A List Member Comments: The link in your message today about a belt rig to use with your pajamas (or nightie, I guess, in my case) continues with a discussion of the Guardian Angel by LifeAct. Here's what that author has to say: "I've used pepper sprays about 50 times, and they worked well, but the Guardian Angel by LifeAct is a major advance in "peppering perps." A palm-sized ergonomic launcher uses a pyrotechnic charge to fire two blasts of viscous, sticky pepper-goop pretty accurately at 90 miles per hour. This is drop-in-your-pocket protection, and it's going on the HDR. Most Kimber Firearms dealers carry it." I agree. I purchased one of these several months back - when I first heard of them. I was impressed with the idea of pepper spray that you could shoot rather than just squirt at an attacker. I took it home and discharged it at a tree to check out things like aim (be sure to check the wind direction if you try this!) and the ergonomics are good. I went back and bought another to carry. It slips into the pocket nicely, and it doesn't really look like a weapon. That is, you can wear it in a case on your belt, and it looks like it's your Blackberry. It's also easy to carry in a pocket, and, what's important for me, it's legal where my gun isn't. It's marketed by Kimber. Here's the link to their website, which includes a brief video. http://www.life-act.com/guardianangel.php Fortunately, I have not had to use mine. But, I highly recommend buying one and discharging it so that it doesn't surprise you if you do have to use it. Unfortunately, they aren't cheap: almost $40, so you will spend $40 on "training." And, you should definitely not carry one with one of its two shots spent. --- Second-Grader Suspended For Drawing Of Gun: A second-grader's drawing of a stick figure shooting a gun earned him a one-day school suspension. Kyle gave the picture to another child on the school bus, and that child's parents complained about it to school officials, McDevitt said. Her son told her the drawing was of a water gun, she said. A photocopy of the picture provided by McDevitt showed two stick figures with one pointing a crude-looking gun at the other, the newspaper said. What appeared to be the word "me" was written above the shooter, with another name scribbled above the other figure. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8SD6GS81&show_article=1&catnum=1 --- Rule One Reminder: A Charleston (WV) man accidentally shoots his friend in the back, killing him. Police say Timothy Williams accidentally shot John Joseph around 11:30pm Friday as the two were looking at a .22 caliber pistol..."People assume that a gun doesn't have any bullets or shells in it and then the accident occurs," says Walls. "The number one rule of firearm safety is if you don't know, don't touch." (No, the number-one rule of firearm safety is that all guns are always presumed to be loaded. It's foolish not to know how to safely render a firearm safe, by unloading it and verifying that status; if you don't touch it, you can't unload it.) http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/eyewitness/0710/071020_3c096c28.shtml http://statejournal.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=30456 --- From John Farnam: 15 Oct 07 Snubby Tactics Many of us carry five-shot, 38Spl, snubby revolvers, like S&W's excellent 340PD, particularly as a back-up pistol. However, when reverting to the snubby, we often routinely fire all five shots in a single burst. It is bad practice! Bad practice, because, once all five shots are simultaneously expended, you are faced with the prospect of a agonizingly slow reload, even with the aid of a speed-loader. Accordingly, once all five shots have been fired, (whatever the result) options dry up quickly! Instead, I recommend thinking in terms of "Three-and-Two." When deploying your snubby, fire three rounds. Then, stop, move laterally while accessing, keeping the last two rounds in reserve. This strategy will provide you with flexibility and preserve your options a while longer. The snubby's advantage is ease and thoroughness of concealability, extreme retainability, and speed of deployment. On the other slide of the ledger, the snubby lacks power, range, and has an severely limited reserve of ammunition, combined with, as noted above, a slow reload. The "Three-and-Two" strategy, when thoroughly practiced, will be helpful in dealing with the latter. /John (I carry two five-shot revolvers. When I decided to rely on revolvers, I made a conscious decision that I would have to shoot a bit slower and a bit more accurately than with a higher-capacity bottom-feeding pistol. My philosophy is to fire one round at a time, albeit as quickly as needed, rather than in any set pattern. I have found that speedloaders, at least the ones from HKS, do not work all that well with the small space available for them on a five-shot revolver. I carry my first reload in the second revolver. A DeSantis 2+2+2 pouch at the front of the belt allows for tactical reloads [replacing only the fired cases, once one is behind cover]. In the event that I am lying on my stomach, there is a Speed Strip with more rounds in each of my back pockets.) 