Colorado Students Await Campus-Carry Ruling: Valerie Stoyva cringes at
the idea of allowing concealed carry permit holders to bring guns on her
University of Colorado campus. "I would like to feel safe - and know
that people are not carrying guns on campus," said Stoyva, who is
earning her teaching certificate at the Boulder campus. "It's impossible
to know the psychology of others." On the flip side, Susan Wiersma, an
incoming freshman from Laramie, said she believes students have Second
Amendment rights and should be able to carry guns on campus if they've
passed appropriate background checks. "I think that if they have a
permit, they have the right to carry on campus," said Wiersma, who said
she doesn't feel the need for a gun for herself. Judges from the
Colorado Appeals Court are reconsidering whether students and professors
should be able to pack heat on CU's campuses. A ruling could be issued
as early as this month... (Ms. Stoyva seems to ignore the fact that,
until the recent policy change, students with permits have lawfully been
carrying firearms on her campus, with no deleterious effects.)
http://www.coloradodaily.com/ci_14814376#axzz0k9O2UcHM
---
Avoid Being Shot by Responding Officers: Nearly one in five undercover
officers in the New York Police Department said they had been in
confrontations in which they were mistaken for suspects by fellow
officers - and found themselves suddenly staring down the barrel of a
loaded weapon. In those situations, an overwhelming number of those
officers said that the key to surviving was to remember a basic training
lesson that can easily be forgotten in the heat of the moment: do not
move a muscle... All officers are taught that if another officer pulls
a weapon on them, they should not move. Undercover officers are even
instructed that if they are apprehending a suspect, they should let the
suspect go if they believe that doing so will prevent the other officer
from firing. The officers are also taught to not reach for their badges
or guns, and to not turn their backs. Tom McKenna, a former detective
who retired in 2000, said that officers once pulled guns on him while he
was trying to arrest a suspect. He said he was off duty at the time and
wearing street clothes. "I heard the sirens of the police car so I knew
they were coming," Detective McKenna said, recalling the incident, which
he said took place on the Upper East Side in 1996. "I didn't move. Why
would I move? Who the heck moves when a cop has a gun pointed at you?"
Mr. McKenna added, "It was a nonissue. I was a guy in civilian clothes
with my gun out. I had my back to them so I didn't move. I simply told
them where my shield was and I put my gun down." ... (I have been on the
internet for about 13 years. In that time, the largest number of
disagreements I have had have been over my statements that it is crucial
to be able to reholster, one-hand, without having to divert your
eyesight from the threat area, in order not to be perceived as a threat
to responding officers. Once the immediate threat has been neutralized
and you have moved, preferably behind cover, you can reholster,
maintaining a firing grip on the holstered gun. As soon as you have any
indication that officers are on the scene, your hands go up in the air.)
http://www.waytogo.net/newsletter-4-2010.htm#article-2
---
Good Enough?: I believe the phrase "good enough" to be the highest form
of complacency. How many times in the course of your life or career have
you either said or heard that phrase? Over the years, I've heard this
phrase uttered by countless people in regard to their skill level,
knowledge, and level of preparation. Yet, when I test them in meaningful
ways, they can't perform to their own expectations. The phrase "good
enough" implies that you are well trained and are truly prepared to win
and that you are ready to perform at your peak. It implies that you have
been smashed with a test hammer against the anvil of reality and have
tested yourself against a broad pool of individuals, who have similar
levels of training and experience, and have proven to be as good as or
better than they are... (Ron Avery raises some good points. However,
they may not be realistic for many people who don't "do guns" for a
living. As one list member commented in reviewing my book, "...The text
is also blessedly free of fire-breathing exhortations to develop "the
warrior mindset" - a useless piece of advice if ever there was one for
the average middle class guy or gal packing heat..." It's not that the
warrior-mindset advice is useless, it just is not going to be accepted
by everyone. So long as "good enough" meets some undefined minimum
standard, it's usually far better than foregoing all preparation. As
George Patton remarked many times, "The perfect is the enemy of the
good." In other words, seek as much realistic training as you can fit
into your lifestyle but don't neglect the basic lessons, including the
priorities [
http://www.spw-duf.info/site.html#priorities], just because
you lack the time, resources or inclination to train for Delta Force.)
