Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 11:06 I’m not gone just had some health issues and will be back at it as soon as I’m able. I still have some information that I was working on and will try to finish it up one of these days and get it posted.
Monday, April 26, 2010 at 11:14 There have always been the Chicken Little’s that say the sky is falling then there are the Ostriges that just stick their heads in the sand and go about life blissfully ignorant that the sky might fall. Which are you, have you have taken the “Red” pill1 or the “Blue” pill1 ?
Friends and family of mine are constantly hearing about choices to be made, supplies to be stored and plans to be made for the day that “Something” happens. What is the “Something”, well it might be a natural disaster such as tornado, hurricane, flood, earth quake, drought or any one of the many natural disasters that happen every day somewhere on the earth. It might be economic, political or something we haven’t even thought of yet. Back in the mid 90’s I was living in Texas when a ice storm hit knocking down trees, branches and most all of the power for a week or more in some areas. Normally people are looking for their local government or someone to pickup the limbs and trees to haul them off but in this situation where firewood was running out and it was cold outside people where holding others at gun point just to get a little wood to keep warm. That’s a pretty minor incident to cause people to go to these lengths. What do you think would happen if the electrical grid over overloaded and put the majority of the country in the dark for a week, a month or even longer? We have become so depended on our technology and services provided by our fellow man and the government that the slightest disruption in them can quickly put you in a “Survival” situation.
Let’s look at this scenario, the US has lost a majority of the electrical grid during a unusually hot summer and some freak chain of events started a cascading shutdown unexpectedly. When the grid goes down you can’t just go flip a breaker and everything is fixed, it takes time to bring it back up. With no electricity and daytime temperatures reaching 110F in some places that only see maybe the mid 90s normally. Water tanks in the cities and towns dried up within hours of the power going out so there is no water for drinking, bathing, flushing your toilets or for factories or restaurants to prepare food and wash the dishes. Business is ran by electricity so most all commerce shuts down, workers are told to stay home where there is no air conditioning, no water and quickly no food. With no electricity the grocery store’s fresh foods soon spoil in the heat and all you have is canned food but with no factories running to make more, no power to run diesel pumps so the trucks stop running or at least slow down considerably. I’m just scratching the surface here, how quickly will we spiral down the drain when the power fails. It’s not inconceivable to have a power outage lasting weeks or even months from this type of scenario. On the West and East coast over the past decade we have seen the precursors to this type of event happening already.
So what do you do? Go out and spend everything you have on a bunch of canned food, water and supplies? No, you need to be smart about your preparations, do you homework! I would suggest starting by reading these two books, both by James Wesley Rawles:
I also recommend Mr. Rawles’s web site www.survivalblog.com as a good source of information on how and what to do.
You tell me, what do you think might happen in the next months, years or decades to come. Watch the news and you can get some hints of what the undertones of society are. We are seeing the Tea Party protest, people are tired of the government constantly taxing us and taking rights away from us. The Constitution is being trampled on by our elected officials we asked to work in our behalf. People fear the government not the reverse as it was supposed to be. Conceal Carry Permit application numbers are exploding all over the US and people are demanding that their states relax firearm laws. What do you think the mood is in the US?
What about from the Biblical context?
Matthew 24 has the signs of the times when Jesus will return and many of them have been observed since the fall of man and are not explicitly telling us much. But what about Earthquakes, Oklahoma usually has about 50 per year, I read a report a few weeks ago saying we are on track to have around 90 this year. Even this may be a bit vague since I’m sure the earth will go in and out of active times when there are more or less earthquakes. You can read the chapter for yourself and see all the signs and you will find that they all pretty much exist now but have in other times also and will most certainly in the future. What I take from this is that we need to be ready at all times since you can’t actually know when he will return!
There are those that believe that there will be a great Rapture and the Christians will be taken up to be with Christ either Before the Tribulation, During the Tribulation or at the End. I know what I’ve been taught all my life but I’m still studying the word and haven’t yet settled on where I sit yet so it goes back to to being ready for all three. I believe I can with certainty tell you that if we get to stick around during the Tribulation it’s not going to be easy or pleasant so you better be ready.