16 Oct 07 "Complications" associated with an accidental/self-inflicted GSW, from an LEO friend: "Our ND survivor had to go back to the hospital for several days of additional treatment. He developed a blood clot in his left calf. Blood thinners and bed-rest were prescribed! He'll be okay, eventually. This officer is in his fifties, so he isn't healing quite as fast as some eighteen-year-old Lance Corporal in Ramadi! He accidentally shot himself through his thigh, from inside his fanny pack. The bullet (FMJ from a G27) went through-and-through without hitting the big artery nor the femur. Not sure why he was carrying FMJ and not our duty-load. Had it been our duty-load (Gold Dot), his leg would surely have been torn up a great deal more that it was, no doubt!" Comment: (1) When an "officer" is not serious enough about his job and sworn duty to even carry effective ammunition, he probably needs to find something else to do! (2) When you make contact with the trigger of a gun, expect it to discharge at that instant! Who has the habit of pointing guns at himself is in for such an unhappy surprise. Just a matter of time! (3) Although most pistol GSWs are not fatal, "complications" often develop which will seriously disrupt one's lifestyle, sometimes for months! While not fatal, most are still permanently disabling/disfiguring. Getting shot is no fun, particularly when it is the direct result of abject stupidity/carelessness! /John 16 Oct 07 On military pistols, from a friend who currently works in the Green Zone: "Who carry pistols here openly have 92Fs (M9), Glocks, and SIGs, mostly in 9mm but a few in 40S&W. Now and then, one sees a 1911 in 45ACP. Lots of shoulder holsters and tactical leg rigs. All exposed pistols are empty. No chambered round and no magazine inserted. Some carry one or two charged magazines separately, but most don't even do that much. All with these empty weapons have to go to the clearing-barrel in front of the mess hall a minimum of three times a day, and the longer soldiers are here the more careless gun-handling/muzzle awareness becomes. For one, I avoid the area near clearing-barrels (AKA, "ND Centers") like the plague! I've long-since grown weary of this institutionalized stupidity, so I carry my (fully loaded) pistols, and blades, concealed, never saying a word about them. A few other Operators do also. That thought, of course, never occurs to VBCs, who constitute the vast majority here." Comment: One of our students, an O6, was "caught" carrying an obviously loaded M9 in the Green Zone earlier this year. The fellow colonel who turned him in (real "camaraderie" here!) had never seen one carried loaded! My student soon found himself standing before a two-star who asked him where he learned to carry a loaded pistol. He explained he picked up the practice at our Military Pistol Course at Camp Pendleton and was thus persuaded that carrying the pistol any other way was really silly! The two-star continued by saying the practice of carrying loaded guns is dangerous. My student enthusiastically agreed! In the end, our colonel was told to stop carrying loaded pistols. Like my friend above, he responded by switching to concealed carry, not wishing to continue arguing with idiots! Pistols are seldom a critical factor in the grand scheme of modern warfare. Pistols are designed only to preserve the lives of those who carry them (loaded). That is why they are considered optional/trivial/unimportant by those who don't have to risk their own lives! For a soldier getting killed, the war has already gotten as big as it can get! /John 16 Oct 07 A problem shared by dive-computers, airplane instruments, defensive firearms, and residential alarm systems. A friend who installs and services residential security systems says this: "I've spent decades in the home-alarm business, and I can say with authority that the vast majority of home-owners who purchase, at great expense, sophisticated electronic residential security systems (usually right after a violent crime in the local area) actually use it for only two weeks! Then, they stop turning it on, because it is so 'inconvenient.' Thereafter, they never have it serviced/checked/upgraded, and it is promptly forgotten. It just sits there, turned off, gathering dust!" Comment: These are the same people who buy a gun, because they're 'afraid,' and it thereafter sits in a dresser drawer, in the box it came in, unused, unloaded, unmaintained, and extremely unlikely to ever be used for any legitimate purpose. Its owner quickly forgets it is even there! These are the same people who buy airplanes and boats, and equip them, at great expense, with all the latest electronic gadgets that are designed and purported to notify the pilot/captain when a safety issue develops, and then never turn any of it on! These are the same people who, when SCUBA diving, spend big bucks on sophisticated dive-computers, again designed and purported to warn the diver when a safety issue is developing, and, of course, never turn it on either! On those rare occasions when any of