http://www.policeone.com/police-products/firearms/articles/2026847-Being-good-enough-isnt-good-enough/
---
David Pyles Legal Defense Fund: List members may recall the case of the
Oregon man who was subjected to a "visit" from a SWAT team after using
his income-tax refund to purchase some firearms. This, coupled with an
ongoing history of formal grievances with his employer, a state agency,
resulted in an involuntary "psychological evaluation" and the seizure of
all of his firearms. Details of the incident and its pending legal
status, along with a link to make a donation to his legal-defense fund
are linked.
http://www.oregonfirearms.org/alertspage/Outrage.html
---
NRA-LA Alerts: List members are encouraged to check the alerts for the
week, posted on the NRA-ILA website.
http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx
---
Tangentially Related: Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens says he
"will surely" retire while President Barack Obama is still in office,
giving the president the opportunity to maintain the high court's
ideological balance. Stevens said in newspaper interviews on the Web
Saturday that he will decide soon on the timing of his retirement,
whether it will be this year or next. Stevens, the leader of the court's
liberals, turns 90 this month and is the oldest justice. His departure
would give Obama his second nomination to the court, enabling him to
ensure there would continue to be at least four liberal-leaning
justices. The high court is often split 5 to 4 on major cases, with the
vote of moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy often deciding which side
prevails. "I will surely do it while he's still president," Stevens told
The Washington Post... Another liberal, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, had
surgery last year for early-stage pancreatic cancer. While Ginsburg has
been her usual energetic self, including frequent speaking engagements
and a teaching stint in Europe, long-term survival rates for pancreatic
cancer are low. Ginsburg, 77, has said she intends to serve into her
early 80s, and she has hired her clerks for the court term that begins
in October 2010...
http://www.aolnews.com/story/justice-stevens-says-hell-retire-in/952431?cid=10
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), the former Republican chairman of the Senate
Judiciary Committee, predicted on Sunday a Supreme Court vacancy this
year could well prompt a GOP filibuster given the partisan gridlock
currently in Washington... Specter said he supports a nominee holding
with the "kind of balance Stevens provided on the court" to push back
against executive power. And the senator said he'd like to see someone
nominated with a "broader background" outside of the circuit court
system. And Specter said he has a favored nominee in mind, which he
plans to discuss with President Barack Obama at the Washington Nationals
opener against the Philadelphia Phillies Monday afternoon. Appearing
alongside Specter, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) downplayed any filibuster
threat, saying "it shouldn't be done" except under extraordinary
circumstances... (Former RINO vs.current RINO?)
http://www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/0410/Specter_predicts_filibuster_fight_for_Supreme_Court_.html?showall
---
From John Farnam:
28 Mar 10
When to act?
During early-morning hours, in a hotel lobby in TN last week, a police
officer who was armed, but not in uniform, was confronted by three
masked, armed, robbery suspects.
The robbery was already in progress when the unsuspecting officer walked
in on the scene!
At gunpoint, the officer was confronted and ordered to prone-out on the
floor. All three suspects, although only in their 20s, were already
multiply-convicted, violent, career criminals.
The officer, started to comply, but then suddenly drew his pistol and
fired, striking all three astonished suspects. The injured trio
immediately fled, but were apprehended shortly thereafter. Two are
'critical," one "stable." The officer was not injured, nor were any
other innocent parties at the scene. Not one of the suspects ever fired
a shot!
This question comes up often: When thus confronted at gunpoint, or, when
a VCA is in the process of taking a family-member hostage, how long do I
wait before taking unilateral action?
The answer is, as always: It's your call!
But, here are some things to consider:
Your attackers are at their weakest and most disorganized at the
beginning of the ordeal. As the confrontation goes on, they will
increase their control, as your options dry up, one by one. When you
assume the posture they demand, allow them to search you, allow them to
tie you up, et al, in the end you'll have no options. Likewise, when
you allow them to escape with a family member under their control,
you'll likely never see that family member alive again!
A student says, "... when someone has me at gunpoint, if I move, they'll
likely shoot!"
