), and gun crimes and gun violence in a city.

“You’re not going to be able to restrict guns with responsible people and reduce the gun violence; you’re just not.”

So that’s good.

But this….

“If there is the occasion that I feel like I want to carry it, now I will be able to,” she said. “But I don’t have any intention of carrying it here while I’m at work.”

Members of Stothert’s staff already do. Stothert’s has a rotating security detail of retired Omaha police officers. Chief of Staff Marty Bilek — a retired Douglas County sheriff’s deputy — recently won the right to carry his old service weapon at work.

Because the City-County Building doesn’t allow weapons, Stothert had to seek permission from the Omaha Douglas Public Building Commission for Bilek’s gun.

That bothers me a bit more.

And there’s this:

In her request, Stothert raised the prospect of gunmen targeting random citizens or elected officials in a mass shooting.

“Our request for him to carry a weapon inside city hall is simply another layer of caution,” Stothert said at the time.

Stothert said she’s been threatened before, in phone calls and emails that she declined to elaborate on. The mayor said she hasn’t been threatened since taking office.

“I feel very safe and secure at work. I feel very safe and secure in my home,” the mayor said. “But again, I feel like its a right, and I wanted to exercise my right.”

I’m sure Gabby Giffords felt very safe and secure. In fact, most of us all feel safe and secure, until we get violated.

It’s a question of mindset here. But, I’m not going to totally be mad at her because she admits she did this more for the education than anything else. Plus yes, she has a security detail. Now I recall my Dad having some level of security, but it wasn’t like the Secret Service hovering over him at every moment. Maybe things are different now and she does have more regular security. But if not, just realize, Mayor Stothert, that those holes are when you are more vulnerable.

Yeah, you’ve been threatened. I actually recall my Dad receiving threats. I don’t know the extent of all that he’s dealt with as he chose to shield his children from such things (understandable). But in later years both Mom and Dad have revealed to me they received threats. I have to figure that it’s worse these days… the way things are these days. *sigh*

Anyways, I think what also bugs me is the statement of her security having to “win the right” to carry his service weapon at work.

Since when do we have to “win the right”? There’s something inherently backwards and wrong about that mentality. Just think about it. Should have to win the right to speak freely at the office? on public ground? Should have to win the right to attend the religious service of your choice?

And it’s her security detail. Why should someone tasked with the duty of protecting another have to jump through hoops to do their job? That’s just wrong.

But this is precisely what I hope Mayor Stothert may be able to improve in Omaha. Law-abiding citizens should not have to go through such hassle to go about their law-abiding lives. We need to rebuild a world where good people can live their good lives without abridgement, and only work to abridge those that infringe upon others to freely live their lives.

Good luck, Mayor Stothert.

Shopping

/ hsoi

I’m burned out. Taking a couple days off work for a long weekend to help me recoup a bit.

Working on my backlog of things to do, and one is some online shopping.

Ordered some 7-round magazines for my M&P Shield from Botach Tactical. I’m fine with the smaller mags, since that’s the whole point of such a gun.

Ordered various Fox Labs OC sprays from CopsPlus. Wife needs to replace hers, and I’ve been wanting to have a can for my gym walks — had a couple potential 4-legged interactions during my gym walks where OC would have been welcome. Never used Fox Labs’ stuff before, but Tom Givens commented they’re the best, so let’s give it a try.

Ordered a lot of fish oil (Meg-3) and some caffeine capsules from TrueNutrition.com.

Wife wanted 30# of einkorn flour from JovialFoods. If you haven’t tried einkorn flour, and you’re not in a dietary mode that would prohibit it (e.g. celiac’s, paleo, etc.) give it a try. Wife reports the switch to it has helped her feel better (vs. “traditional” wheat flours you buy at the store), and I’ll vouch that it tastes really awesome. I’m still waiting for her to make that beer bread with the Moose Drool Brown Ale. The beer bread with that ale was awesome, and I imagine it will be even more awesome with the einkorn.

Wife is also out hitting the H.E.B. grocery store, and the Sprouts. I finally got to visit Sprouts a couple weeks ago; neat store, I like.

Just a little peek into life… and I’m sure the NSA is minding all my credit card transactions and wondering something. 🙂

Springfield XDs recall

/ hsoi

Following Smith & Wesson’s lead for their “small gun” Shield recall, Springfield Armory is now issuing a recall for their “small gun” XD-S.

Springfield Armory® is initiating this voluntary safety recall to upgrade 3.3 XD-S™ 9mm and 3.3 XD-S™ .45ACP pistols with new components, which eliminate the possibility of a potentially dangerous condition. We want to emphasize that no injuries have been reported to date.

