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Schools Teach Combat Skills To Civilians: The Washington Post bemoans
the fact that America's private citizens can legally obtain training in
how to fight with firearms, including room-clearing techniques which
might be useful in escaping a building where hostages are being taken.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/27/AR2006052700854.html
---
Michael Douglas Touts UN Gun-Ban Conference: Actor Michael Douglas - who
for many years has been designated by the United Nations as a "U.N.
peace messenger" - is backing the global body's upcoming conference on
small arms trafficking in a "public service announcement."
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50407
---
7.62x29mm Ammo Shortage?: Thanks to a posting by Teddy Jacobson, I
located this article, which may explain why it's become so difficult to
find that inexpensive Russian ammo for your SKS or AK-47 clone.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/05/22/warms22.xml
---
Arizona Legislative Session Drags On: The bill that returned to burden
of proof to the state in cases where there is a claim of self-defense
contained an emergency provision and is already law. Without such a
provision, legislation, such as the bill that eliminates the requirement
for CWP renewal training and makes Arizona a universal-recognition
state, takes effect 90 days after the close of the legislative session.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0528session0528.html
---
From Force Science Research Center: The latest newsletter is devoted to
reader feedback.
http://www.forcesciencenews.com/home/current.html
---
From John Farnam:
22 May 06
New Book!
Diane Nicholl and Vicki Farnam's new book, WOMEN LEARNING TO SHOOT: A GUIDE
FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS, is now available. ISBN is 0-9659422-6-0.
Call 303 443 9817 to order direct.
>From the back cover:
"Hitting your target isn't luck, it's skill!"
In this companion to the ground-breaking TEACHING WOMEN TO SHOOT: A LAW
ENFORCEMENT INSTRUCTOR'S GUIDE, we switch to the student's point of view,
particularly the female student. The techniques we have used to help
hundreds of women improve their shooting are here for you to learn.
A woman law enforcement officer with fifteen years on the job was often
laughed at because of her poor performance on the range. The grip she
had been taught did not work with the gun she used. Every time she
pressed the trigger, she pushed the front sight out of alignment.
Frustrated, she searched for help and read our book. There, she learned
how to modify her grip. Now, she is able to simultaneously control the
trigger and sights and thus consistently hit the target.
She has gone on to share her knowledge with other female officers as
well as her instructor. She actually enjoys shooting now!
DTI Publications Inc.
PO Box 18746
Boulder CO 80308
_
http://www.dtipubs.com_ (
http://www.dtipubs.com)
/John
(I have just received my copy of this latest book and have only had time
to flip through it, not read it. Perhaps because I teach several of the
gun-handling and shooting techniques differently, I am, at this point,
not as impressed with this latest book as I was with its predecessor,
Teaching Women to Shoot. In both cases, I feel that the books are
primarily oriented toward teaching female officers to "qualify" with
handguns, not necessarily how to use them in a fight. They are,
nevertheless, useful additions to the library of any instructor and any
woman who is struggling to master firearms equipment and instruction
that was designed for men.)
24 May 06
S&W's M&P Pistol, continued:
I now have my own copy of S&W's M&P Pistol, in 40S&W. As promised, it
came to me with night sights and without a magazine safety. I am
carrying it now, in a Comp-Tac, C-Tac IWB holster, and I find it
comfortable and eminently carryable (concealed). No sharp corners or
edges. Everything on the M&P is smooth, the way a serious gun should be.
For the spare magazine carrier, I'm using one designed for my
SIG229/DAK/357SIG. I works fine. I just had to open it up a slight
amount. The M&P's magazines are ever so slightly wider than those for
my SIG. There is little doubt that a "compact" version of the M&P will
be out next year, specifically targeted toward the concealed-carry
market. This current version of the M&P is pointedly targeted toward
the uniformed police, duty market, although, as noted above, I, for
one, find it very suitable for concealed carry as well.
Compared with my SIG 229, the M&P is 3/4 inch longer, but nearly the
same in all other dimensions. The M&P's grip is slightly longer (less
than � inch) than my 229's, but the M&P is a fifteen-shooter, where my
229 is a thirteen shooter.
The M&P comes with adjustable grip panels, and I've personally
gravitated to the smallest option (one has a choice of "Small,"
"Medium," and 'Large," and all three options come with every pistol).
Thus set up, the grip is similar to my 229's, but it surely feels
smaller! Vicki finds the M&P eminently useable with the small grip
option, nearly unusable with the bigger options.
Compared with my G38, the M&P is only 1/4 inch longer, but the M&P's
grip is 3/4 inch longer.
The M&P is � inch shorter than my Detonics 9-11-01, and the grip lengths
of both are the same. The Detonics is, of course, the flatter of the two.