There is no satisfactory, nor comfortable answer to that. All I can say
in reply is, "You're dead anyway!"
When you act with precise, but overwhelming, force, you may yet
prevail. When you dither, there is little hope for your survival.
Everyone wants the "no-risk" solution. This is fantasy! There is no
such thing. "Doing nothing" is never risk-free, nor is any other
solution you're contemplating.
The officer in the case dared boldly, and he snatched a stunning victory
from the jaws of certain death.
Good show!
The rest of need to think about it. As I've made it a habit of saying,
your Test is coming!
Who are not armed, trained, ready, and courageously prepared to act
decisively, right now, have surrendered most of their options before the
fight even starts!
/John
(I was tested on December 12, 1997. I was caught in a robbery of a
business I was patronizing in a suburb of Los Angeles. I was armed
without benefit of a permission slip from the sheriff, whom I had
already served as a volunteer for over ten years but whose department
had recently denied my permit application. At the moment the robber
directed me to "turn around and let me pat you down," my mind flashed
back to an article by Evan Marshall, that I had read over a decade
earlier. Evan had discussed the same concept that John discusses above
and had counseled that each individual must decide where he will draw
the line. At the moment that the robber extended his hand toward me and
I initiated the checking of the arm that would deploy his knife, the
thought in my mind was "He's crossed the line and I'll deal with the
legal consequences." Fortunately, this was one of those incidents where
my draw of the gun ended the threat and I did not have to fire. One
point that John does not make is that the lethality of gunshot wounds in
the US runs between 20 and 25%. If you are shot while fighting back,
your chances of surviving are much greater than if you lie on the ground
and wait to be executed with a shot to the back of the head.)
29 Mar 10
Excellent comments, from friend and colleagues:
"...established street veterans, tend to shy away from the
scenario-based training, with Airsoft or marking cartridges, because
they're deathly afraid looking foolish in front of peers and instructors
alike.
The reply is, "... would rather be murdered by strangers, or embarrassed
in front of friends?"
True Warriors always embrace profitable training, accepting all the risk
and pain that invariably attach. No one likes to "fail," but it is
through failure, even in front of our peers, that real learning takes place.
Don't let something as petty and superficial as personal vanity keep you
from exposing yourself to training you desperately need!"
In the words of my friend and colleague, Ron Avery:
"When you are not prepared to confront your own death (with a grim
smile) and chose to fight courageously, and die when that is the final
outcome, for values and beliefs that are more important to you than life
itself, then you are, in truth, unprepared and should never consider
yourself 'well trained.'"
/John
31 Mar 10
Rifle Magazines:
Many have requested that I comment on the complement of magazines that
should go with each serious rifle. I should have addressed this subject
before:
My opinion is that you should have twenty magazines for each rifle.
Magazines should all be ready to go. That is, they should be
"fully-charged," but with a half-inch of free depression on the top
round. When you can't push the top round down a full half-inch, your
magazine is over-charged and will likely not run. Over-charged
magazines typically give rise to "bolt over-ride" when the Operator
attempts to reload with them. That is, the bolt, as it moves forward,
hits the top round and then rides over it, instead of stripping it
forward. The bolt ends up short of full battery, with lugs firmly dug
into the top of the recalcitrant case, and subsequently cannot be forced
in either direction. A high price to pay for "one extra round," I'm
sure most of us will agree!
Thus, most "thirty-round" 223 (5.56x45) magazines legitimately hold only
twenty-eight rounds, and most "twenty-round" magazines only hold eighteen.
For rifles chambered for 223 (5.56x45), I prefer thirty-round magazines
over conventional twenty-rounders for three reasons: (1) More shooting
before being compelled to reload (2) The magazine's integral curve
makes it easy to tell front from back in low-light or when wearing
gloves, and (3) Even when fully inserted into the rifle, there is still
enough magazine sticking out the bottom to be grasped firmly with a
strong, forward-grip. Shorter, twenty-round magazines necessitate a
weak, "cup" grip when reloading.