Springfield has determined that under exceptionally rare circumstances, some 3.3 XD-S™ 9mm and .45ACP caliber pistols could experience an unintended discharge during the loading process when the slide is released, or could experience a double-fire when the trigger is pulled once. The chance of these conditions existing is exceptionally rare, but if they happen, serious injury or death could occur.

This Safety Recall applies only to:
Springfield 3.3 XD-S™ 9mm pistols – serial numbers between XS900000 and XS938700
Springfield 3.3 XD-S™ .45ACP pistols – serial numbers between XS500000 and XS686300.

This Safety Recall does not apply to any XD® or XD(M)® pistols.

Visit http://www.springfieldrecall.com for more information.

Little woman vs. big man

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

A common sales pitch of martial arts is that learning my deadly art will allow a 100# woman to fight off a 300# gorilla.

As well, one common refrain about the use of tools in self defense, is that the tool becomes a way to overcome the force disparity that a 300# gorilla poses to a 100# woman. If you can have a baseball bat, pepper spray, gun, it “levels the playing field”.

So which is right? Or are both right? Or are both wrong? Or is there something else?

Rick Randolph writes that there’s actually something else that matters more:

While it may be unrealistic to think we can teach any 110 pound person to knock out a 220 pound attacker … or use pressure points or joint locks, that is not what self-defense is. See “fights” in a self-defense sense aren’t won with techniques, they are won with what Coach calls indignation.

Bad guys aren’t looking for a fight. They are looking for a victim. Give them a fight, even an unskilled one, and often times they will go look for a “better” victim

[…]

Lets face it: it wasn’t their physical skills that saved them. None of the stories tell of fancy techniques. Simply that they chose to fight. And that is the reality of self-defense. It is less about how you fight but more simply about the fact that you fight.

Make the decision you will fight now. You don’t want to wait until you have to.

Self-defense classes shouldn’t be so much about teaching people how to fight, and more about empowering them to fight and fight with everything they have.

And that’s what it is: mindset. You must have the mindset to fight. I’ve heard some say that you should become angry, or Rick above says to be indignant, which is probably a more accurate term. Use that. Let it drive you to drive them off.

Yes, I think there is great merit to using tools. That’s one of the things humans have that other animals don’t. We are gloriously mediocre in our senses and our skills, not really good at any one thing, but decently good enough at a lot of things. And one of those things we’re decently good at is using our brains to create stuff, stuff that helps us overcome our shortcomings and mediocrity. We can’t move fast, so we invent cars and planes. We can’t see well, so we invent telescopes and night vision goggles. And our fangs and claws aren’t much, so we have knives and guns. Tools are useful things and we should use them.

But the tool doesn’t matter if you’re unwilling to use it. If you buy a gun, shove it in a drawer, that does you no good. If you practice with that gun but merely plink or slow target shoot with it, that does you no good. Might you want to take classes to learn about good defensive handgun skills so you can use the tool well under pressure? Or how about taking Force-on-Force classes so you can be put into realistic scenarios and see how you’d react. Maybe see how you might be able to channel some indignation. When you read news articles, put yourself into the story and figure out how you would react to being mugged, beat up, raped, or otherwise left for dead. What would you do? Because if you play out these scenarios in your head, basically a visualization technique, and your response in them is to choose to fight, to choose to be indignant, you’re setting yourself up for success.

I don’t want people to become bitter or negative about the world and live their life in some ugly way. I do want people to acknowledge tho that the world does have ugly elements that are willing to infringe upon your life and turn it into something you could never imagine in your worst horrors. Hopefully it will never happen, but if it does, I hope you will have prepared beforehand. Whether it’s acquiring the tools, the skills, or more importantly the mindset and mentality to fight. That is what will enable a 100# woman to overcome a 300# attacker.

AAR – KR Training, 2013-08-24, Basic Pistol 1

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Another fine day at KR Training. Being as we’re in the worst of the Texas summer heat, we’re limiting ourselves to morning classes. So we held just a Basic Pistol 1 class. I was lead instructor for the class, and I had two assistants in Greg Howard and a special guest of Tina Maldonado, one of the co-Facilitators for the A Girl and A Gun Women’s Shooting League. Tina’s building up her instruction skills, so she was out to help and “intern”.

It was quite cool to have Tina there because the class was an all-ladies class. We had 8 ladies of varying ranges: 3 were teenagers (and family-related), 2 were a mother and daughter, and 3 were friends working towards their CHL together. There was no planning of having such a grouping like this – truly serendipitous coincidence – but it was really neat to have Tina there for this class.