Comparing the M&P, SIG229, G38, and Detonics 9-11-01 may not even be
appropriate, but these are the guns I currently have with me for
concealed carry, and these four are the ones I'll be using at this
year's NTI in June. More at that time.
The M&P does have an ostensibly visual "loaded chamber indicator," which
I consider silly and superfluous, but, then again, there is no gun I've
ever described as perfect.
After two false starts (the Sigma and the P99), S&W finally has a
mainstream, flagship pistol worthy of their name. I predict the M&P
will boldly step forward and take its rightful place beside Glock, SIG,
and H&K in the American police handgun market.
I like mine!
/John
(Once again, [1] I'd prefer to wait at least a year, to allow for
debugging, before purchasing a brand new design of firearm and [2] I
remain mystified that someone with John's experience will go into a
simulation of battle with four handguns of different design - I'd either
carry four copies of the same gun or very close renditions thereof.)
24 May 06
Brain-stem shots, from one of our instructors, continued...
"We have been including brain-stem shooting in our force-on-force
class. We integrate these skills into real-time scenarios. We set up
the drill with a burglary suspect in the process of kidnapping a
child. Students confront the situation suddenly, and without
warning. We use KSC G19 clones. They are reliable and extremely accurate.
Students employ the "What do you want?" verbal challenge from low/ready,
in an attempt to persuade the suspect to stand still during a two-second
window. This is followed by a fast, snap-up presentation and an two,
controlled shots to the brain stem. Nearly all students are eventually
able to attain the required level of precision.
The suspect (usually me) holds the kidnapping victim, with a training
knife to his throat. When we have husband and wives, father and sons, or
anyone else with a significant bond with another student, I employ the
partner as the victim. The suspect begins by screaming at the student
to drop his gun. He continues by making all sorts of unpleasant
threats. This normally generates a good deal of emotional involvement on
the part of the student!
In the first few iterations, students predictably shoot wide, in an
exaggerated attempt to miss the kidnapping victim. Poor shot placement
is the inevitable result. Gradually, however, students become
comfortable with their equipment and supremely confident in their own
ability. Then, they start measuredly placing every shot exactly where
it needs to be
On student commented, 'I've had it drilled into me that such shots were
impossible. Now, I know they are quite doable, when one is properly
equipped, trained, and has the spittle for it!' My reply is that taking
the chance when the window is open is surely less dangerous than
allowing the suspect to leave with the victim under his control."
Comment: In most lethal encounters, body midline (navel to neck) is
still the best target, from most standpoints. However, in hostage
situations, we need alternatives. Successful brain-stem shots are
demanding and audacious, but we sometimes have no choice!
/John
(I agree with John that hostage rescue is one of the few scenarios where
one should attempt a head shot with a handgun. However, I don't think we
should delude ourselves that such shots will generally reach the
brainstem - if you have not yet read it, please see my article at
http://www.spw-duf.info/emperor.html#head%20shots.)
23 May 06
More New Stuff:
Steyr is marketing its original AUG (with the addition of rails), now
made in the USA! This American-made AUG was introduced at the NRA
convention in Milwaukee last week. Complete with its integral, optical
sight, for which it has been so well known, this new rifle will be a
welcome addition to the current mix of 223, military rifles.
DSA's wonderful American-made FAL now features an AR-15 rear sight. The
sight works just fine, but adjustment is almost too easy. I'd like to
see a way to lock it down, so that inadvertent, accidental adjustment
could be prevented. That is one problem endemic with the current
version of the AR-15.
SIG is now marketing a cocked-and-locked version of its 220! Featuring
a two-position, manual safety lever, similar to the one found on the
911, this version of the 220 is designed to be carried with the hammer
cocked. For all practical purposes, my preference for a carry pistol is
SIG's wonderful DAK trigger system. Manual decocking levers have fallen
out of style, but SIG is now offering this additional option, at least
on the 220. Interesting!
/John
(The Steyr AUG is possibly the best of the bullpup designs. If you will
deploy it in a controlled environment where you will always fire it off
the same shoulder, it offers the ballistics of a .223 rifle round in a
platform that can be fired with just one hand, if required. As I recall,
it allows you to adjust the ejection according to the shoulder from
which you intend to use. The problem with bullpups is that they tend to
forcibly eject hot, empty brass directly into your face when you fire
them from the "wrong" shoulder. This one is tempting, after many years
of kicking myself for not having bought one back in the 80's, when they
were available and wholesaling for under $700.00.)
24 May 06
Personal Injury ND, from one of our Instructors:
"Last weekend, a student generated an ND while holstering his pistol.
He kept his finger on the trigger as he holstered his G17. The lip of
his kydex holster forced his trigger finger against the trigger as the
pistol was pushed into the holster, and the gun subsequently did exactly
what it was designed to do! Fortunately, he suffered only minor injury.