Comp-Tac and Hoffners makes excellent quick-attach, single-magazine,
belt holders that I use regularly when teaching. However, a
multiple-magazine holder that you can quickly throw over your shoulder
is going to also be necessary in order for you to have an adequate
"grab-and-go" capability. James Yeager at Tactical Response makes the
best ones I've used.
Double-magazine holders work, but add a lot of weight and bulk to your
rifle, and the top round of the exposed magazine sometimes shakes
forward during firing, making subsequent reloading difficult.
Safariland's version addresses this problem with a quick-release cap
that fits over the top round in the exposed magazine, holding it
securely in place. Redi-Mag's system also adequately addresses the issue.
In my experience, 223 and 6.8mmSPC magazines by Pmag, C-Products, USGI,
TangoDown, and MagPul have all worked well. There are doubtless other
good brands with which I just have not had personal experience.
Generally, steel magazines are better than aluminum. However, even old,
aluminum magazines work well, and most reported problems with them have
been a direct result of poor springs and old-style followers. MagPul
makes an excellent follower/spring kit that will upgrade nearly any
serviceable magazine-body to full-functionality, even old, Vietnam-era ones.
Some new magazines require break-in, and others need light lubrication
(particularly 7.62x39), in order to be fully-functional.
During range sessions, rotate all magazines! Don't just use one or two,
keeping the balance "in reserve." That is a poor plan! Use them all.
Make sure they all run!
How long will a magazine remain functional when fully-charged? I don't
know, but I've personally used magazines that have been sitting around,
fully-charged, in excess of fifty years. They ran just fine! The trick
is to use all your equipment regularly. Run your System hard! When
your rifle, with all accessories, ran fine last week, it will probably
run equally well today. On the other hand, when you haven't shot your
rifle in twenty years, it will still probably run, but you're not going
to be nearly as confident, eh?
/John
(As my former teaching partner liked to say, "It's your gunfight." While
the original magazine for the AR-15/M16 was a 20-rounder, I would say
that the 30-rounder is the conventional one today. I prefer the former
because it allows me to get closer to the ground in the prone position -
cover is generally going to be lower or narrower than you would like.
The TangoDown ARC magazines I use [furnished to me at no charge] will
neither go into the magazine well backward nor upside down. While one
can waste time trying to insert them the wrong way, I view that as a
training issue and recommend carrying them in the orientation that is
most efficient for presenting them in correct alignment to the magazine
well. By "double-magazine holders," John is referring to clamping
systems that attach an additional magazine to the one inserted into the
gun. This system, to my knowledge, originated with the HK MP5 9mm
submachine gun. If you do not routinely work with heavy weight, I agree
with John that they add too much weight to the rifle, particularly if
you use a sling that may end up placing its all weight around your neck
if you should need to use both hands momentarily.)
1 Apr 10
Additional on rifle magazines:
As silly as it sounds, during rapid reloading, it is easy to partially
insert an upside-down magazine into a rifle's magazine-well! I
occasionally see the phenomenon in training, with ARs, XCRs, SIG/556s,
M1 Carbines, and M1As. In fact, a newspaper photo of a uniformed
officer holding her AR, with a magazine, upside-down and backward,
hanging from the rifle's magazine well, recently circulated through the
Internet. So, we know it can happen in real life!
With AKs, and FALs, the Operator is usually be made aware of the mistake
sooner, as the magazine won't insert when upside down. However, much
valuable time can still be squandered discovering the error!
Again, nettlesome issues like this need to be addressed in training.
However, installing a rubber cap on the bottom of magazines will all but
eliminate the problem.
In fact, that is the main reason for the existence of rubber bottom-caps!
Recommended!
/John
(I have no experience with these devices. See my comments above.)
3 Apr 10
Who go unarmed in "paradise" had better be absolutely certain that's
really where they are!
Paraphrased from friends currently deployed overseas:
"A recent Army 'Safety-Gram' reported thirteen NDs, in-theater, during
the last two months alone. In the last six months, there have been
forty-three, two of which resulted in serious injury. And, those
numbers are all self-serving fantasy anyway, as they only represent the
NDs that were so blatant they couldn't be covered-up! The actual number
is higher by several orders of magnitude, but will never be known, much
less reported.
All this, despite one being able to walk through most FOBs and never be
out of sight of a dreaded 'clearing-barrel,' and the fact that most
pistols, on those rare occasions when they're actually carried at all,
are always carried with no round in the chamber, and, in fact, nearly
always carried with no magazine in the weapon.
Simply put, Army bureaucracy is (1) pathologically distrustful of its
own people, even officers and staff NCOs, and (2) utterly contemptuous
of its own training. They know very well their people have been trained
poorly. Current pistol training is so poor, in fact, it virtually
guarantees NDs! Pistols are so hated by upper-level bureaucrats that,
on rare occasions when they are actually carried, they are required to
be in a state of perpetual
uselessness, even though they are ostensibly issued to protect the
individual Soldier and Marine from sudden and UNEXPECTED threats!
Every time a Marine or Soldier sets foot inside a chow-hall (or any
building for that matter), he is required to 'clear' his weapon, using a
clearing barrel conveniently located at the entrance. Now, everyone
knows and agrees that we would all be far better off if the Soldier
never touched his pistol, and just left it in his holster. But no!
Instead, we have muzzles waving all over the place, more or less
continuously, in front of every building.
These folks are all fully aware they have been carrying empty pistols
for months, so you can imagine how lax the 'clearing' procedure
becomes. It is little more than a casual, slingshot action, with not
even a glance into the chamber.
So, a kid who has been performing this inane procedure for months,
finally goes outside the wire and is required to carry his pistol with
(heaven forbid!) a round in the chamber.
Now, the ND stage is set! He has changed his condition of carry, but
dreary complacency is so embedded that he becomes hopelessly confused.
Later that day, or week, back behind the wire, he performs his typical,
nonchalant slingshot action, but he has forgotten that his pistol has a
round chambered with a magazine inserted, so he simply ejects one round
and instantly chambers another, just prior to 'dry-fire!'
Yes, it is the fault of individual complacency, but it is also the
bureaucracy's fault for instituting and promulgating a system that is
literally designed to both foster and nurture complacency. Of course,
none of this will even been an issue when we (1) train our people
properly and (2) treat them like adults.
I blame the entire military hierarchy, from the Secretary of Defense, on
down. Every single risk-averse one of them lacks the personal courage
and conviction to even begin to bring enlightenment to this pathetically
flawed, paranoid system. They collectively refuse to confront the fact
that there is far more than just a semantic difference between the
clauses: 'Treat every gun as if it were loaded' and 'All guns are
always loaded.'"
Comment: We've demonstrated, countless times, that Soldiers and Marines
can be trained to use, carry, and store pistols correctly. We run hot
ranges exclusively, and, when we're finished with them, they are (1)
completely comfortable continuously carrying a loaded pistol, (2) don't
have accidents, and (3) don't miss.
Someone said that it couldn't be done
But he, with a chuckle, replied
"Maybe it can't," but he will be the one
who won't say so until he's tried
So, he buckled right in, with the trace of a grin
and, if he worried, he hid it
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That "couldn't be done," and he did it!
Somebody scoffed, "Oh, you'll never do that!"
At least no one has ever done it
But, he took off his coat
And he took off his hat
And the first thing we knew, he'd begun it!
With the lift of his chin and a bit of a grin
Without any doubting nor quiddit
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That "couldn't be done," and he did it!
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done
There are thousands to prophesy failure
There are thousands who point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you
But, just buckle right in, with a bit of a grin
Take off your coat and go to it
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it!
Edgar Guest
/John
(A few years back I read an article that the US Army had decided to
revise Basic Combat Training, to emulate the Marine Corps concept that
every Marine is a rifleman. To further this cultural shift, when they
are off the rifle range, all trainees fit their rifles blank adapters
and they march with a blank cartridge chambered. This, presumably, will
alert the drill sergeant to negligent discharges. Further, as they enter
buildings, such as mess halls and barracks, they clear the chambers,
using a clearing barrel, just as they will when they serve in a combat
zone.)
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
The tactics and skills to use a firearm
in self-defense don't come naturally
with the right to keep and bear arms.
http://www.spw-duf.info