this stuff is actually turned on, and alarms, because the home is being violently invaded, the airplane is (unknown to the pilot) flying upside-down, or the diver's air supply is about to drop below what is needed for a safe accent, these are the same people whose reaction is predictably, "That can't be right! Let's just turn it off." And, of course, these are the same people who, in a panic, get to their gun, belatedly try to figure out how to load it, and usually end up shooting themselves and/or being victimized by violent burglary suspects, whom they are otherwise unable to deal with effectively. And, these are the same people who subsequently whine from their hospital beds about how all this is so "unfair." The real problem is not forgetfulness, nor naivete, nor even stupidity. The real problem is adolescent, narcissistic arrogance! The naive, foolish belief that some erstwhile-unemployed guardian angel has been assigned to protect me, personally. The naive belief that politicians can legislate all the uncertainties out of life. The naive belief that nothing bad can happen to me, because that would violate some cosmic rule about "fairness." "It can't happen to me" has been the famous-last-words of more than at few naive fools, who should have known better. Who want to die only from old-age had better take note, and grow up! /John (I have a friend from the local dog park who prides herself on her shooting skill and the fact that she carries a revolver in a small, very inconspicuous two-compartment leather pouch. She has no idea of what revolver she carries, other than that her husband bought it for her because it is very light in weight, nor of what ammo is in it. She decided to show it to me one day and it took her nearly five minutes to get it out of her pouch.) 18 Oct 07 Proper mind-set? This from an LEO friend in a Midwest city: "Last weekend, our officers responded to a report of a distraught woman on a downtown sidewalk, screaming at passers-by. One of our patrol officers made contact. She found the woman leaning against the side of a building, talking with herself. Our officer approached cautiously, using a pillar for cover. When she verbally contacted the suspect, the woman turned away, conspicuously ignoring the officer. Our officer then moved forward. The suspect suddenly turned and rushed the officer, pushing her backwards into the pillar, ripping the radio from her hand. Backup was already on its way. At this point, our officer panicked. She disengaged, ran back to her beat car, and locked herself in. Her sergeant and several other officers arrived less than a minute later. The suspect was taken into custody without further incident. Our officer came away from the incident with scrapes and bruises, a bump on the head, and a torn uniform. No one else was hurt. Our officer fled the confrontation, despite the fact that she was armed with OC spray and an ASP expanding baton (local politics have, thus-far, kept Tasers out of our hands). She has been with the department for fifteen years, but quit paying attention ten years ago. Ever since, she has been content to ride around in a beat car, take reports of incidents long-since concluded, "respond" to alarm calls hours after they are received, and always be the last one to arrive when sent to any kind of "in-progress" disturbance. Not surprisingly, she does no self-initiated, traffic enforcement. She doesn't think tactically, complains incessantly about having to participate in defensive tactics training, hates guns, and has an all-inclusive (and obviously misplaced!) faith in her ability to talk to people out of violent actions. Our "management" continuously ducks the issue by insisting that we have a training issue, rather than a personal performance/commitment issue." Comment: Even with aggressive recruiting, some people should never be hired as police officers! They're just not suited to the job, and all the training in the world won't magically convert them into a different person. They need to get out, or be ushered out! /John 18 Oct 07 Sage comments on mind-set from a seasoned, female agent, with many years of operational experience: "I can only hope that the responding officers pointed at her and reminded everyone else on the job that she isn't worth her salt. It's time to call foul on everyone who will not stand and fight when that is clearly their duty. For one, I am weary of women's law-enforcement associations that 'fight' for women's 'rights.' A WOMAN POLICE OFFICER'S RIGHTS ARE PRECISELY THE SAME AS A EVERYONE ELSE'S! You have the right to go to work, knowing it may be your last shift; to take care of your partner and the public, at the risk of your own life; to receive no recognition nor special dispensation because of your sex, race, size, creed, etc; to expect nary even a 'thank-you'. There are no other 'women's rights' in this job, and none should be expected. Welcome to Planet Earth! Scars are the proof of life. You don't get them, and the stories that go with them, by sitting on your fat ass while everyone else does your job! Disgracing neither our families nor our regiment is, and