The bullet, 9mm hardball, struck a folding knife in his hip pocket,
shattering the knife into a dozen pieces. However, the impact deflected
the bullet. It the ground next to the shooter. He has a nasty bruise on
the back of his thigh, but nothing penetrated his skin.
This student is a competent marksman and competes regularly in target
events. However, he doesn't carry a concealed pistol regularly. These
types rarely do! After the ND, he confessed that he has developed the
dangerous habit of keeping his pistol's trigger 'prepped' while on the
line, waiting his turn to fire, pistol at a low-ready position. He said
he knew it was a bad habit, but thought it wouldn't interfere during a
defensive shooting course. His prediction was correct, until speed and
stress was stirred into the mix!
Here, we have a student who has actually trained himself to violate Rule
Three, because he naively thought it would provide him with some
competitive advantage! No problem surfaced, as long as he took the time
to think about what he was doing. At our Program, in his first exposure
to real training, he did what many new students do and tried to go too
fast, too soon. His bad habit suddenly reared its ugly head! You will
never impress your teacher by doing the wrong thing quickly!
The foregoing is a classic example of someone who is still only
Consciously Competent being overtaken by events. He was lucky this time!"
Comment: There is no "right" way to do a wrong thing! "Prepping" the
trigger, along with many other competitors' tricks, is foolish and
dangerous, as we see.
/John
( "Trigger prepping" on the first double-action shot was taught at the
Chapman Academy, for DA/SA autoloaders, from whence it made its way onto
the FBI training program at some point. I was surprised to see Andy
Stanford advocate it, with Glocks, of all things, in his book Surgical
Speed Shooting. When I trained with Andy, in December 2001, I queried
him about this. His reply was that his own Glock was equipped with a New
York trigger with the standard five-pound connector and that he felt
comfortable doing it with that combination. When I asked him to try it
with my Glock, equipped with the New York trigger and a 3.5-pound
connector, he nodded and said that he would not try to "prep" the
trigger with that gun. "Trigger prepping," for those unfamiliar with the
term, means rolling back a double-action trigger before the sights are
actually aligned on the target or taking up the slack on a single-action
trigger before one is prepared to press off the shot. As John points
out, it is a competition trick that does not mate well with using
firearms under stress.)
26 May 06
I attended a lecture yesterday, presented by a Marine reserve officer
(he is an LEO the rest of the time), on the subject of rifle optics.
He indicated that the USMC selected the ACOG, over the EOTech and the
Aimpoint, because it is more detailed and thus provides the shooter with
more useable information than do the other twp. The ACOG has a reticule
in the shape of a chevron. A graduated line down from the chevron is
calibrated from 400M to 600M. Magnification is 4X.
By contrast, the Aimpoint just has a dot, and the EOTech has a dot and a
circle. He indicated that both were thus only useable out to 100M,
although they are a good deal less "busy." After that, one must "hold
over" a guessed amount. Magnification is zero. Both require batteries.
For domestic law enforcement and domestic personal defense, 100M just
about covers all engageable challenges. For most encounters within that
range, magnification is actually counterproductive. And, the 223 round
is only as effective as it is out to 150M anyway. The military
community may continue to delude themselves into thinking they have a
600M rifle, but the rest of us know better.
On the ACOG, the chevron is illuminated by a light-gathering fiber optic
strip on the top of the unit. At night, it is illuminated by the same
radioactive material that illuminates pistol night sights. So, it is
useable all the time, and batteries are not required, something I
consider a genuine advantage.
However, during the day, many Marines have complained that the reticule
is actually too bright! A field/expedient fix is to put a piece of duct
tape over part of the fiber strip. This has not become a common
practice in Country.
It is my opinion that the 223 round, particularly Cor-Bon DPX, is
eminently suitable for domestic policing and personal defense. For
military use, it is inadequate, and that is now widely conceded.
All the optics mentioned are fine, but I prefer a plain-vanilla,
forward-mounted, scout scope. Leupold makes a great one. I also like
the EOTech for its speed and wide field of view, but I keep getting
reports that they don't hold up under heavy use. The ones I've used
personally have all worked just fine, and their customer service is
excellent. Time will tell.
In the interim, anyone who can't use iron sights can hardly call himself
a rifleman!
/John
(Another factor to consider with this sort of aiming device is its
"downrange signature." I believe it was an ACOG that I was shown shortly
before I left California, seven years ago. It looked great from the
shooter's perspective. From the target's perspective, at least at night,
it presented a glowing circle of a somewhat reddish color. That's what's
known in the trade as a "target indicator," meaning that it indicates
you as a target for your enemy.)
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
