For You Gun Gals

Common Sense

Humor

Tac Tarts

I had to post this because I found it funny and amusing!  This was posted on Face Book, via Dave Spaulding's Handgun Combatives

  You might be a TacTard if…

1.    That 7 pound AR you bought now weighs 10 ½ pounds due to all the gizmos and gadgets you’ve stuck on it.

2.    When getting ready for a date you can’t decide which pair of tactical pantsto wear.

3.    You own a bayonet for your pistol.

4.    For Christmas this year you gave every member of your family their own personal bug-out bag.

5.    You’ve never shot a gun when you weren’t wearing tactical gloves.

6.    You never use that clip-on knife in your pocket because you don’t know how to sharpen it.

7.    You spend more money on guns & gear than you do on training and practice.

8.    Your idea of firearms training is watching Rob Pincus talk about guns on TV.

9.    The last actual violence that you witnessed was when you back-talked your mother. You ate the spinach anyway.

Your wife constantly tells her friends and family, “He’s really HARMLESS!" 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

SO SO TRUE!

GREAT ADVICE!

WOW!

ONCE AGAIN, A PICTURE IS WORTH A 1000 WORDS!

RIP

RIP

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

RIP

"REST IN PEACE" YOUNG MAN, I KNOW THAT THERE IS A SPECIAL PLACE THAT GOD HAS SET ASIDE FOR YOU!

Appendix Carry, DO'S & DON'T!

This information was provided by Dave Spaulding, COMBATIVE HANGUN.   Author, Todd Green

Appendix Controversy

9-Mar-13 – 11:38 by ToddG

By now you may have heard of the big Facebook flap regarding a newer training outfit and a video showing someone using an appendix (aiwb) holster in a manner most of us would consider unsafe. Rather than beat a dead horse, I’ll refer you to Caleb’s post over at Gun Nuts Media (including the followup with a response from the trainer).

Appendix carry is becoming more and more popular and in some circles it has evolved into “the cool way to carry” completely bereft of any understanding of its benefits and dangers. I love aiwb carry. It’s the way I carry a gun almost every single day and has been for years. I teach a dedicated appendix carry class. I write about aiwb all the time. I even own — no kidding — appendixcarry.com (which is a dead site at the moment, so don’t bother). But having said all that, I do not think of myself as an advocate of appendix carry. Why? Because the potential risk of aiwb is substantial and not something suited to every CCW holder and police academy graduate in the world.

There are a number of things you can do to make holstering a gun more safe when carrying aiwb. I’m not suggesting you absolutely must do every single one of these things. I don’t do them all myself, candidly. But as with anything, the more redundant safety steps you put into your protocol the less likely you are to have an accident. And accidents with an aiwb holster tend to be severe.

Holster reluctantly. While I know there are people who’ll argue otherwise, I remain firmly convinced that no one should ever holster a gun at an unsafe speed. If something was bad enough to make you want a gun in your hand, keep it there until you can take a full two seconds to holster. “But I have to handcuff the bad guy,” I hear all the time. If you think he is such an immediate threat that you cannot spend two seconds putting the gun away safely, maybe it’s the wrong time to holster up. Because no matter how bad he is, he’s probably not as bad as a self inflicted contact wound to the femoral artery region.

Hard break before holstering. This is one I actually insist on when teaching, and I’ve had more than a few students who came close to getting kicked out of class until they made it part of their process. A hard break is simply an intermediate pause between having the gun at full extension (shooting position) and going into the holster. If you scan with your finger off the trigger before holstering, you’re already doing a sort of hard break. Personally, I bring the gun into my ready position, consciously ask myself if my finger is off the trigger, and only then continue on to the holster. (credit to Tom Givensfor driving this point home for me years ago)

Look before holstering. This one is so obvious it doesn’t need much discussion. Making sure there is nothing obstructing the holster that could inadvertently pull the trigger is a logical step no matter what kind of holster you’re using. I see students get shirt tails and other bits of clothing or gear between the gun and the holster all the time. Nonetheless, I’ll confess that this is a step I often skip even though I do teach it to students. If I were carrying a different type of gun, I’d include the look (and did for the first year & 70,000 rounds or so of carrying aiwb).