should be, more important to us than life itself. Our 'regiment' includes thousands of years of our fearless, warrior ancestors courageously fighting battles that couldn't be won, but were. In their honor, you need to either paint, or get off the ladder!" Comment: "Who do evil should be afraid, for police do not bear arms in vain. It is in the service of God that they visit wrath upon wrongdoers." Romans 13 "Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcomes. Therefore, give yourself fully to your endeavors. Decide to construct your character through excellent actions and determine to pay the price of a worthy goal. The trials you encounter will introduce you to your strengths. Remain steadfast, and one day you will build something that endures; something worthy of your potential." Epicetus "It is better, by noble boldness, to run the risk of being subject to half the evils we anticipate than to sit in cowardly inaction, for fear of what audacity might bring forth." Herodotus "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win great triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the dreary, gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat." TR The Clock of Life is wound but once, and no man has the power To tell just when the hands will stop, at a late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time, my friend... for the Clock will soon be still! /John 19 Oct 07 "Numbers" do not provide protection, as many naively think. This from a friend in CT: "Wednesday evenings are 'Bike-Night' here in CT. A dozen of us gather in a local parking lot, then ride off to Hartford where we meet up with a larger group. This Wednesday, our group was parked as normal. I heard a loud bang! I turned around to see a hooded, armed-robber, with a pistol inches from the face of one of my friends! The robber apparently either had an ND or deliberately fired the pistol as a warning. In any event, no one was hit. The robber then put the pistol in his pocket, climbed on my friend's bike, and rode off. We were all astonished that someone would walk up to a large crowd and commit an armed robbery in front of so many witnesses, and in broad daylight!" Lesson: We've all been told that there is safety in numbers. It's a lie! Desperate, determined, and evil men are not dissuaded by all the trendy niceties that we're been told will substitute for personal preparedness. This kind of brazen criminality will become more common as VCAs realize how little there is to fear from clueless VBCs who have been spoon-fed "learned-helplessness" their entire lives. "It never troubles a wolf how many the sheep be!" /John (I recall an incident, before I left California, where a body-builder was targeted for a strong-arm robbery, in which he was physically beaten by a much smaller guy, at an ATM. While they sometimes make what Massad Ayoob calls "sudden and acute errors in the victim-selection process," experienced criminals tend to be good readers of body language and use it to assess whether their intended victims are likely to fight back. Those who obviously maintain a 360-degree awareness of their surroundings are not generally considered good targets.) 19 Oct 07 On "youthful offenders," from an LEO friend with a large, metro PD: "Here, the average age of VCAs falls every year. I'm confident it is now under eighteen. And, with this generation of young criminals, the trend is in the direction of violence- extreme, precipitous, and frequently serving no logical purpose. Young felons has no concern over human life, even their own, especially their own! Few expect to live long enough to see their 20th birthday. Those who do fully expect to live most of their adult life in prison. In fact, being arrested for a violent crime is a rite of passage. School visits from probation officers is now a highly-coveted status symbol! In most inner-city schools, resource officers are now augmented by probation officers who spend most of their time there anyway. Schools have, in fact, become de-facto, day-prisons! Against these VCAs, high-profile 'security measures' are largely ineffective. They're not dissuaded by cameras, nor warning signs, nor even uniformed guards (who are all unarmed anyway). Banks foolishly thought highly-visible security would keep them from being robbed. Not any more! When they confront you, don't expect compliance to keep you from being hurt. They're just as likely to murder you, either way. They must be gunned down immediately, while you still have half a chance. If you let them take control, we'll find your mutilated body the next day!" Comment: This is a clear sign of a declining civilization. Our Criminal Justice System is obviously unable to deal with this level of depravity it in any effective way, much less reverse the trend. Politicians predictably ignore it. Most of the rest of us do too, until it is too late. The lesson here is, once again, each of us has to be in a position to effectively repel criminal violence by ourselves, with no assistance, and at any time. It is only going to get worse! /John -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .