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Good Shooting: An NYPD officer killed a hostage-taker with one shot to
the neck. (SIGARMS Academy used to advocate aiming for the neck and
adjacent chest area due to the high density of major blood vessels and
nerves located there; it's also less mobile than the head.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/01/nyregion/01shoot.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=login
---
Oops, Wrong Store: Approaching from behind, a clerk in a South Los
Angeles grocery store fatally shot one robber and injured his partner.
The second robber and the driver of the vehicle in which he fled are
both in custody.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-shot1oct01,1,2981247.story?coll=la-headlines-california
---
From John Farnam:
26 Sept 06
On DAKs and Kydex holsters, from a friend in the Philippines:
"I had the opportunity to shoot a SIG 226/DAK over the weekend. I love
that trigger! SIG's "short" (actually "thin") trigger works well in our
small, Asian hands, and the DAK pull is the smoothest I've encountered
in a factory pistol. Glock still leads the market here, but I think
this player offers an excellent alternative.
I gave away several Comp-Tac C-Tac holsters to friends, some over a
year ago. Gregg's products have stood the test, and even my fears of
leather connectors rotting in our climate were unfounded. No one I've
given a Comp-Tac to has had to replace it."
Comment: Where you stand depends on where you sit!
/John
(While Kydex has its shortcomings, I can see how it would be more
durable than leather in a humid, tropical environment or, on an IWB
holster, for anyone who sweats heavily.)
26 Sept 06
9mm hardball "performance," from an LEO friend on the East Coast:
"Victim, a large, athletic, muscular male, was shot three times at close
range with 9mm, 115gr FMJ. The lethal round went in through his
sternum, pierced his heart and one lung, exited under his shoulder
blade, and went out through the back of his heavy, leather coat. Second
round went in through the front of his leather coat, through the center
of his muscular thigh, just missing the bone, exited just below the
buttocks, and, like the other, out through the rear of his leather coat.
Third round went through and through his right hand.
All three bullets were recovered! One plowed into dirt fifty yards
away. One buried itself nearly two inches into a wooden plank. The
third hit (and substantially deformed) a metal stair railing, then
bounced back into a hallway floor where it was recovered.
Upon sustaining these three hits, over a period of a few seconds, the
victim walked fifteen feet, then down a flight of stairs, traversed the
stair landing, and had started down the next flight of stairs when he
collapsed and fell the rest of the way. He was DRT, but he remained
completely conscious and fully capable of fighting for at least twenty
seconds, all after being "fatally " wounded.
Let us remind ourselves:
(1) Bullet placement is important, to be sure, but even perfect
placement cannot overcome ballistic inadequacy and poor terminal
performance. Controlled expansion bullets, in heavy calibers, will
always be superior, for personal defensive purposes, than hardball,
particularly in light calibers.
(2) Multiple hits need to be inflicted, as rapidly as accuracy will
permit. Your opponent must be overwhelmed to the point where his will
to fight rapidly disintegrates.
(3) Impacts into extremities, arms and legs, are seldom beneficial.
Impacts to the body midline are the only ones that count.
(4) Most important is you own mind. You cannot allow yourself to be
surprised (and thus stalled into inaction) when your opponent doesn't
immediately give in, even in spite of repeated, well-centered,
heavy-caliber hits from high-performance ammunition. It's still just a
pistol!
(5) In my experience, FMJ ammunition, particularly in 9mm and .45ACP
(and, by interpolation, 40S&W) will through-and-through penetrate the
human torso more often than not, usually with enough retained velocity
to seriously injure bystanders. High-performance, controlled-expansion
bullets, on the other hand, rarely exit a human torso. Accordingly, not
carrying high-performance ammunition, when it is available, carries with
it great (and pointless) risk."
/John
26 Sept 06
Interesting development in NY, from a friend there:
"After several, recent shootings involving NYSP (New York State Police)
troopers and their G17 pistols, the decision has been made to change
caliber for the entire agency! G17s have functioned just fine, but
troopers are no longer satisfied with the performance of any brand of 9mm.
CCI/Speer has been asked to develop a round specifically for NYSP, in
45GAP! Testing is nearly complete, and the entire agency will be
transitioning to Glocks (G37, G38) in 45GAP caliber shortly."
Comment: The trend among state police troopers has heretofore been in
the direction of 357SIG. This is the first to go with 45GAP.
/John
(The .45 GAP may eventually prove to be the greatest thing since sliced
bread but [a] law-enforcement agencies have a tendency to invest in new
technology rather than enhanced training and [b] the round fails to pass
Evan Marshall's "Wal-Mart test" - if you run out of ammo, will you be
able to find it at the local Wal-Mart store?)
26 Sept 06
Comments on training for nuclear plant guards, from a friend in the
industry:
"Our team recently engaged in a competition among other teams from a
number of nuclear plants from around the Country. Courses of fire were
simple, yet challenging, testing weapons skills and individual and team
tactics. It was a good drill, and most guards displayed at least some
acumen.
The unhappy part was gun handling. It was abysmal! Cavalier disregard
for muzzle consciousness was standard procedure for some teams. I grew
so weary of having rifles carelessly pointed at me that I left the
area. I didn't want to get hurt, and I surely didn't want to be a witness!"