Touch before holstering. Not something I do or teach, but it has merit. Some people take a moment when clearing their garment to run the support hand across the holster mouth, checking for any obstruction.

Lean as you holster. If you lean backward slightly, pushing your hips forward, you’ll change the angle of the gun’s entry relative to your important anatomical parts. It won’t prevent the gun from going off accidentally, but it will send the unwanted projectile into the ground in front of  you instead of into your lower extremities. The best description of it I’ve seen so far was by Yute on pistol-forum.com as reported last year.

Cant the muzzle as you holster. This is something I learned from Ernest Langdon. Essentially, as soon as the gun begins to enter the mouth of the holster, pull the grip into your body and angle the muzzle outward. The gun pushes the holster outward and away from your body so that an accidental discharge won’t strike your body.

Use an aiwb-safe gun. This one always annoys people because it jabs a spear into a sacred cow, but the simple reality is that some guns are safer when holstering than others. Most striker fired guns have no safety beyond your ability to be 100% perfect with your trigger finger every time, and even then — counter to the mantra many chant online — there have been instances of shirt tails, jacket tabs, etc. getting inside a trigger guard and causing a very loud noise. A gun with a positive manual safety (like a 1911) or a hammer fired gun that is holstered decocked (like an HK P30 or SIG P220-sereis) provides a second redundant safety factor. However, it’s important to remember that this is an additional safety factor, not an alternative one. Just because your gun has a safety doesn’t mean you can holster at warp speed without thinking. Again, please don’t comment “OMG u dont understand Glock u shouldnt own a gun.” I’m not saying it’s impossible to carry a striker fired gun safely in an appendix holster. It simply has less margin for error than hammer fired guns.

For what it’s worth, my personal step by step process when holstering my current carry gun (a 1911 with an ambidextrous safety) is:

1. Come to a hard break at my ready position. Thumb goes under safety lever, activates safety, and then goes back on top of lever.
2. Consciously verify — visually and by feel — that my finger is away from the trigger guard in a register position along the frame.
3. Clear my cover garment with my support hand.
4. Strong hand thumb moves from safety lever to hammer, blocking it in place (cocked) so if the trigger is somehow pulled I can trap the hammer and prevent a discharge.
5. Trigger finger moves up from register position to block the ambi (right side) safety lever, preventing it from disengaging into the FIRE position accidentally.
6. Lean back slightly.
7. As gun begins to enter the holster, pull the grip into my stomach while angling the muzzle outward.

With a double action hammer fired gun, obviously I skip the steps for the thumb safety. Putting the thumb on the back of the hammer and pressing down with the thumb to holster the gun provides enough leverage to prevent the gun from discharging even if something gets inside the trigger guard usually (though I wouldn’t press my luck, pardon the pun). With a striker fired gun, since there is absolutely nothing in the process that protects me if something other than my finger weaves its way into the trigger guard, I add the “look at the holster” step. (and it’s certainly smart to do that no matter what gun you’re carrying; I’m not suggesting my behavior is a perfect example)

That whole process takes less than two seconds. But even if it took three, or four, or ten, it beats becoming famous as the guy who bled to death on the floor of the local range.

Appendix carry is great, unless it kills you. Counting on nothing but your personal infallibility to protect you as you ram a light- and short-trigger gun into your waistband as fast as possible seems like a bad idea to me.

Train hard & stay safe! ToddG

GUN SAFETY

What .357 Will Do to a Hand – Negligent Discharge & Safety Reminder – Caution: Graphic Photo

APRIL 11 2013

    

Hopefully this post will serve as a reminder to practice proper gun safety at all times.

As a reminder the four rules of firearms safety are:

·         All guns are always loaded.

·         Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.

·         Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.

·         Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

The rules are designed in such a way that in case one is broken the other three will protect you.

The following photo and posts are used with permission from the person involved. He has gratefully volunteered to allow himself to be an example of what can happen when things go wrong.

This was the initial post that accompanied the photo:

We all laugh and think of how stupid one must be when we see a self inflicted gun shot. I don’t know exactly what the **** happened but I do know the outcome. I had a ruger LCR357 discharge through my left hand. I did not have my fingers in the trigger guard or on the trigger [edited to add: the poster later acknowledged he most likely pulled the trigger by mistake as it would be nearly impossible for a double action revolver, with concealed hammer and a transfer bar safety to fire without the trigger being pulled]. It was time for the lcr to be cleaned. So I cupped my hand and went to open the cylinder and bang. The damn thing went off. I kept as calm as someone who had just been shot could be. Called 911 and the wife. Thank God my two year old was in a safe place.

I just wanted to let you all know that even the safe and knowledgeable can make mistakes and bad **** can happen. Stay safe and God bless you all
It was a critical defense jhp from Hornady

You know the first thing I did was clear the weapon and make sure my son was ok. Then got the bleeding under control. My son was in another room. You always say that **** won’t happen to me. Well it did. Please please please please be careful guys. I’m no dummy and I know that you are not supposed to aim a loaded weapon at your hand. But years of safety and confidence got a giant hole in my left hand

Burn it burns so fing bad. It shattered every bone in my hand. My middle finger was toast. It was hanging by some skin. The best way I can try and describe it is this. The funny tingle feeling you get when you arm or foot falls asleep X 100000000000 then grab a molten hot chunk of steal and zip tie it to your hand. And the burn is the most odd feeling I have ever felt. Now after the surgery it’s numb. But I know when the nerve block wears off this ain’t gonna be fun. When it first happened they gave me 4 doses of fentinal (spelling is wrong I’m sure) and it didn’t even take the edge off.

Nope my middle finger on my left hand Is gone. I basically blew it off. The shot literally broke the bone of the middle finger off in my palm. Severed all the nerves and the tendon. The round exited through the knuckle closest to my palm. My hand Is pretty bad. The palm looks worse than the back of my hand

Thanks again to the poster for allowing us to use his photos and posts as an important reminder.

The full thread can be found here, on TheOutdoorsTrader.com.

Never Forget!

This piece of crap should have been flushed down a toilet back in the 60'S.  What she did to those American Soldiers, that were being held as POW'S in Vietnam was a TREASONOUS ACT of a LOW LIFE BIG MOUTH.  Do you get the impression that I don't like her?  When you think about it, what has she really contributed to the prosperity of this country?  It is because we have tolerated people like her and her kind to promote their Anti-American agenda that this country is in the state that it is.

CAN'T DISPUTE THE FACTS

I AGREE

TOOK THIS OFF OF FACEBOOK

Police on Gun Control

Police One's Gun Control Survey: 11 key lessons from
officers' perspectives

Top Line Takeaways
Breaking down the results, it's important to note that 70 percent of respondents are field-level law enforcers — those who are face-to-face in the fight against violent crime on a daily basis — not office-bound, non-sworn administrators or perpetually-campaigning elected officials

