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Too Many Cadillacs, Too Many Keys?: A Connecticut attorney is in trouble
for failing to report the theft of two handguns and a shotgun from the
trunk of one of his 18 Cadillacs. McDonough explained to police that he
routinely leaves his car unlocked with the keys in the ignition. (Rule
Five: Maintain Control of your firearm.)
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-missingguns1224.artdec24,0,5716818.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
---
Bounty Hunter Sues for NJ Carry Permit: A bail recovery agent who is
licensed to carry in 34 other states has gone to court seeking to
overturn a decision by the Jersey City Police Department to deny him a
similar license in his home state. Notice the grammatical expertise of
the department, the presumed basis for the denial.
http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-1/113507356389390.xml&coll=3
---
Gas Works Employee Shots Robber: A Philadelphia Gas Works field worker
shot and wounded one of two teenagers who held him up at gunpoint in
Southwest Philadelphia. While it appears the employee violated company
policy by being armed, officials don't plan to address that issue right
away. Note that the one of three shots that struck one of the assailants
struck him in the thigh, consistent with "jerking" or anticipating and
sending the shot low and to the non-dominant side.
http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/13478925.htm
---
Even In New York State: A private citizen with a carry permit chased
down and captured a young bank robber in Buffalo.
http://www.wstm.com/Global/story.asp?S=4284838&nav=2aKD
---
Compton Swaps Gifts For Guns: The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department
conducted a gun-buyback program in crime-ridden Compton, swapping gift
certificates from firearms. Typically, the program recovered one
"semiautomatic machine gun pistol." (A link is available under "contact"
to generate a letter to the editor.)
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/12/24/204529.shtml
---
What's Important In 2006? Concealed-carry advocate John Longnecker
opposes sacrificing more freedoms in the name of security.
http://mensnewsdaily.com/blog/longenecker/2005/12/whats-important-in-2006.html
---
Prohibitionist Decries Incrementalism: Pursuing the same lack of logic
it decries, bolstered by false facts, an op-ed piece in The Washington
Post counsels the prohibitionist movement to call for an outright ban on
the private ownership of handguns.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/24/AR2005122400329.html
---
From John Farnam:
18 Dec 05
Comments on church security, from a retired state trooper trying to put
together a security plan for his church in KY:
"Acceptance by members of our congregation has been cautious. However,
several have loudly voiced the opinion that church should be 'the last
place on earth where there should be security concerns.' I agree, but
we recently identified two, registered sex offenders who are routinely
attending our services...."
Comment: I suspect there are few American church congregations who don't
unwittingly harbor sex offenders, some registered, some not. Sexual
deviates looks upon church goers as naive, gullible prey. It is no
surprise to find them mixed in.
"Church security," like it or not, is acutely necessary, for many
reasons. The foregoing is just one.
/John
(As I pointed out last week, churches and synagogues have not been
uncommon sites for crimes of violence, whether during services or after
hours. I don't believe that overt sexual assaults are likely during
worship and think that there are more logical arguments for developing
armed security for places of worship than the attendance of registered
sex offenders.)
20 Dec 05
Road rage incident in the Philippines:
"An acquaintance died last weekend during a road-rage encounter. He was
driving with a single passenger when another car cut into his lane just
ahead of him. Incensed, he immediately overtook the errant vehicle and
blocked its path. The errant vehicle stopped, and everyone (driver and
two passengers, all male) exited. The driver of the first vehicle also
exited, saying to his passenger that he was going to give the misguided
motorist 'a piece of his mind.'
A shouting match quickly developed, with threats exchanged. The driver
of the first vehicle then turned away from the three men and started to
walk back to his car. He never made it! One of the men from the second
vehicle ran up behind him and bashed his skull in from behind, using a
length of pipe. Victim was DRT. The trio then fled and are still at
large."