Class ran smooth. Since I’ve been handling the BP1’s lately, I’ve been trying to stay true to the goal of the class and ensuring all the important points are made, but streamlining the presentation and ensuring focus and delivery are good. We love what we do and we just have so much to give, that sometimes we want to give it all… and it’s too much. At this level, most students are excited or afraid or unsure or simply overwhelmed. So it’s up to us to temper our delivery so we don’t overwhelm with too much information; that stuff can come later. I mean, isn’t that the right thing to do? always leave them wanting more? 🙂  I also want to ensure we hit all the important stuff and don’t skimp on the shooting time because that’s the fun part!

All in all things went well. I received some good feedback from the class participants and auditors (read: dads/husbands/chauffeurs), and am honored and humbled by your choice to come to us for your training. You’re starting down a road, and I know the first steps of the journey can set the tone for the rest of the trip. I do my best to ensure a successful start, and if there’s anything I can do better, please let me know.

I know some of the students will be back in a few weeks for Basic 2, and I look forward to seeing you then!

In other news…

After class was over I went out and did some of my own shooting. Since Karl made “version 4” of the “3 Seconds or Less” drill, I wanted to shoot it. I also wanted to shoot it with my snub, since I’ve been carrying it AIWB for a while now and should do some more live fire with it (not just dry).

Biggest take home is I need to be faster on the trigger, but not what you think. It’s not my press, it’s the release! I think it’s actually a symptom of too much dry fire, because it’s just not the same as live. I need to press then get off that long, heavy trigger faster, then get back on it faster. I’m focusing too much on keeping the crappy J-frame sights on target that I’m moving the trigger WAY too slow. I can’t buzz it as fast as my M&P, but I can have a better cadence than I’m shooting.

Going without

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I “lost” my eyesight for 24 hours.

Oh, nothing horrible here. I have pretty bad vision, very near-sighted. Things have to be maybe 2-3″ in front of my face to be clear. I wear glasses.

My glasses broke. Freak thing. I came home from teaching, was cleaning them, and in the process of drying them off the bridge just snapped. Odd thing too, being Nike Flexon… uh, what happened to flexing instead of being brittle and breaking? This isn’t the first time I’ve had a Flexon frame just break on me, but I opted to try for something else for my replacements. But that’s not the point of my writing.

I was without clear and useful vision for 24 hours.

Oh I know it’s not that horrible. I could still see somewhat well enough to get by and exist. Wife has a friend that is actually losing her eyesight completely. I know my problem is nothing like that.

But it’s enough to make you appreciate what you have.

I could get by, if I stuck my nose 2-3″ in front of things. iPhone was alright, computer was not so much. Walking around, interacting with the kids, avoiding stuff lying on the floor, no problem. Even walking around the crowded shopping mall where the eyeglasses store was, I had no problems seeing and avoiding (tho no window shopping to pass the time while we waited). I wouldn’t want to drive, and if I wasn’t able to get a replacement set “in an hour” I wasn’t sure what I was going to do about work (sick day?), but thankfully that didn’t happen.

I thought about my carry handgun. Pfft… what was the point? I really couldn’t see well enough to shoot anything beyond arms length. I did try some draws and dry fire, and if anything it did make me think I should practice more with my glasses off.

See, it’s very unsettling to not have clear vision. Or rather, to go from having it to suddenly not. There’s a lot you take for granted, and suddenly it’s gone. It’s unsettling, it’s disconcerting. And how to suddenly operate? After a few hours without my glasses, I was getting used to it and felt more comfortable. But there’s still no way I’d take a 15 yard shot (my vision is just that bad, it’d be irresponsible). But given most “interpersonal confrontations” happen 0-5 yards, well… yeah, I ought to see how I can manage.

I should dry practice to gain enough confidence here because I cannot see the front sight, so I have to ensure I can index well enough. I have to learn what I can do — and what I cannot. I should try some live fire work to see how I fair. If nothing else, to shoot and KNOW instead of having only ignorance, that will serve me better.

Shooting at that distance doesn’t actually require a perfect sight picture (read Enos, Stoeger, etc.). And while it’s somewhat about that, it’s more about dealing with the sudden loss of eyesight and knowing what I can and cannot do. To know what it will look like, feel like, what information and feedback I will be without and must find alternatives upon which to base my actions. And to have the confidence to know that this is not a problem, I can work through it. It’s better to have and know this stuff ahead of time.

Because to lose my glasses? It’s a distinct possibility. I ought to know what I can do, when I’m forced to do without.