self defense

Get over it

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

I have an elderly neighbor (she’s in her 80’s). She’s capable: she totally lucid, drives herself where she needs to go, and you can tell she’s got her pride — she wants to be self-sustaining and not be a burden on anyone. We do help her out as she needs, but again you can tell she does NOT want to burden anyone and only comes to us for help when she’s exhausted all options. I respect that, and am always happy to help her out when she asks.

But let’s face facts. She’s in her 80’s. She moves slow. She’s fairly frail.

She is vulnerable.

I admit, I think about her vulnerability. Some days ago I was over at her house helping her set up one of those “medical alert” systems. She knows her state in life (thus why she got the system for herself). But it still weighs on me. I often find myself thinking about her vulnerability, and if there’s anything I can do to alleviate it.

Then I step back and think about greater issues.

Our neighborhood has recently had a rash of break-ins. Thankfully it’s mostly been cars, but I do know from time to time homes are broken into.

I cringe at the thought of her home getting broken into. And let’s face it. Most break-ins are not random. The criminal has stalked and monitored and determined ahead of time what houses are good targets.

What can she do? Some 16-35 year old male breaks into her home. How vulnerable she is. What can she do in the face of such a threat?

She’s not like Mayor Bloomberg, with her own “private army”, which she can enjoy in her own retirement. She’s not so privileged as to have to have a security detail. What can she do?

There’s so much big talk about “leveling the playing field” in so many other areas of life, but what about here when life itself is at stake?

Anti-gun mantras ring hollow with me. If you’re going to throw worn arguments at me, I say you should look her in the eye and tell her the same. Think about how your actions to deny our society’s most vulnerable citizens with a means of an equalizer actually serve to hurt them more than help them.

Because that’s what a gun is: a force equalizer.

It allows folks like her to tell some evil person bent on hurting her, on destroying her life, to stop and go away.

Can you look her in the eye and deny her?

I’ll even take pro-gun folks to task.

There’s so much rah-rah about guns, calibers, and what’s acceptable for personal defense. It’s not just internet message board bravado, but it’s even things like how Texas law requires a certain “big caliber gun” (.32 caliber or greater) to pass the CHL test. You could carry a .22, but you can’t test with it. Yes, I understand why they required things in this way… but it still kinda bothers me.

I think about my frail neighbor.

Could she fire such a gun?

Pull that trigger weight?

Manage that level of recoil?

I don’t know, but given what I’ve seen of her frailty, I’m not sure.

But because of her condition in life, why should she be denied?

What are you getting into?

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Greg Ellifritz recounts a recent experience that has some good lessons for concealed carry holders. You need to read his article to fully understand what I’m about to say.

But in summary, in case Greg’s article disappears, you have a situation like this:

  • woman and man rolling around on the ground, punching, kicking, something ugly going down.
  • woman is screaming “rape!”
  • carry-holder rolls up on scene, decides to get involved.

Seems pretty clear-cut, eh? If you were the one rolling up on scene, what would you do?

And now, how would your response change if you learned the man was an undercover cop? Which was the case.

Greg’s point:

1) Know what you are getting into. The law generally allows you to use deadly force to defend an innocent third party from what you believe is likely to result in serious injury or death. The key word here is “innocent”. A robber resisting arrest is not an innocent third party no matter how many times she yells “rape”. You can testify all you want about what she said and how you thought she was being attacked. It won’t matter much as you wither under the prosecutor’s questions:

“You claim you thought she was being raped. Were any of her clothes removed? Were any of the “suspect’s” clothes removed?”

“You testified that you drive this route often. How many times have you seen a rape at that location at 3pm in the middle of a busy four-lane road?”

“You testified that you heard the victim yell out “I’m a cop” before pulling the trigger. Do you really believe that a police officer is going to rape a woman in the middle of a busy street in broad daylight?”

“So tell me again why you thought it was justified to kill this off duty police officer? Is it because you believed the words of a convicted robber? Or is it because you got a CCW permit and carry a gun so that you can kill people?”

You see how this is going to play out. Even if you avoid conviction, you will have to take out another mortgage on your house to pay off the lawyer fees. Things are not always as they seem. Don’t be in a rush to save the day when you aren’t fully aware of what’s happening.

We make this point a lot in our classes.

Do you know what the story is? Can you be sure you know? Should you get involved either way?

Yes I understand. We have a hero streak. We have a protector streak. A warrior streak. Whatever you want to term it, but people who tend to go through the trouble of obtaining a concealed handgun license tend to be of that “sheepdog” mentality and wish to be there to protect and defend others; to see justice served; to right wrongs, and all that. No, it doesn’t mean we want to be superheros and cops (tho I’m sure there are some with that attitude), but it’s just that we’re the sort of people with a mindset to want to do right and help others. This is a good thing for society.

Alas, the realities of the situation could throw a big wrench in the works, as Greg points out.

You have to ask yourself: is this worth dying over? is this going to maximize enjoyment of beer & tv? If you get involved and something happens to you, are those other parties going to take care of you? pay your bills? give you a job when you lose yours?

I understand a desire to jump in and help, but you have to be mindful if you’re really going to help or just make it worse… because you may not know the full story. Is it worth dying over? Or ruining your life over? Is the risk worth it?

Part of me hates being that way, because it makes me feel selfish and may keep me from helping an honest person in need. I think an extension of that line of behavior could lead us to a very cold and uncaring society. But on the same token, there’s the reality of how a wrong decision could destroy your life, and then you certainly won’t be able to do much to help better society. Just things to keep in mind. Tread carefully.

Survive or Prevail

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I read a posting on Facebook about a man on death row for 33 years before being executed. Think about it from the victim’s family’s perspective — waiting 33 years for some sort of closure.

How old are you today? Think about your age 33 years before today, and your ages 33 years after today. That’s a mighty long time.

But it’s not so much his story that I want to focus on here. It’s something posted in the comments on the story.

They mentioned the writings of Dr. Alexis Artwohl. It was Chuck Haggard that wrote:

Her statment [sic] was to a class I was in, she was addressing mindset and training for cops. She thought that the “officer survival” idea was setting the bar too low. If you set the bar at “survive”, and you fall short, then where does that leave you? She thought officers should be training to prevail, to dominate a fight, not just survive, then if they fall short of the goal hopefully they will at least survive. Then she said; “And if you can’t survive then you need to take the motherfucker with you, do not make your family sit through a murder trial”.

Dr. Artwohl makes a good point when it comes to mindset: to survive? or to prevail?

You’ve heard people say things like “shoot for the moon, because if you miss at least you land amongst the stars” or other such sayings. The point is to aim high, strive for as much as you can. If you achieve it, life will be awesome. But if you fall short, you’ll still be in pretty good shape. There is also the implication that if you strive for anything less, life won’t be so good. It’s about “margin of error” allowing for the fact that life may not always come out like you want or plan it, so you need to aim high enough, far enough, so if things don’t work out precisely as planned, at least they’ll work out acceptably. Else, things could be pretty bad.

So if we consider this a reasonable procedure for the rest of life, be it our jobs, the people we marry, our hobbies, sports, whatever pursuits we have in life… why don’t we follow the same procedure for our very life itself?

Perhaps it’s because it sounds too aggressive to “win”. It’s more socially acceptable to be a survivor. It seems like you have to go on the offense to prevail, when we’re taught so much that it’s better to be defensive (never mind that the best defense is a good offense). Social conditioning at work? Perhaps to our detriment?

Consider your focus, consider how you frame things. Is it to just survive? or is it to prevail? If you fail to survive, you certainly did not prevail. But if you fail to prevail, you may still be able to survive.

Strive to prevail.

A question

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

If a woman carries pepper spray, is she paranoid?

She’ll have it on her keychain or in her purse, and she has it with her every time she leaves the house.

So, is she paranoid for doing so?

If she carried a gun instead of pepper spray, does that change your answer?

Let it serve as a reminder

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

The past few days, so people have been appalled at the Black Friday horror videos of the mobs, the tasers, the pepper spray, the trampling, the fighting… all over some merchandise.

Let it serve as a reminder that for as far as we’ve come (and we must have come pretty far when we have it so good we can fight over high-def TVs and not over where our next meal will come from), the veneer of civilization remains thin.

More fuel for the caliber wars

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Since th3 int3rw3bz loves to endlessly debate about equipment and caliber, here’s some more fuel for the fire. Because we all know 9mm sucks and any caliber that doesn’t start with a “4” isn’t worth shit.

Greg Ellifritz writes about his experience shooting a very simple drill. You should click through to read the drill and Greg’s experiences, no point in reprinting it here (or click here to read just the drill).

Here’s the thing:

I found it interesting that I could shoot the same number of rounds in 2.5 seconds (and with better accuracy) with my 9mm as I could in 3 seconds with my .45. There isn’t that much stopping power difference between the 9mm and .45 (using good loads) that I’m willing to sacrifice the 3- 4 rounds per second difference in speed for a marginal difference is stopping power.

So shooting a 9, Greg could shoot faster and get more accurate hits.

Hrm.

For fun, Greg ran it with some other guns:

Just for fun, I then did the drill from the ready position with a 2″ snub .22 long rifle revolver (S&W 317). 3 rounds (from ready) in 1.8 seconds. Set the par time at 2 seconds and ran it 10 more times.