1.) Virtually all respondents (95 percent) say that a federal ban on manufacture and sale of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds would not reduce violent crime. 2.) The majority of respondents — 71 percent — say a federal ban on the manufacture and sale of some semi-automatics would have no effect on reducing violent crime. However, more than 20 percent say any ban would actually have a negative effect on reducing violent crime. Just over 7 percent took the opposite stance, saying they believe a ban would have a moderate to significant effect.   3.) About 85 percent of officers say the passage of the White House’s currently proposed legislation would have a zero or negative effect on their safety, with just over 10 percent saying it would have a moderate or significantly positive effect. 4.) Seventy percent of respondents say they have a favorable or very favorable opinion of some law enforcement leaders’ public statements that they would not enforce more restrictive gun laws in their jurisdictions. Similarly, more than 61 percent said they would refuse to enforce such laws if they themselves were Chief or Sheriff.   5.) More than 28 percent of officers say having more permissive concealed carry policies for civilians would help most in preventing large scale shootings in public, followed by more aggressive institutionalization for mentally ill persons (about 19 percent) and more armed guards/paid security personnel (about 15 percent). See enlarged image 6.) The overwhelming majority (almost 90 percent) of officers believe that casualties would be decreased if armed citizens were present at the onset of an active-shooter incident. 7.) More than 80 percent of respondents support arming school teachers and administrators who willingly volunteer to train with firearms and carry one in the course of the job. 8.) More than four in five respondents (81 percent) say that gun-buyback programs are ineffective in reducing gun violence. 9.) More than half of respondents feel that increased punishment for obviously illegal gun sales could have a positive impact on reducing gun violence. 10.) When asked whether citizens should be required to complete a safety training class before being allowed to buy a gun, about 43 percent of officers say it should not be required. About 42 percent say it should be required for all weapons, with the remainder favoring training classes for certain weapons.  11.) While some officers say gun violence in the United States stems from violent movies and video games (14 percent), early release and short sentencing for violent offenders (14 percent) and poor identification/treatments of mentally-ill individuals (10 percent), the majority (38 percent) blame a decline in parenting and family values. Bottom Line Conclusions Quite clearly, the majority of officers polled oppose the theories brought forth by gun-control advocates who claim that proposed restrictions on weapon capabilities and production would reduce crime. In fact, many officers responding to this survey seem to feel that those controls will negatively affect their ability to fight violent criminals. Contrary to what the mainstream media and certain politicians would have us believe, police overwhelmingly favor an armed citizenry, would like to see more guns in the hands of responsible people, and are skeptical of any greater restrictions placed on gun purchase, ownership, or accessibility. The officers patrolling America’s streets have a deeply-vested interest — and perhaps the most relevant interest — in making sure that decisions related to controlling, monitoring, restricting, as well as supporting and/or prohibiting an armed populace are wise and effective. With this survey, their voice has been heard.

About the author Doug Wyllie is Editor in Chief of PoliceOne, responsible for setting the editorial direction of the website and managing the planned editorial features by our roster of expert writers. In addition to his editorial and managerial responsibilities, Doug has authored more than 600 feature articles and tactical tips on a wide range of topics and trends that affect the law enforcement community. Doug is a member of International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA), and an Associate Member of the California Peace Officers' Association. He is also a member of the Public Safety Writers Association, and is a two-time (2011 and 2012) Western Publishing Association "Maggie Award" Finalist in the category of Best Regularly Featured Digital Edition Column. Even in his "spare" time, he is active in his support for the law enforcement community, contributing his time and talents toward police-related charitable events as well as participating in force-on-force training, search-and-rescue training, and other scenario-based training designed to prepare cops for the fight they face every day on the street.  Read more articles by PoliceOne Editor in Chief Doug Wyllie by clicking here.  Contact Doug Wyllie

GOOD INFORMATION, THE COMBATIVE MINDSET

I received this article from a police officer that I had the pleasure of meeting on Saturday, when I was at the range.  I was glad that we had the opportunity to pick each others brain a little because as a former L.E. Officer & Trainer I know the value of getting other professionals views and opinions on effective training and combat shooting techniques.  Especially as to the validity of their effectiveness in the real world, not just what works on the static range.  This article is about the COMBATIVE MINDSET.  For you folks that are not familiar with this term and what it means, you are already in a very poor situation should you ever be involved in a life threatening critical incident.  Whether you carry a gun for professional purposes or if you are just a responsible law abiding citizen with a legal CCW Permit I would suggest you read and make a copy of this article so that you will have it available for review from time to time.  When I was reading this article I felt that I was reading something that I had written on this subject because the author's views are so closely related to my own. 