Pros of Preparing for Tough Times:
Cons or Preparing for Tough Times:
You need to make your own decision for what you nedd to prepare for in the near and no so near future and weather you need to store up a few supplies. What ever decision you make, you and your family will have to live with it and if the bad times do come you will have to face them and explain why you didn’t make plans to take care of them.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 at 9:58 First watch this video of a encounter a LEO had with a armed drunk:
I posted the following over on The Shooting Bench Forums where you can read the other replies.
OK, first of all I agree the officer was justified in the use of deadly force and I’m pretty sure the bad guy owes him a pair of underwear!
Now with that said I’d like to play devils advocate and pose a question: The officer moved towards the back of the vehicle and the BG took off on the run in the opposite direction and thus posed no imminent threat to the officer yet he drew his weapon and fired into the back of the fleeing vehicle. Now the other side of my question, what if that was a civilian that stopped to render aid and the same thing happened, the BG shot, the civilian moved to the back and drew their weapon and shot as the van was fleeing in the opposite direction and posing no threat to the civilian. In both scenarios the BG may pose a actual threat to other civilians since he is probably drunk and is obviously armed and dangerous. Does this alone justify the use of deadly force by a LEO or Civilian?
What is boils down to what are the Rules of Engagement for LEOs vs. Civilians? Are these rules actual laws or is it just a duel standard enforced by the judicial system?
Mike Jantz
I’ll add this one point. It’s very easy to sit here in our comfy chair and evaluate the LEOs reaction and what he should of or should not of done but you really need to put your self in that position. Your adrenalin is flowing, you just got shot at and your natural reaction is to eliminate the threat weather or not it is still a threat.
I think this would be similar point that could be made the pharmacist in Oklahoma that is facing charges for shooting a armed robber that was already shot and down on the floor.
I think we need to apply a little human instinct to our judicial system when prosecuting victims of crimes that may of over reacted in protecting them selves. What do you think?
Monday, April 19, 2010 at 8:37 I’m approached quite a bit about which handgun should I purchase or what caliber should I get. My best answer is catch me at the office some time or lets go shooting and see what works for you but let’s take a bit more general view of the subject.
Handgun:
I look at handguns like any other tool I use and obviously I wouldn’t use a wrench to drive a nail and I would use a hammer to tighen down a bolt. You have to pick the right gun for the right job and to do this lets answer a few questions,
Let’s break down each point and see what we come up with.
For the sake of the argument we will assume you are concealing and you are a business person who wheres business causal or suit and time most of the time. Suite and tie would allow you to carry just about anything you wanted to but when the jacket comes off now we have a problem. Without the jacket you are looking at something small that can be carried IWB (Inside the Waste Band) and shirt tucked in front of it or in the pocket with a pocket holster. I don’t recommend a ankle holster at least for your primary gun since it is very hard to get to and puts you in a awkward position to get it out of the holster. It might be good as a third and last chance weapon but that’s about it in my book.
So, which gun? Here’s a few that will get you started, there are lots of others so do your research:
Sub-Compact Guns
Compact Guns
The Glocks have the best out of the box trigger of any that I’ve shot but can be a bit bulky when concealing. The Sub-compacts are great little guns but remember the smaller it is the more it will kick and the shorter the sight radius so they can be a but harder to operate. For me I’ve found that best compromise is the Glock 23 in 40 S&W with a backup of a Glock 27 also in 40 S&W. Now when I can’t wear something on the belt I then switch to a S&W M&P 340 hammerles snubbie in .357 Magnum/.38 Special. It makes a great backup gun but it can kick like a mule and at distance exceeding 5-10 yards I have trouble hitting the target accurately.
Ammunition:
Generally speaking I follow Col Jeff Cooper’s rule when picking a self defense caliber it must start with a 4. However the 9x19 or 9mm and the .380 with a good modern self protection ammunition can be an acceptable choice if that’s all you have room for. Be ware though , the little guns can kick like a mule even if they are using the smaller cartridges and they are harder to aim at distance more than 5-10 yards. I strongly advise against a new shooter starting with one of the smaller .380’s for this reason. The goal in a self defense shooting incident is to stop the aggressor from attacking and murdering you so we need to do this in as few shots as possible. All pistol rounds are insufficient for a one shot one kill every time so we fire in 2-3 round bursts to increase our odds of stopping the BG. The bigger the bullet and the faster it starts opening up once it’s inside the body the better the chance of stopping him quickly. This can be a real problem in the winter when several layers of clothing are worn so one of the smaller calibers may not even make it to his body. Even the larger rounds can slow down and even be stopped if sufficient clothing is worn. So what it boils down to is use what your must, try to get the largest round you can, buy the best Personal Protection Ammunition you can get then shoot in in bursts.