Results: consistently 6-7 shots. One time I hit all 8 shots in 1.99. No misses.

So what you’re telling me is, when there’s less recoil to manage, you can shoot the gun “better”. Whodathunkit?

Look, if you really want to shoot a handgun chambered in .40S&W or .45ACP or some other “manly” caliber, go ahead — I won’t stop you. But I would ask you to consider your goals and purpose. If it’s shooting for fun, go for it. If you are shooting in competition, you have to play by the rules of the game. If you are shooting a particular gun because you have no choice (it’s all you have and you can’t get anything else, department regulations, local laws, etc.), then you gotta do what you gotta do. If it’s about the ability to defend yourself and your loved ones, then wouldn’t you want to choose equipment that can best serve you towards that end? The fabled “stopping power” of .4x-caliber rounds isn’t what you think it is — all pistol calibers suck about the same. Ultimately there isn’t any meaningful “stopping power” difference between 9×19 Parabellum (Luger), .40S&W, and .45 ACP with modern self-defense ammunition. So where can differences be had? 9mm allows for greater capacity (who ever said they wanted less ammo in a gunfight?). 9mm is less expensive. 9mm has less recoil (both real and felt/perceived), and leads to results like Greg experienced above — ability to mange recoil more easily, allowing for faster and more accurate hits — and isn’t the ability to deliver accurate hits quickly what it’s all about? I fail to see the downside to 9mm, and I fail to see why some people continue to insist upon other calibers when they offer no measurable advantage.

Yes those other calibers work, but when your life is on the line, don’t you want to do everything you can to stack the deck in your favor?

Home Break-in – What can we learn

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

I read about a home that was broken into. As I read the details of the break-in, I got curious and went to Google Street View

Please understand, I’m not trying to scold or demean the homeowners. When I saw some other pictures of the result of the break-in, my heart sank. I can imagine the feelings of hurt, violation, anger, and then the realities of having to deal with the aftereffects. I wouldn’t wish that upon good people. What I wish to do is look at a few things and see what we can learn so we can all work to reduce our chances of being victims.

The essential details are that the break-in occurred during the day while the homeowners were at work. The burglars removed the window A/C unit, which then made for easy entry into the home. They ransacked the house. Unsure of exactly what they were looking for as “big ticket” typical theft items were not taken (one person suggested identity theft was the movie). So, at this point I don’t know what nor why things happened, but I’m not sure it matters much at this point. What we’re interested in here is what we can learn so we don’t become victims ourselves.

First, the break-in happened during the day on a weekday. While everyone talks about the breaking of glass in the middle of the night, that’s actually rare. Most break-ins happen during the day because that’s the most likely time 1. no one is home, 2. no neighbors are home.

Second, they pushed in the window A/C unit. I do not know the situation of this particular unit, but from what I can see in the picture, I’m not convinced the unit was secured. Having brackets not only support the weight of the unit, but they make it more difficult and cumbersome to remove the unit. Panels along the side, strong bars/dowels to keep the partially opened window from being slid further upwards. These are things that can make it more difficult.

Third, see in the foreground that power converter/transformer/box? I would not be surprised if that aided entry into the backyard. Hop on top of that, and it’s easy to hop over the fence. There’s nothing they can do about the box, nothing they can do to prevent access to the box. But, how about planting some big thorny holly bushes or cactus on the other side of the fence? Most people do look before they leap, and giving no clear and safe landing area can’t hurt you (but can hurt them).

It’s possible entry was gained into the backyard through the normal fence gate. I don’t know if the gate was padlocked in any way, but if not, padlocks are useful things.

Fourth, look in the backyard of the neighbor on the right. See the wide-open door on their shed? Granted, it’s possible when this picture was taken that homeowner was doing something and the doors are normally shut — it’s just a snapshot in time as the Google Streetview Car drove by. But still, consider the implications of sheds — which generally hold tools and other property that either can be directly used or easily sold for fair gain. Keep doors closed and locked.

It must be accepted that no home is truly secure. Our homes are made of sheetrock, wood, glass, and other easily broken materials. If someone wishes to gain access, the construction of our homes will not stop them. But consider most property crimes like this are crimes of convenience. The criminal doesn’t want to work hard (if they did, they probably wouldn’t be criminals in the first place). They want an easy target. The best you can do is work to make your home a difficult target. I mean, your home and the home next door both have tv’s, game consoles, jewelry, tools, and other desirable goods. If you make your home a more difficult target, if they’re going to have to work more or risk pain, problems, and hassle to get into your home, they’ll probably choose another home.

Lone Star Medics – Field & Tactical Medicine Conference 2014

/ hsoi

Lone Star Medics is hosting a Field & Tactical Medicine Conference in Dallas, Texas on March 29-30, 2014.

Alas, I won’t be able to attend, but I wish I could. The lineup of presenters is impressive, and there’s no such thing as having too much knowledge about first aid and medicine.

 

If you live in Austin, here’s where your car will get broken into

/ hsoi

Our friends at krimelabb were featured on local KEYE-TV about the most likely places your car will be broken into.

Let’s get to the good stuff:

So where are the hot spots?

According to police reports from the past year, coming in at number three is the UT campus. The sheer number of faculty, staff and students who drive to the university, make it a prime target.

Coming in at number two is anywhere along the I-35 corridor. “The criminal wants to make a quick getaway. They don’t go deep into a neighborhood where they’re passing over speed bumps and stop signs,” added Darby.

And the number one spot you’re most likely to have your vehicle broken into is Burton Drive in East Austin. The area has the most apartment complexes on any street in all of Central Texas. Residents in the neighborhood are get hit all the time.

So it’s about places with lots of cars and also lots of people. The article reports most break-ins happen between 10 PM and midnight — when we’re still awake, but perhaps as many people around. And yes, under cover of darkness. Seems Sunday’s are the most popular day too.

But what causes the cars to get broken into?

“Some people don’t lock their cars,” said Austin police detective Damon Dunn.

[…]

“Mainly your electronic items because that’s what the crooks are looking for,” added detective Dunn.

I have a friend that used to work in the Maine legal system. He never locked his car doors. His take? Leave nothing in your car. Your car should be nothing but your car. Thus, there’s nothing inside for them to steal. If they do want to break in to look, having the doors unlocked means they (hopefully) won’t smash your windows — just open the door, see there’s nothing, close it and leave. If they want your car itself, he says there’s almost nothing you can do as they will take it. So to lock or not to lock isn’t so much the issue, as it is leaving things in your car that the thieves want.

I see it frequently. People at the gas station leaving their car doors open, iPod’s and phones left in the car. Expensive stereos. Then all manner of stuff in the car too: your books, gym bags, other junk. If it’s something someone else could use directly or sell, it gives them reason to try to take it.

Just because you don’t live in one of the hotspots doesn’t mean you won’t be victim. My own neighborhood has been hit, and I’m sure if you look through enough crime reports, you’ll see yours has been too. Take some time and look at the data krimelabb has compiled; you might be surprised, but more importantly, you’ll be informed.

Pushing – walking a fine line

/ hsoi

In a prior article, I referenced an article written by Kathy Jackson. Kathy discusses her role as a self-defense instructor, and the gravity of that role. And while she might strive to make a fun class and work to see her students enjoy her teaching, she understands there’s something more she must do:

In order to fulfill my most important responsibility to my students, I have to risk pushing them beyond their comfort levels. And I have to do it in a way that will cause them to work harder rather than to shut down. If I’m not willing to take that risk for the sake of my students’ lives, I have no right to call myself a self-defense instructor.

We do this in classes at KR Training, varying the level of “push” depending upon the class. In a class like Basic Pistol 1, for some of the students they are pushing their comfort levels merely by attending class and picking up a gun for the first time, so we instructors don’t need to add push and pressure (just comfort and reassurance). In a class like Defensive Pistol Skills 1, we start to relay the gravity of carrying a gun and what self-defense actually involves, so we have students shoot on a timer and yes there’s some yelling by the instructors to raise the pressure levels (because someone trying to kill you is going to be a pressure-filled event!). Then you get to force-on-force classes, and those have a range of discomfort as well.

I think that’s why some people avoid training, or at least, particular types of training.

I know I’m victim of it. I’m human too. I like comfort. I like known. I don’t like getting my ass kicked, I don’t like the physical pain, I don’t like the ego bruising.

But we don’t get better unless we push ourselves. Heck, the only reason I can squat 300# now is because I pushed myself over my fears, over my discomfort, over my hate of squatting, over my fear of getting hurt, fear of not being able to get back up. I pushed myself, I got better.

Generally we shouldn’t take big leaps: someone that’s never done force-on-force before, even just verbal no-contact role-playing stuff, probably shouldn’t take SouthNarc’s ECQC as a first go. But if the thought of force-on-force is a little scary to you, I urge to to find a “101-level” type of FoF class (e.g. KR Training’s AT-2) and give it a try. I’ve never seen anyone come out of such a class not better for it.

So realize, when your teacher, coach, instructor, whatever pushes you, it’s an attempt to help you get better. If we go too far over the line, it’s not malicious; but do let us know so we can be mindful (because too far will just cause you to shut down and close off to learning). But don’t worry if you feel a little uncomfortable: we all did, we all do, we all will, and we all will grow from it.