SORRY, FOR SOME REASON WHEN I COPY AND PASTED THIS ARTICLE IT BECAME BROKEN UP.  HOWEVER IT IS STILL READABLE. 

Thank you, Sergeant Eidell  for sharing this information with me and allowing me to share it with this blogs followers.

Developing the Comhotive Mindset
By: Briqn Eidell
lf you have been a police officer for any length of time you have probably been involved in a
situation that placed you in danger and caused you to evaluate your performance with a critical
eye. There are many factors that may have contributed to a less than favorable performance.
Did you have any type of training that would prepare you for this type of situation? Have you
ever experienced this type of situation before? How did stress affect your decision making and
performance? Were you mentally and physically prepared for the fight of your life?
Of all of these factors I believe that mental preparation is the most important. I will use as an
example the training of the United States Navy Seals to prove my point. Seal trainin gis 26
weeks long and is probably the most difficult training in the U.S. military. As with every elite
military unit there are those that try out for the glory of being a SEAL. They are usually the first
to drop out. Then there are those that are very physically fit and look like the perfect physical
candidate to be a SEAL. They could be on the cover of a body building magazine but rarely do
they earn the title Navy SEAL. Talk to anyone that has earned that title and they willtell you
that becoming a SEAL requires a mental toughness that most people do not have. The type of
person that becomes a Navy Seal is the type of person that would rather die than quit. From
the moment they made a decision to try out, they also made a mental decision to never quit.
Their bodies may be exhausted but their mind pushes them on.
Let's look at how this can be applied to the police officer. We can provide our officers with the
best equipment and training that money can buy. They may be intelligent, physically fit and an
expert level shooter on the range. They can be self confident and aggressive, ready to take on
the world. But are they mentally prepared for a deadly force encounter? The officer that is
caught mentally unprepared to respond is likelyto lose the confrontation. Being mentally
unprepared creates lag time in your response. This can result in serious bodily injury and even
death. We must develop a different mental attitude that helps us to prepare for the deadly
force encounter before it even happens. We must develop a combative mindset.
What is a combative mindset? The word combative means "ready and willing to fight." Mindset
is defined as "a course of action based on a previous decision. A set path based on reason and
intellect." Combative mindset can then be defined as being mentally and physically prepared to
engage in combat, a willingness to fight based on a previous decision, a decision made based on
reason, intellect and prior experience. Having a combative mindset requires a change in the
way that we live our lives. lt is a change in attitude that helps us to see and prepare for danger
ahead of time. Some people would call it being paranoid; I say it's being aware of your
surroundings at all times. The combative mindset prepares you to see any potential threat
coming before an attack actually occurs. This mental preparation allows you to respond with
speed, decisiveness and efficiency. The prey has now become the predator.
Years ago I was caught walking in a bad neighborhood where I knew there was a definite
potential for an attack. At the time I was not a police officer but had been in the Marine Corps
for severalyears. As I was walking down the street I observed a group of teenage males exiting
a house on the opposite side of the street. As soon as they observed me they began moving
toward me quickly. Since I had already mentally prepared myself for a fight I made the decision
that I was going to use a lock blade knife, which was already open and in my hand, to defend
myself. I kept the blade concealed in a reverse grip and made the decision to use deadly force if
necessary. The group verbally harassed me but they never attempted an assault. I remember
looking each of them in the eye as they asked me what I was doing in their neighborhood. I
don't believe that any of them ever observed my knife or knew what lwas prepared to do if
they had attacked. I don't know why they did not attack but I hope it was something they
observed in my eyes that made them look for easier prey.
As police officers too many of us have the mindset it will never happen to me. Too often, when
something bad does happen, an officer can be heard saying "this wasn't supposed to happen to
mel" We dealwith combative persons allthetime but how manyof ustrain in someform of
combative martial art. As mixed martial arts become more popular there is a greater chance
that we will one day have to deal with someone with this training. MMA fighters are both