Comment: This is the depressing (and always covered up) legacy of cold
ranges. Gun accidents that are merely postponed are not thus
"prevented!" The routine handling of sterile guns engenders and
perpetuates all manner of bad habits, habits that will inevitably cause
accidents long after participants depart the "safe" range. Who are
unwilling to adopt hot ranges as the standard mode of training do their
students no good service, as we see!
/John
(A "cold range" is one on which firearms are kept unloaded until the
shooter steps up to the firing line to begin the exercise; unloaded
status is then shown at the conclusion of the exercise.)
27 Sept 06
Comments on cold ranges, from a friend in the Philippines:
"Cold range philosophy has been standard here since we went soft in the
1970s. When a return to hot ranges is suggested, all kinds of
fraudulent rationalizations are frantically served up in order to
thoroughly refute any such idea. Curiously, "safety" is rarely
mentioned. Political big shots don't like the idea of we peons goring
armed, even on ranges. The only ones they want contentiously armed are
their own bodyguards!
We do our best to teach people to be safe and competent with guns, with
an eye toward our students some day being faced with a security
emergency. Yet, cold ranges betray our lack of dedication. As with trap
and skeet shooters (who, for example, insist on resting muzzles on their
toes) cold-range training rapidly deteriorates into just a game, a
diversion from more important activities, like closing the next deal.
On those rare occasions when anyone listens to me, I confront them with
the inconvenient fact that cold ranges are little more than crystallized
hypocrisy. We need to get back to the day when our students came first!"
/John
(They actually make shoes, for clay-pigeon shooters, that have a welt
stitched above the toe for resting the muzzle of the shotgun!)
28 Sept 06
We conducted an Urban Rifle/Shotgun Program in WA last weekend. As
always, it was a high-volume, grueling program. Scant glamour; just
demanding exertion.
A student made these sage comments:
"Lessons learned:
(1) Indecision and dithering lead to lethal delays (gaps). Making a
timely decision, and sticking with it, is critical to winning.
(2) Skillful use of cover is crucial, but even more important is a
prompt and adequate volume of accurate fire. Deadly-accurate fire, at
once, is ultimately the best cover! Ending the fight quickly and
conclusively is the key to personal victory.
(3) Reckless speed, at the expense of accuracy, is invariably a death
sentence. Well placed, deliberate shots are the unmistakable sign of
competent riflemen."
How similar are comments made many centuries earlier by Mushashi. He
reminds us that true manhood, true warriorhood, true scholarship, and
true citizenship are inseparable:
" Dwell upon what is right and true. Do not fill your mind with sewage
Practice and cultivate the science; become acquainted with the arts;
know the principles of the crafts
Understand the harm and benefit in everything
Learn to perceive all things accurately
Become aware of what is not obvious
Be careful, even in small matters
Do not do anything useless."
Comment: Merely learning a set of skills associated with the operation
of a machine does not a warrior make! True warriors relentlessly seek
the True Way. During the journey, skills we all covet are added to us,
almost without our notice!
/John
(Several of the points are well taken but the term "True Way" makes me
nervous.)
29 Sept 06
One of our students puts it well:
"Our authentic duty, as responsible citizens, is to never lose sight of
the simple fact that criminals are perfectly willing, at all times, to
do us harm, and that such harm will be unprovoked, unjustified, and in
contemptuous defiance of laws and rules. Evil never seeks approval! It
thus is necessary for righteous citizens, personally, to be always
prepared to successfully, physically, and unapologetically repel
criminal violence.
To the extent to which we depart from the truth and personal acceptance
of this fact, we are naively living in dreamland, a fool's paradise,
manufactured by sleazy, power-hungry politicians for their benefit, not
ours.
Demeaning, pathetic dependence, no matter how it is sugar-coated, is the
way of bondage and slavery. Free men bear arms!"
/John
---
From NRA-ILA:
Congress Passes NRA-backed "Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act of
2006"
Fairfax, VA- The National Rifle Association (NRA) and law-abiding gun
owners scored a significant victory yesterday when the United States
Congress acted to prohibit the confiscation of legal firearms from
law-abiding citizens during states of emergency, barring practices
conducted by officials in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
This action was included in the Department of Homeland Security
Appropriations bill that passed both chambers of Congress. This bill now
heads to President Bush for his expected signature.
"Following the chaos and civil disorder in New Orleans when the city
effectively suspended the Second Amendment, NRA vowed to make sure we
never again witnessed this kind of desecration on our rights," declared
Chris W. Cox. "As promised, NRA set out to pass legislation at both the
federal and state levels to protect the Second Amendment rights of
law-abiding American citizens."
H.R. 5013, the "Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act," was
introduced in the House by Congressman Bobby Jindal (LA - 1) passed the
House on July 25, 2006 with a broad bi-partisan margin of 322-99.
Senator David Vitter (R-La) introduced the Senate version of the bill,
which passed the United States Senate by 84-16, the largest margin of
victory for a NRA-backed measure.
"The essence of the 'Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act' was so
compelling that it received strong bipartisan support in Congress,"
continued Cox. "When 911 is non-existent and law enforcement personnel
are busy with search and rescue missions and other duties, law abiding
Americans want to defend their families and loved ones in times of
emergency. Your NRA helped guarantee their freedom to do just that."
"On behalf of all NRA members nationwide, I want to thank Rep. Bobby
Jindal (R-LA) and Sen. Vitter for their leadership in introducing this
legislation and seeing these fundamental bills through to passage,"
concluded Cox.
--
Stephen P. Wenger
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
