JR has an entry covering the state of some gun legislation in Texas, including the concealed carry on campus bills.
He’s right about the need to inform, because I do believe a large reason for the bills not happening was massive amounts of misinformation, just like he points out in his article.
So to begin with that, let me remind folks of what it takes to obtain a CHL in Texas.
And also note that this isn’t just about college students, but the employees of the college as well.
I hadn’t read the original essay before, but because of this then this I was directed to this original essay.
I thought about what relevant snippet was worth quoting. Thing is, the whole thing is worth quoting. Hopefully Marko Kloos won’t be too upset by this, especially since I’m giving him proper credit (not this Major Caudill, who didn’t write this) and I’m not Ted Nugent nor writing some commercial book. I’m only doing this so I can add my own thoughts to his. I have quoted his essay in its entirety, just broken up so I can comment/respond:
Went to Houston today for another round of testing towards my 2nd degree black belt.
Today was not my day.
James Rummel points to a posting about a “21st Century Tacti-cool coach gun“. All I can say is the gun makers must be out of ideas… like Hollywood, we’ll just take some old concept, add some modern twists, and viola! It’s just not for me. This is what’s for me.
But what I wanted to point out was some entries from the comments on TFB’s article.
As a home defense tool, you can load your shotgun with less than lethal ammunition (like rubber pellets or home loaded salt cartridges). It’s still rather effective to stop an agressor, you avoid overpenetration, you leave the recoil at bay, and your agressor can’t know if your gun is loaded with wildboar hunting slugshot or self-defense ammo, so as a non-verbal mean of communication, the two wide mouthes of your gun are very effective.
It beats one, two or ten Tasers everynight. And even if it doesn’t work, reloading with Brenneke cartridge is pretty fast, even in degraded conditions, thanks to the big size and weight of the cartridge and hole of the chamber.
“As a home defense tool, you can load your shotgun with less than lethal ammunition (like rubber pellets or home loaded salt cartridges).”
When is using a firearm for defense legal? When one truly thinks that they need to defend their life, or the life of another innocent person.
I’m curious as to what you are going to say to the judge after you shoot up a home invader with rock salt. “Yes, I deliberately loaded my gun with a load designed to maim and cause extreme pain instead of reliably stopping a violent criminal assault. That way I could shoot the perp with the scarring, disfiguring ammunition if I wasn’t sure that I needed to use lethal force, and then reload to kill them with the effective rounds if I needed to. My plan is on the Internet for all to see!”
Let us know how that turns out for you.
If you’re a cop, I can see a case for less-lethal ammunition (e.g. crowd control). If you’re a private citizen defending your home, your self, your loved ones, when/if the time comes that you must resort to use of a firearm, then it’s time to use a firearm in all of it’s capacity. You don’t use weak rounds, you don’t bluff, you don’t count on weak tactics (even the best competitive shotgun shooters are slow on the reload because reloading a shotgun is slow; add in the context if your life being on the line and your reloading skills will be a lot worse). But hey, it’s your life. Value it however you wish.
If you do wish to use a shotgun for home defense, I would recommend reduced-recoil buckshot. For the ranges involved in home-defense (typically up to 25 yards, but your house may be different), reduced-recoil is good because it does kick you less which allows for faster follow-up shots. Plus if one of your residents is of smaller stature, it’s more controllable for them. Buckshot is demonstrated to be most effective (visit this link and scroll down). If you’re using a 12 gauge, use 00 buck (some say #1). If you’re using a 20 gauge, #3 or #4 is about the largest you can get. I’d also recommend some sort of “side-saddle” to carry additional ammo, and in that side-saddle you might want to put a few slugs in case you have to take longer shots.
Louisiana is a step closer to allowing concealed carry on campus. Here’s hoping it makes it.
“Guns and campuses simply do not mix,” [Higher Education Commissioner Sally Clausen] said. “This is not a 2nd Amendment right; this is a safety issue.”
It’s exactly a safety issue. If being safe is a matter of keeping people from harm, please tell me how “gun free zones”, such as college campuses, keep people from harm? There’s no invisible shield surrounding the campus keeping the evil out. We’ve got years of data showing that once you allow concealed carry, violent crime goes down. Where’s your data showing otherwise? We’ll be waiting.
…then it’s worth it, right?
Read the story of Nicole Goeser (via Linoge).
I know this is opening a can of worms, but I’m fine with that. 8)
In a previous post on Modern Army Combatives I stated that while I think it’s good to know ground-fighting skills to ensure you’re a well-rounded fighter, I think the strategy of “going to the ground” is unwise. You have to realize that my perspective isn’t sport-fighting, which is fun to both watch and participate in, but as I’ve only so much time in a day to practice what I practice, I prefer to practice and orient myself towards self-defense and fighting applications. Thus my strategy is not to “go to the ground” but perhaps to put my opponent there, and if I end up there that I want to get back up as fast as possible.
Marc MacYoung has a great article on ground fighting and grappling and how it (doesn’t) fit into the realm of self-defense combatives. I say it’s a great article because we’re in agreement. He provides a detailed list of why “going to the ground” isn’t ideal. He also provides a detailed list of when such skills are applicable. If you disagree with this article, I’d like to hear your line of reasoning. Not everyone likes MacYoung, he’s opinionated, but he knows his stuff and there’s no bullshit.
Yes ground skills have their place and it’s wise to know how to fight on the ground, how to apply chokes and submissions, but I’d say it’s even more important to know how to use those skills to get yourself up off the ground and back on your feet.
In light of my cane making, this morning I found myself going around YouTube in search of cane videos. Man, I remember when I used to search for martial arts videos and would find nothing. Now there’s just too much to list. 8) From my searching, I wanted to highlight some of what I found.
An article at the Force Science News about the “triangle of death.” The triangle of death is the part of a white t-shirt that peeks out from behind a button-down shirt or vest, unbuttoned at the top (below the neck/chin). Looks like a triangle, and the article demonstrates that it makes for a great target. Good if it’s the bad-guy you’re shooting at, bad if it’s you wearing the triangle.
What happens is, especially in a low-light situation, the triangle stands out. When you’re in a pressure situation your eyes scan and have to take in massive amounts of information in limited time, so you tend to process what stands out and/or what your eyes/brain tends to focus on. So, especially in a low-light situation, a little peek of white against an otherwise dark background (e.g. police uniform) is going to stand out, be zeroed in on, and likely become a point of aim.
I’ve seen this myself in FoF scenarios or even just pressure-stages (e.g. timed events) against realistic targets. All too often where do rounds hit? in the hand. The hand is holding a gun, pointed at you, you’re shooting back, your eyes focus on the gun, and you end up shooting at the gun.
Lessons to learn? When it comes to shooting, you’ll have to train yourself to better pick up on cues and indicators and shoot what you’re supposed to shoot instead of what your eyes may get drawn to. When it comes to what to wear, blend in with your surroundings, which may mean in a low-light situation that you wear more subdued clothing.
Stuff From Hsoi 