Lessons: Anger, when out of control, can quickly get you in over your
head! While we all need to take pride in our existence, one cannot
"take a stand" at every provocation. Aggressive disengagement is nearly
always the best plan, particularly when in a public place. When you go
looking for trouble, don't be astonished when you find it, more than you
wanted!
Watch your back! Keep looking around. Give them the impression that
they will be unable to sneak up on you. You may not see a weapon now,
but an attacker can produce one in an instant.
/John
(Aside from the folly of venting anger over a traffic incident, this is
a good example of the dictum, "Look out for the other guy," which I have
borrowed, along with the other four Keys of Defensive Driving. I know a
very highly skilled martial-arts instructor who was once followed from
his studio and forced to the side of a street. While he "toyed" with the
obvious assailant, he was blindsided with a baseball bat to the head by
the first guy's companion, who had circled one of the vehicles unseen.)
22 Dec 05
Silent revolution:
I was on the phone this morning with a good friend who manufacturers
holsters under military contract. Most are concealment rigs, shoulder
and hip holsters. His stuff is wonderful and is worn by many
star-wearers and their security staffs. Interestingly, he reported that
less than half of incoming orders are for the Beretta (9mm, M9) pistol,
the "official" sidearm of the US Military! There are a few requests for
the M11 (SIG228), but the majority now are for the "old" 1911 pistol in
45ACP! Colts, Kimbers, Springfields, S&Ws, they have them all! In
addition, there is suddenly (and curiously) an ample supply of 45ACP
ammunition, as well as 9mm, in Country. I wonder where it is coming
from, since the official story is that it hasn't been ordered in years!
It seems there is a quiet revolution going on the active parts of the
Army and Marines. The Beretta is being quiescently displaced with the
1911. It is, so far, all unofficial, but it is going forward
relentlessly nonetheless. I, for one, think this clandestine evolution
represents a great step forward, but, like all positive developments, it
must be kept quiet. "Good news" is always "bad news" in our upside-down
age!
/John
(In a military environment, with a general restriction to FMJ ammo, I'm
sure that the .45 ACP is a better choice than 9x19mm. There is room to
argue whether the 1911 platform is still the best option.)
24 Dec 05
G21s and the LAPD:
"LAPD's problems with the G21 appear to be mostly over. As always,
Glock moved in fast, correctly identified the problem, and fixed it.
At the heart of the issue was misaligned rails on a few of the guns,
which caused interference with the free movement of the firing pin.
That is here the "ignition failure" problems began.
As a result, Glock is examining all our G21s, mostly owned by individual
officers. All G21s discovered to be out of factory specifications, or
otherwise unserviceable, are being fixed or replaced, on the spot, by
Glock.
Glock responded quickly and has worked with our Firearms Unit to solve
this problem to get our G21s back in service as speedily as possible.
Glock wants those guns working and at work. We do too!"
Comment: Once again, Glock deserves a lot of credit for getting right on
this. No quibbling and no denial. They just isolated and fixed the
problem, getting the customer up and running again. In the gun
business, customer service is paramount. Few do it better than Glock!
/John
(Hmm. I wonder if the Portland Police Bureau is as satisfied with
Glock's response to their kB!'s with G21's? Is this why Glock conducts
"voluntary product upgrades" instead of "recalls." like everyone else in
the industry?)
---
From Force Science Research Center:
Force Science News #34
December 19, 2005
=======================================
The Force Science News is provided by The Force Science Research Center,
a non-profit institution based at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Subscriptions are free and sent via e-mail. To register for your free,
direct-delivery subscription, please visit forcesciencenews.com and
click on the registration button. For reprint clearance, please e-mail:
[email protected].
=======================================
YOU CAN HELP FORCE SCIENCE IN NEW OFFICER SURVIVAL RESEARCH
As the Force Science Research Center prepares to launch a variety of new
research projects for 2006 related to officer survival, Executive
Director Dr. Bill Lewinski is asking for your input in 2 important areas:
1. He'd like to interview offenders who have shot LEOs, either fatally
or nonfatally. He's looking for names and current locations of these
individuals and for suggestions or assistance on how best to contact
them. They can be incarcerated or on the street, and the interviews can
be done anonymously.
Lewinski wants to explore the familiarity with weapons that these
individuals had prior to their attacks on officers: how experienced were
they with guns...how much did they practice...where did they receive
formal training, if any, and how extensive was it...had they previously
used a firearm, and so on.
He also wants to discuss the types of behavioral or observational cues
they may have picked up on from the targeted officers that prompted them
to shoot and to believe they would not be shot in the process.
With special equipment that is being developed, he anticipates being
able to study the reaction time of these offenders for comparison to
previous studies of officer reaction time in life-threatening
confrontations.
Data gathered in the interviews and testing will be used in a
ground-breaking study of hit probability described in greater detail below.
If you know of living offenders who've shot peace officers, please send
information on who they are and where and how they might be reached to:
[email protected]
2. If you attend the SHOT Show Feb. 9-12 at the Las Vegas (NV)
Convention Center, stop by the LaserMax booth and experience the latest
simulator technology provided by IES Interactive Training. In
particular, FSRC invites you to fire at a special target resembling a
human subject and designed to test psychomotor skills and accuracy in an
atmosphere of minimal stress where no judgment is required.
Data recorded here, too, will be used in the hit probability study. "We
need input from officers and civilian attendees alike, regardless of
their experience and skill level," says Lewinski. "By participating
you'll have the satisfaction of contributing to research that ultimately
will help save officers' lives."
Lewinski be in the booth to guide your shooting, along with
internationally recognized firearms trainer Ron Avery, president and
training director of the Practical Shooting Academy Inc. and executive
director of the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Tactical Institute. Working
with Lewinski, Avery, a member of FSRC's Technical Advisory Board, is
spearheading the hit probability research.
This study, Phase One of which will officially get underway next month
[1/06], will "scientifically document the chances of officers and
offenders alike hitting a target when rapidly firing a handgun from
different positions at different distances," Lewinski explains. "The
goal of Phase One is to identify the threat to an officer from a subject
wielding a handgun from hidden or gun-down positions.
"Other phases will focus on officer/offender hit probabilities and the
types of training, psychomotor skills, behavior and activities that
facilitate both speed and accuracy and that have the greatest
probability of helping an officer to win a lethal-force encounter."
Among other things, the research team is expected to explore complex
questions that have long nettled trainers and officers, including:
--What officer responses and/or countermeasures would best neutralize or
mitigate the threat presented by a subject wielding a firearm?
--At arm's length or just beyond, would active physical countermeasures
vs. retreating be more effective? If so, what strategies and
countermeasures lead to a higher probability of success?
--How does shooting on the move vs. standing still at various distances
affect officer survival? Are there distances where it is better to
simply stand your ground and shoot or run to cover and shoot vs.
shooting on the move? What are the trade offs and hit probabilities?
--What training and activities lead to greater effectiveness and hit
probabilities in lethal-force encounters?
--What are officer hit probabilities on head shots at various distances
under real world conditions? Are we expecting officers to do things they
are not trained or prepared to do or that have a very low probability of
success? What equipment and training are necessary to accomplish this
kind of precision shooting by the average officer?
With the help of LE training facilities, such as Northeast Wisconsin
Technical College, which has one of the foremost CJ programs in the
nation, the researchers plan to assess the accuracy rates of academy
classes before they have weapons skills training. "Once we have this
data as a base," Lewinski explains, "we can then measure the impact of
different training methods on officer safety techniques."
The hit probability study is one of a wide variety of interrelated
research projects Lewinski hopes to fund through a $1,000,000 federal
grant applied for by FSRC. Dr. Scott Olson, a member of FSRC's National
Advisory Board and VP of academic affairs for Minnesota State
University-Mankato where the Center is headquartered, has been
"coaching" the grant proposal through the tricky labyrinth of
bureaucratic hoops and FSRC is optimistic of a positive result early in
the new year.
"This money would greatly accelerate our research into ways to help
officers make accurate decisions and perform flawlessly in
life-threatening confrontations so that innocent citizens will remain
safe and the involved officers will survive unharmed."
FSRC has a number of valuable projects on tap, awaiting this or other
funding. Examples:
--In earlier studies, FSRC measured 15 different subject movements and
20 different types of officer counter moves characteristic of lethal
force encounters. These have been instrumental in documenting reaction
times and in explaining numerous controversial shooting situations.
Now FSRC would like to more deeply explore the nature and limits of
"human mechanical performance in highly dynamic, rapidly unfolding,
life-threatening confrontations." This will involve more precise
identification and measurement of movement through live range fire and
the use of FSRC's state-of-the-art IES simulator and multiple high-speed
cameras that allow unique 3-D imaging and analysis.
--A variety of "scan patterns"--the sequences through which officers
evaluate a setting and a subject--"need to be assessed for their
effectiveness in helping an officer determine and assess a potential
threat and react to it," Lewinski explains. "Some suspects can draw a
gun from a waist band and fire in less than 1/10 of a second. Officers
can't afford time delays. Research has to help them develop effective
patterns for scanning and recognizing threats to assure the fastest
detection and response possible."
--Through testing with electroencephalographic (EEG) equipment, Lewinski
wants to research how an officer's mind-set affects speed, accuracy and
judgment in a lethal-force encounter. "There have been theories and
speculation about the most effective mind-set for quick reactions and
good decision-making, but there hasn't been any scientific research in
this area," Lewinski says.
--He also wants to study how light conditions and pre-event information
impact on an officer's perception, judgment and reaction time. "Once
more is known about the nature of different threats and an officer's
options for responding to them, the value of specific tactics can then
be tested and assessed," Lewinski says.
With ideal funding and staffing, these projects could take at least 2
years to complete. "But this research has the potential to finally set a
gold standard for the effective training and performance of law
enforcement officers when making life-and-death decisions. The results
would have repercussions throughout our society and the world."
Meanwhile, the Officers Branch Board of the London (England)
Metropolitan Police Federation has donated nearly $100,000 to support 2
new studies scheduled to begin early in 2006.
One will determine the impact of training and experience on an officer's
ability to successfully multi-task. Specifically, researchers will try
to determine how officers can best work through the tunnel vision and
tunnel hearing without becoming so exclusively focused on either that
their safety is jeopardized. This study will be headed by Dr. Jonathon
Page, a cognitive psychologist at Minnesota State University-Mankato and
a member of FSRC's Technical Advisory Board.
Page will also consult on the second study drawing on the Federation's
donation. This will attempt to determine the effect of training on
perception, memory and a variety of other factors in lethal and
nonlethal encounters. Among other things, the researchers will
investigate what type of interviewing techniques seem most effective in
jogging memory and recovering facts after a deadly force confrontation.
Other researchers participating in this study will include Dr. Robert
Widner, a psychology professor at MSU-M; Dr. Alexis Artwohl, an
independent LE trainer and former psychologist with the Portland (OR)
Police Bureau; and Dave Karwaski, a retired deputy sheriff and firearms
instructor now on the faculty of MSU-M's law enforcement program. All
are also affiliated with FSRC's advisory boards.
"We're looking forward to an exciting and productive New Year," Lewinski
says. "To all the readers of Force Science News who support and are
interested in the work of FSRC, here's wishing you the best of the
holidays...and a safe and successful 2006!"
================
(c) 2005: Force Science Research Center, www.forcescience.org. Reprints
allowed by request. For reprint clearance, please e-mail:
[email protected]. FORCE SCIENCE is a registered trademark of
The Force Science Research Center, a non-profit organization based at
Minnesota State University, Mankato.
================
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