mentally and physically tough and they enjoy fighting. Some of us don't even stay physically fit.
We carry a handgun every day and yet very few of us take the time or spend the money to
become proficient with that handgun. Why, because most of us don't really believe that we will
ever need to use a gun to save our own life. I can guarantee you that if a man knew that, on a
particular day, he was going to be in a gunfight he would be practicing with his gun every day to
prepare ahead of time. We don't have the luxury of knowing who, when, where or how we are
going to be attacked. We don't know how many attackers we are going to have to face. We
must prepare as if every day was that day because it just might be. We must develop a mindset
of when it happens and not if it happens. Compare your firearms training to that of a
competitive shooter. Most police officers qualify once a year and shoot two or three times per
year. Ask any competitive shooter how often they are training and then compare what happens
if they lose to what happens if we lose.
The combative mindset is something that must be with you at all times. You cannot keep it
stored away in the back of your mind and then pull it out when you need it. lt must be kept
ready at all times so that you can identify, prepare for and deal with any threat that presents
itself no matter where you are. When I go out to a restaurant with my family I try to always find
a location where I can observe everyone who comes in or goes out. I try to place my back to a
wall and be close to an emergency exit. My family knows that if I tell them to do something
they do it immediately without asking questions. When I go to the mall I carry a gun. When I go
to church I carry a gun. I have made a decision that I will be prepared to defend my life or
someone else's whenever possible. ls this being paranoid or prepared? lt depends on who you
ask. Ask a sheep and they will say paranoid. Ask a sheep dog and they will say prepared. Who
do you think the predator would rather attack?
To be an efficient warrior we must develop the combat triad. Think of a pyramid with the left
side being unarmed and armed martial skills, the right side being verbal and tactical skills and
the base being the combative mindset. lf you have all of the skills and training but your base is
weak the pyramid will collapse. Let's look at it a different way. lf I am a bad guy armed with a
knife and I confront a police officer armed with a handgun, who has the advantage? Most
people would say the police officer. Now let's add some additional information. The police
officer was responding to a suspicious person call with no further information. When he locates
the bad guy, who was just released from prison 2 months ago, the bad guy has already made a
decision that he is not going back to prison. The bad guy knows that he has violated his parole,
the police officer does not. The bad guy is already planning his attack; the police officer is just
trying to find out who the bad guy is. The bad guy is within 3 ft. of the officer; the officer's gun
is holstered and his hands are occupied with a note pad and pen. Now who has the advantage?
Even though the police officer has a gun and the bad guy has a knife, the bad guy has the
advantage because he knows what he is going to do and is already within range to do it.
Now let's change the scenario. The police officer is a veteran officer with a great deal of
experience. He recently completed scenario based training involving a pedestrian stop of a
subject armed with a concealed knife. During this training the officer was taught to look for
warning indicators that might precede an attack. This training is fresh in the officer's mind as he
responds to this call. He mentally prepares himself for a confrontation. The officer, upon
confronting the subject, observes him exhibiting some of these same warning indicators. The
officer notices a metal clip on the subject's waistband. The Officer places his hand on his
firearm and orders the subject to step back while he places an obstacle between himself and
the subject. He calls for back up. Now who has the advantage? ln this case the officer's training
and mental preparation may have saved his life.
lf I could quote two of the U.S. Marine Corps - Rules of Life:
Be polite. Be professional. But have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance,
deterrence, and de-escalation.
By having a combative mindset we can avoid placing ourselves into certain situations, both on
and off duty. We can often deter the criminal from attempting an attack simply by being alert
and aware while giving aggressive verbal commands and maintaining a strong offensive
position. Remember that predators look for any sign of weakness. lf you look like prey you will
be preyed upon. We must be prepared to use all of our training, weapons and skills including
deadly force, without hesitation. Hesitation can be the difference between winning and losing,
between life and death. We must make up our mind to never quit, never surrender, and never
stop fighting.