Which holster?
This subject can be tough one since everyone is different and there are so many guns out there and the situation also dictates how you carry. First thing is you must carry your gun in a holster of some type, I don’t care where it is. The trigger must be protected to prevent a negligent discharge. This is especially true for those that carry a little pocket gun in their pocket. For One or In the waste band I like Kydex holsters which are sometimes mounted in a piece o leather. They allow drawing and reholstering much easier and reduces the chance of a ND which by the way can ruin your day. Next I like the leather holsters and there are allot of good holster makers out like Milt Sparks, Galco, etc…. If you are going to use a leather holster when you get it it will need some loosing up so just take the holster and start bending and working it till it’s ready to take your gun with the proper amount of resistance for retention. I like the Blackhawk Serpia Retention holsters but as time gos we are seeing some accidents with them and I’m beginning to see that maybe they aren’t all they are made out to be. I have some Comp-Tac holsters ordered and I’ll write a review of them after I’ve had a chance to work with them.
What’s it all boil down to? Do your reserch, figure out how you are going to use your gun(s) and buy the appropriate tool for the job. Talk to friends, find out what works for them, go to The Shooting Bench’s forumsor other shooting forums and read what others are doing and ask questions. After all this you just got to try it since everyone is different and what works for me might not work for you. Good Luck and if you have questions or comments please leave them here so we can all learn.
Monday, April 12, 2010 at 8:46 I think it’s been long enough since my total humiliation that I’m ready to write about it here. First of all, I learned allot but unfortunately my motor skills haven’t caught up yet so I have allot of work to truly be proficient at Advanced Defensive Handgun Techniques as taught in Mr. Farnam’s class.
We started the two day class out in the classroom getting acquainted as many such classes do and from the very beginning I pretty much knew I was in trouble. With all but myself and one other person in the class being repeat students I figured that was Strike One. Most, not all had some type of Military or Law Enforcement background or at the very least where well practiced at defensive shooting, Strike Two. This class is a very physical class and since I had just taken another class a week before to prepare for this one and had spent some quality time on the concrete floors of H&H’s ranges my back and joints where still sore, Strike Three and I’m in real trouble.
As soon Mr. Farnam started talking I knew I liked this guy, he does talk my language. We discussed firearms, blades, liberal in charge in the district of criminals and the future of our country or the lack of. At the end of this discussion along with the prerequisite safety information that all firearms classes must start out with we moved to the range and started the real work. We settled in doing some shooting to get us warmed up and then it started, he turned the lights out and the rest of the day/course was almost entirely spent in the dark.
We spent time shooting targets all in a line then he pull some of the targets forward and left some in the back with the ones forward representing bystanders that where no-shoot targets. As the class progressed the shooting became more and more challenging. We started injecting failures and switching to our backup guns and then to a blade. We also did some drills where a BG had a hostage in front of him with a gun to their head and we had to shoot him/her in the brain stem so that they would go down so fast they couldn’t shoot their hostage. Also had to not shoot the hostage while we where at it.
While doing the shooting he introduced us to what we should be doing from the onset of the incident till the very end. We started with the following steps:
The final exam of the class wast a drill where you had 1 round in your chamber, 4 rounds in your magazine and 1 dummy round in your magazine in a random order. You would start moving and checking your surroundings then he would instruct you to “Move and Draw”. You will challenge the BG then when the timer beep is heard you move a bit then stop and fire 2-3 round bursts into the target. When you have your failure you Tap, Rack and shoot again till empty. You do a military reload and shoot 2 more times into the target. All this in 22 seconds with no procedural errors and no misses, they all must be in the center mass. If you have a single miss or procedural error you stop and go back to the end of the line and try again.
There was also some additional time spent in the classroom on the second day learning disarming techniques both for BG’s and your drunk brother in-law who is trying to shoot your fish tank.
Overall there is no question, this is a advanced class but even you don’t master all the skills right away the training is valuable and gives you a place to start with your practice till you do. I would highly recommend this class or any other class taught by Mr. Farnam. You can also buy his books over at Defense Training International’s web sight. The Defensive Handgunning book is the basis for the class I attended.
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